Film, TV aspect ratios varied over time

You have questions. I have some answers.

Why do certain TV channels block out a portion of the screen, either on the top and bottom or both sides?

There’s a long answer to that short question. For starters, screen pictures can be described as the ratio between the width and height of the image, and for a long time the most common ratio was 4:3 or 1.33:1, what we oldies remember as the standard TV screen size.

One of the ways that the movie industry tried to woo defectors to TV watching in the 1950s was with a wider screen image which could not be duplicated on TV at the time. (There are different widescreen aspects, but a common one is 16:9 or 1.78:1.) For years, widescreen productions were modified in telecasts and home video releases to fit the standard TV screen, either by trimming the image or by presentation known as pan-and-scan.

Eventually fans were able to find movies on video and TV which preserved the widescreen image with “black bars” at the top and bottom of the screen, what was called letterboxing. In the early ’90s, widescreen TVs became available and 1997 brought “Feds,” the first network TV series in widescreen. But images of older productions shot in 4:3 did not fill a widescreen TV set’s image, leading to the appearance of the black bars on the sides of widescreen TV sets when older programming aired.

There are many nuances to this issue, including arguments about whether some films and shows are airing in the proper aspect ratio; Netflix and Disney+ have been among those facing criticism on that front. And filmmakers do not feel bound by one ratio. For example, the recent “The Tragedy of Macbeth ”used 4:3 as an effective dramatic device. And the 2019 film “Waves” used different ratios as part of its storytelling. We could talk about settings on TV sets that let you change how the image fits your screen. A viewing diet will probably include a variety of aspect ratios.

Will “The Good Doctor” air new episodes?

After planning to hold it off until spring, ABC is returning “The Good Doctor” to its Monday lineup this week. The reason: the disappointing numbers for the drama “Promised Land.” According to Deadline.com, “Promised Land” had its last ABC telecast on Feb. 21; the remaining new episodes will then arrive weekly on Hulu beginning March 1.

Why isn’t “SurrealEstate” coming back? It was so good! Is anyone else picking it up?

Syfy decided last fall not to order a second season of the Canada-based paranormal drama. Series creator and executive producer George R. Olson has vowed to find a new home for the series, but so far I have not seen an announcement of one.