# Free iTunes HD television shows



## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewRoom?fcId=290304953&id=37



> Apple has updated iTunes to include HD versions of TV shows, and to show off their new iTunes system they have provided a number of free episodes of TV shows.


To download these shows, you may need a US iTunes account, see here for instructions about obtaining one.

The following episodes are available (downloading them will download both the SD and HD versions of the shows and they take a lot of hard drive space). The selection varied on several accesses. Source: RFD.

Merit Badge - Pilot
He That Believeth in Me - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4
Fun Runs, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Office, Season 4
Lipstick Jungle: Pilot - Lipstick Jungle, Season 1
Four Months Later... - Heroes, Season 2
In Plain Sight, Pilot, Season 1
Mr. Monk Buys a House - Monk, Season 7
Ghosts - Psych, Season 3
Merit Badge: Pilot - Life, Season 1
Bad to the Drone - Eureka, Season 3
The Rachel Zone Project
Impress the Best, Top Design
30 Rock, Secrets and Lies
Heroes, Four Months Later


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## DempsyMac (May 24, 2007)

just one more GREAT reason to have a US account, I am under $20 now and the the new season of Heroes and Lost this year I will need more.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

The free HD episodes don't appear to be available yet. You can click to purchase but when you get to your cart to complete the transaction it says the episodes are unavailable.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

It's working for me. Are you sure you signed in with your US account first?



Macified said:


> The free HD episodes don't appear to be available yet. You can click to purchase but when you get to your cart to complete the transaction it says the episodes are unavailable.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

_Skims over list..._

Nope, nothing good there.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

HowEver said:


> It's working for me. Are you sure you signed in with your US account first?


Yes, loged into US account. Song of the week, SD TV freebie and Movie freebie downloaded just fine. The HD TV episodes are still listed as unavailable. 

I'm going to delete and try again. At first I though the store was blocking non-US access but that's obviously not the case given the above.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

No go. I deleted the items in the shopping cart and tried again. Still unavailable. I deleted those and and tried the SD version of the exact episodes and still no go.

Anyone else having problems?


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Woah, Woah, Woah. Caution. Alert, Alert, Alert.

Decided to buy a season of a show rather than try a single episode. Chose the SD version since I don't really need the HD. Clicked buy, entered password, accepted the "do you really want to purchase and download".

Was charged for the HD season and my computer is now downloading both the HD version and the SD version of the season. 20 episodes of Battlestar Galactica Season 2 for $39. Why didn't I get charged $26 for the SD and why am I getting both?

The store is a bit screwy right now so y'all better beware. I'm not going to complain to Apple on this one since I don't want to draw attention to my account and non-US citizenship.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

Macified -- weird. But you'll enjoy the HD quality.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Lars said:


> Macified -- weird. But you'll enjoy the HD quality.


Actually, since I'm only watching on my laptop screen I can't tell the difference (so far anyway). I've only watched a few minutes of the same episode in both HD and SD and there is no real difference yet.

Problem is with only $100US in the account I can't buy all of the Season 1-4 episodes unless I get the SD. Now that the store has incorrectly charged me, I have to get more cash in the account to keep up. I didn't want the HD. 

I'll buy another season in a few days and see how that goes.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

What kind of Mac are you watching them on?


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Lars said:


> What kind of Mac are you watching them on?


MacBook Pro 15". At 1440 by 900 resolution, I can't tell the difference. Unfortunately my Toshiba HD Ready 51" TV predates digital inputs so I can't plug it in and use the full HD resolution. By the time I update my TV I will have watched the entire season. There really is no point to having the HD for me.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

Macified said:


> MacBook Pro 15". At 1440 by 900 resolution, I can't tell the difference. Unfortunately my Toshiba HD Ready 51" TV predates digital inputs so I can't plug it in and use the full HD resolution. By the time I update my TV I will have watched the entire season. There really is no point to having the HD for me.


Perhaps it didn't download HD eps after all. 720p HD quality -- which is the HD quality in the iTMS -- is 720 pixels vertically, while 1280 horizontally, neither of which exceed your MBP's display resolution of 1440-by-900 pixels. You should definitely see a difference...


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## markw (Feb 27, 2008)

*Screwy iTunes store!*

Something is wrong with iTunes, I tried to download the standard definition Battlestar Galactica but it wouldn't allow me, finally I gave in and bought the HD version since it is supposed to give me both HD and standard.
Well the standard version is downloaded, but the HD version doesn't seem to be on my iMac, iTunes can't find the file! 
That's great, they make me pay $26 instead of $17, and then don't give me all that I paid fortptptptp 
I guess I should be glad that I at least got the 10 episodes, now I can finally catch up!.

Normally I'd just buy the DVDs, but at the rate the show is being made that won't be until 2010!


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Nope, I'm comparing two version of the same episode. My download list is ridiculous with both SD and HD version cued up. That's 1.5GB per episode vs. SD only at .5GB. Even on high speed it's going to take the whole night to download it all. Fortunately, at home I have unlimited bandwidth.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

Something is definitely wrong. I can't see a reason why your MBP can't display HD properly, because it definitely can.


markw -- Call Apple.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Lars said:


> Something is definitely wrong. I can't see a reason why your MBP can't display HD properly, because it definitely can.
> 
> 
> markw -- Call Apple.


Okay. I watched more of the episodes and there are parts where there is a difference. I guess it's just the style of the show that everything isn't crisp all the time. Still, I don't have any issues with the SD version quality. My biggest gripe is that the store is obviously messed up right now and that I was incorrectly charged. Such is life. I'll post back in a few days to update whether the problem is fixed.

Thanks for pushing me on Lars.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

It would appear that some of my HD episodes are missing as well. 

They show up in the purchased list. They can't be found by iTunes and don't seem to exist on my hard drive in any other location.

Not happy.


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## markw (Feb 27, 2008)

*Calling might not be a good idea!*

Considering the email address I'm using with my US account end in ".ca" I don't think I want to call them just yet! I'll wait and see how this plays out, there are already a few complaints in the reviews. I'll also wait and see if any of this is mentioned on ILounge.
Maybe this is just a small scale screwup, considering all that happened on the day when the iPhones came out, I guess it's minor.:yikes: 
Somehow, I'm not really upset, I did get the 10 episodes and so far they seem to be working:clap: I guess it's not too bad losing under $10.00 worth of data. I've still got over $45 left in my account, I don't want to jeopardize that!


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## darkscot (Nov 13, 2003)

I've called Apple iTunes support with a .ca email address, asking that all the purchases I made from my US account be reinstated. They didn't blink an eye, in fact they gave me free credits to purchase more - on both accounts! World class service.


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## markw (Feb 27, 2008)

*What is the number?*



darkscot said:


> I've called Apple iTunes support with a .ca email address, asking that all the purchases I made from my US account be reinstated. They didn't blink an eye, in fact they gave me free credits to purchase more - on both accounts! World class service.


I guess I'll have to change my US account to my home e-mail address, that way I can forward my receipt to my home computer and use the "Report a Problem" for each purchase. I don't have iTunes here at work so I can't follow through properly.
I haven't seen any kind of a number to call on the support pages, I guess I'll have to wait until tonight when I can access iTunes and check out where to call. The general support pages at apple.com only seem to talk about troubles installing the program! I can't find anybody having similar troubles in the forums! I've never found the forums to be of any helpXX) 
Maybe I'll have this sorted out by the weekend.


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