With the HD restoration of Lost In Space we learned it was filmed slightly wider than the broadcast ratio of 4:3. Though I also read sound equipment and other stage artifacts are visible in the wide(r) shots. It's actually quite confusing for me too. But they certainly weren’t filmed at 16:9.
I don't think it became fairly standard to film 4:3 broadcast shows with "widescreen protection" until the 90s or 00s. I know there have been recent kerfuffles when they claimed that, for instance, The X-Files or The Wire was filmed with the future in mind and frame the shots for 4:3 but protected the framing for potential future 16:9 broadcast, and thus formatting it that way on BD was okay, but purists wanted the original framing.
In the 60s they may have shot wider than they framed, leaving the future with some formatting options, but I would be surprised if they were actively thinking about the potential for a future 16:9 broadcast. But this isn't a bit of history that I know much about so maybe I'm completely wrong.
Well, we know that the first season of the television series "Kung Fu" (1972-73) was released at 16:9 on DVD, and was the subject of much discussion. The following two seasons were released at 4:3. Currently one of my cable stations is airing the entire series at 16:9, and I can't say that I notice anything wrong with the framing. I don't know if they do a straight crop or do active pan-and-scanning when they make broadcast masters like this, but it generally seems to work.
Well, we know that the first season of the television series "Kung Fu" (1972-73) was released at 16:9 on DVD, and was the subject of much discussion. The following two seasons were released at 4:3. Currently one of my cable stations is airing the entire series at 16:9, and I can't say that I notice anything wrong with the framing. I don't know if they do a straight crop or do active pan-and-scanning when they make broadcast masters like this, but it generally seems to work.
MeTV is showing the late-1970s Wonder Woman in 16:9 and I believe true HD (you can read lots of fine print on ID badges and so forth), and it looks fantastic. The show must have been composed with a wide "safe zone" around the intended 4:3 frame for some reason.
