[kristofferR]

It's not really the same issue though, with The Wire they had access to original master footage that had a wider view, so the 16:9 versions didn't crop into the 4:3 footage, it just added footage on the sides of the image.

https://i.imgur.com/SK1sPD9.jpg

[dogma1138]

In some shots yes but not in all, in others the extra wide shot could not be used because production elements could be seen or it drastically changed the framing of the scene so cropping was also extensively used.

You can see this in many other early 2000’s shows like TWW.