I'd review the settings on the Sony DVD player to see if it is set up odd. Also, the discs you mention are all TV shows, which are most likely encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 -- stereo. To test this, watch the 950's display closely when you start an episode and see what the right side of the display says. If everything is set up properly, the display will say "DOLBY D" on the top right and "2/0.0" on the bottom right. In this case, you can cycle through the Dolby processing modes to Pro Logic II-Cinema or Pro Logic II-Music for 5.1 surround from the two channel source.