The reason the BET episodes are edited differently from other cable networks is because these episodes are from the 1986 syndicated re-runs from the Metromedia TV stations that became Fox networks. WNYW Channel-5 in NYC used to air these exact same edits because I have some of them on tape and I remember these included parts that TNN, Nick-At-Nite, and TV Land didn't have when they aired the episodes. So what you see on BET are rare clips that hasn't aired in over 15 years in syndication.

BET is located in NYC, as well as WNYW Channel 5, so it's obvious that BET has acquired these edits from WNYW recently.

I remember when Woody Woodpecker began airing on the USA Network back in 1994 or 95 and when I had called WNYW and spoke to someone in programming I was told that USA Networks has acquired the Woody Woodpecker episodes from them and that the USA Network will air them. The USA Network is also located in NYC.

The reason the BET episodes are edited differently from other cable networks is because these episodes are from the 1986 syndicated re-runs from the Metromedia TV stations that became Fox networks. WNYW Channel-5 in NYC used to air these exact same edits because I have some of them on tape and I remember these included parts that TNN, Nick-At-Nite, and TV Land didn't have when they aired the episodes. So what you see on BET are rare clips that hasn't aired in over 15 years in syndication.

BET is located in NYC, as well as WNYW Channel 5, so it's obvious that BET has acquired these edits from WNYW recently.

I remember when Woody Woodpecker began airing on the USA Network back in 1994 or 95 and when I had called WNYW and spoke to someone in programming I was told that USA Networks has acquired the Woody Woodpecker episodes from them and that the USA Network will air them. The USA Network is also located in NYC.


BET is located in Washington, D.C.

The reason the BET episodes are edited differently from other cable networks is because these episodes are from the 1986 syndicated re-runs from the Metromedia TV stations that became Fox networks. WNYW Channel-5 in NYC used to air these exact same edits because I have some of them on tape and I remember these included parts that TNN, Nick-At-Nite, and TV Land didn't have when they aired the episodes. So what you see on BET are rare clips that hasn't aired in over 15 years in syndication.

BET is located in NYC, as well as WNYW Channel 5, so it's obvious that BET has acquired these edits from WNYW recently.

I remember when Woody Woodpecker began airing on the USA Network back in 1994 or 95 and when I had called WNYW and spoke to someone in programming I was told that USA Networks has acquired the Woody Woodpecker episodes from them and that the USA Network will air them. The USA Network is also located in NYC.

I appreciate your theory and in some points it is correct, but first local stations do not hold onto syndicated series tapes, once the contract expires the tapes are usually destoyed or returned to the distributor. Plus technology has changed over and over (usually formats change about every 10 years)...film, 3/4 umatic tape, professional beta, etc. It would be virtually impossible for WNYW in New York for them to hold onto a series they aired over 20 years ago! The distributor (here, it is Sony), plus the logo and ownership changes over the years...anyway the distributor supplies the same edited versions that are still available, but even commerical inventory time has changed, the standard is now 21 minutes of program content, mainly being done by time compression editing, which is relatively new. Stations do have a choice of getting edited or unedited versions, also most stations will never do their own editing, much to too time consuming, they may break into a show with a sloppy commercial insert (ala ION) but they do not edit the series themselves! As for Woody Woodpecker, first operators usually just want to get you off the phone or give you a false answer just to end the conversation....USA again would have aquired its own set of tapes of the series. Most stations now air series on digital tape, or encoded discs from servers. Hope this was some interesting info from a televison insider.

WNYW aired more than 21 minutes when they aired the show, so BET's version is not exactly the same. BET is using the standard syndicated prints it seems, but I'm not 100% certain...since one episode was aired unedited. BET also has weird breaks for commercials, which is also suspect. WNYW never had those weird breaks. I guess Sony did the editing themselves. Only way to confirm that is to see if WPCH in Atlanta is airing the same edits as BET.

I appreciate your theory and in some points it is correct, but first local stations do not hold onto syndicated series tapes, once the contract expires the tapes are usually destoyed or returned to the distributor. Plus technology has changed over and over (usually formats change about every 10 years)...film, 3/4 umatic tape, professional beta, etc. It would be virtually impossible for WNYW in New York for them to hold onto a series they aired over 20 years ago! The distributor (here, it is Sony), plus the logo and ownership changes over the years...anyway the distributor supplies the same edited versions that are still available, but even commerical inventory time has changed, the standard is now 21 minutes of program content, mainly being done by time compression editing, which is relatively new. Stations do have a choice of getting edited or unedited versions, also most stations will never do their own editing, much to too time consuming, they may break into a show with a sloppy commercial insert (ala ION) but they do not edit the series themselves! As for Woody Woodpecker, first operators usually just want to get you off the phone or give you a false answer just to end the conversation....USA again would have aquired its own set of tapes of the series. Most stations now air series on digital tape, or encoded discs from servers. Hope this was some interesting info from a televison insider.

Today I recorded the DS episode with Joey Lawrence and I also had an episode recorded from WNYW-5 reruns around 1993 during it's Saturday afternoon airings and the edits are exactly the same. WNYW use to go to commercial at weird parts of an episode just like BET is doing. And that Baseball episode with Willis and the infamous "dance sequence" being edited I had also seen in the WNYW airings and when DS came back in syndication in 1997 the edits were similar.

It is not unusual for WNYW to air an old sitcom just out of the blue 10 to 20 years later with the same edits, they've done it before with shows like Small Wonder, M.A.S.H, Three's Company, and Diff'rent Strokes. I remember DS having this star logo on a blue screen at the very end of every episode with a little jingle but I don't see it on these BET reruns inspite of them being the same.

I want to also add that BET's commercial breaks are 5 1/2 minutes long in general.

Only way to confirm that is to see if WPCH in Atlanta is airing the same edits as BET.


I can tell y'all that WPCH is NOT airing the same edits as BET because some posted some episodes on youtube several months ago from the then WTBS Atlanta broadcasts.

Today I recorded the DS episode with Joey Lawrence and I also had an episode recorded from WNYW-5 reruns around 1993 during it's Saturday afternoon airings and the edits are exactly the same. WNYW use to go to commercial at weird parts of an episode just like BET is doing. And that Baseball episode with Willis and the infamous "dance sequence" being edited I had also seen in the WNYW airings and when DS came back in syndication in 1997 the edits were similar.

It is not unusual for WNYW to air an old sitcom just out of the blue 10 to 20 years later with the same edits, they've done it before with shows like Small Wonder, M.A.S.H, Three's Company, and Diff'rent Strokes. I remember DS having this star logo on a blue screen at the very end of every episode with a little jingle but I don't see it on these BET reruns inspite of them being the same.

I want to also add that BET's commercial breaks are 5 1/2 minutes long in general.

The blue star logo is Embassy. They could be the old syndication prints that were used the 80s and early 90s, but I really doubt WNYW gave BET the prints...Sony did. I'll ask BET. It is possible WPCH did their own edits in Atlanta.

Today I recorded the DS episode with Joey Lawrence and I also had an episode recorded from WNYW-5 reruns around 1993 during it's Saturday afternoon airings and the edits are exactly the same. WNYW use to go to commercial at weird parts of an episode just like BET is doing. And that Baseball episode with Willis and the infamous "dance sequence" being edited I had also seen in the WNYW airings and when DS came back in syndication in 1997 the edits were similar.

It is not unusual for WNYW to air an old sitcom just out of the blue 10 to 20 years later with the same edits, they've done it before with shows like Small Wonder, M.A.S.H, Three's Company, and Diff'rent Strokes. I remember DS having this star logo on a blue screen at the very end of every episode with a little jingle but I don't see it on these BET reruns inspite of them being the same.

I want to also add that BET's commercial breaks are 5 1/2 minutes long in general.

I have recorded at least 10 bet versions and the total length without commercials are 21:30, the same as alice was on ion....I am admitting to the edits being the same, I am saying that computers since then have time compressed the show, it cannot be seen by the naked eye, the show is slowly speed up, sometimes just mere frames are taken out so adhere to todays standards, to suggest that WNYW had the same commercial time 15 years ago is impossible....we can all agree you loose about 1 minute of program content in network and syndication about every 10 years or so. the blue star you speak of might have been taft distributing back then, or the program exchange, they might have even been a combined company back then. anyway back to time compression, when laughs abruptly come to an end, that is also an edit, the computer senses dead airtime, walk-on's, walk-off's, reactions to jokes and speeds it up so by the end of the episode, the episode is esentially the same but shorter! Sloppy commercial insertions are now and then done by computer, also the local avail by your cable company in pre-timed....the last 60 seconds of the second commercial break is reserved for the cable company and many cover up what bet is showing with their own local commercials. It is a very complex situation, but I can virtually guarantee there are at least three versions of any syndicated sitcom offered to a local station, cable network or potential dvd release that excist. And again no station is airing tape anymore....but of course the many different version tapes were encoded and put on digital servers.

Please excuse any spelling or grammer errors, I was in a big hurry!

Just spoke to BET and this is their answer:

"We do make slight edits to fit our break format."

They also received syndicated prints from Sony. So they only make slight edits to it. I don't think WNYW's cut to commercial was like BET's. Maybe some episodes yes, but not all, Videomercials.

Just spoke to BET and this is their answer:

"We do make slight edits to fit our break format."


Ah ha! The truth comes out.;)

Just spoke to BET and this is their answer:

"We do make slight edits to fit our break format."

This will be my last reply to this thread but to clarify, they are not editing the show but cutting into it, cutting off either the beginning or end when going to a commercial....for instance adding the 10 second iron ring promo which is a daily staple and usually comes on ubruptly....it's all part of the computers timed process, it is called meeting "a hard out", the term usually used for live television news programs but is used in all of television for everyone to get their piece of the advertsing dollar while still also promoting the network, but no one at bet or anyother station is sitting and recutting and dubbing estentially pregiven sony syndication copies.

I have recorded at least 10 bet versions and the total length without commercials are 21:30, the same as alice was on ion....I am admitting to the edits being the same, I am saying that computers since then have time compressed the show, it cannot be seen by the naked eye, the show is slowly speed up, sometimes just mere frames are taken out so adhere to todays standards, to suggest that WNYW had the same commercial time 15 years ago is impossible....we can all agree you loose about 1 minute of program content in network and syndication about every 10 years or so. the blue star you speak of might have been taft distributing back then, or the program exchange.

The logo with the star was Embassy, that's what I was thinking of.

Just spoke to BET and this is their answer:

"We do make slight edits to fit our break format."


Nothing surprising about that statement-lol

There's no doubt about it, these BET episodes are the exact same as WNYW Channel 5 back then when Embassy was the end tag of each episode. Just finish watching the Crazy Larry episode with Willis and the edits AND commercial breaks are exactly the same as the one I have from WNYW.

If BET did not acquired them from WNYW or is using those syndicated versions from the Metromedia TV stations at the time then no one should be angry with BET regarding the edits because clearly it's not their fault if you dont like the edits. Both the Joey Lawrence and Crazy Larry episodes that I have from WNYW is the same as BET.

HOWEVER, the only different between the two is that these BET reruns were remastered and the colors stand out more than the WNYW version which I suspect are Metromedia edits. Metromedia was even in the end credits of DS so I know for sure that these are indeed the first syndicated edits from 1986 distributed exclusively to the Metromedia (now FOX) tv stations.