Are there different versions of the Alcatraz prison segment? The one I have on my tape is the 1 hour special with Robert Stack on a boat with a scuba diving team. The divers swam to the shore to see how long the guys who escaped could have lasted before getting worn out.

I believe there are different versions of this. Spike edited the crap out of it. If you have the 1 hour special of it, I believe you have most if not all material that was aired. I remember watching the 1 hour special as a kid with my grandpa.

When I saw the segment years later on lifetime, I believe they still showed the majority of the segment, but as I recall, the "in the field" segments were cut down by a lot. As I recall, the edited segment has the swimmer going into the water then we don't see him again until he comes to shore. In the original version, if I recall correctly, they interview him a time or two from a boat that is along side him while he is swimming. I believe there may have been other interviews cut down as well, such as the guys in the make shift raft being interviewed in a similar manner.

Not certain 100% about all that as I have not seen it unedited in years, but I know there were things cut in reruns.

The original UM special on Alcatraz was a full 90 minutes long. This is also where they originally aired the segment about Jean-Marie Gagnon and profiled a couple of other wanted prison escapees who were on the run. It wouldn't surprise me if the Gagnon segment was edited out of future airings since he was eventually captured.