Guys,

I think that the DVD transfers are beautiful and the prints really are as pristine as possible for a show going on 60 years old! Most of the episodes come in at over 25 minutes and appear to be unedited.

However, there are a few season 3 episodes that come in at only 25 minutes, and isn't there one that comes in at less than 25 minutes. A few show experts have suggested that there are two episodes that may have been cut from their original airing:

1.) There's an episode where Wally and Beaver are going to bury the gopher they found in the yard. What is the name of that episode? I think it is Season 3. But there is no previous mention of a gopher before the mention of Wally's line.

2.) It is also believed that there was a small cut with the class rehearsing "Old Macdonald" in the episode "June's Birthday." I think the DVD picks up with Ms. Landers saying, "Now, let's try that last part (of the song) again." But before that, what this person claims is cut, is Ms. Landers telling the class they are going to Mrs. Harrison's house to sing.

I have no verification of these edits. Scenes may have also been cut post-production, prior to airing, and the producers probably did not watch a clock saying, "Oh, we absolutely have to be 25-26 minutes long per episode." If scenes or lines didn't flow well, they mave have removed them at the suggestion of the cast and crew for best continuity. If you notice any DVD sharp scene changes or edits, where you suspect something is missing. List them here.

And, if you are a REALLY HUGE BEAVER historian who can remember a scene or line not in the DVD, list that here as well. I think these are the only two possible edits that people have suspected over the years.

Jack

I assume edits to some shows may depend on the source of any DVD's. If these are coming from whoever now owns the rights to that series, I question why there would be any edits at all. Right now, MeTV seems to be showing uncut episodes, but before that, other cable outlets were editing out some scenes that had what I felt were some classic lines.

Actually, when I consider purchasing DVD's or even video tapes of some old shows (wether it is LITB or something else), I am interested if it contains the original commercials as seen in the show. Some from private collectors do. That may sound funny because back in the day, we used to leave the room during that 60 seconds or probably not pay attention. Of course, some of the old series used to include the actors from the show in the commercials. That made them more interesting then and much more sought after now.

I just love old commercials.

Anyway when I watch LITB on Netflix I see the whole show so I assume they are showing the DVD's.

MeTV does a good job of not editing but sometimes they do cut a scene or shorten it. I just saw that recently but forget the episode. In the one about Lumpy's watch and how he blackmails Beaver for the $15 there is a scene with Wally and June in the kitchen that is obviously cut. On Netflix I saw it and I don't know why it was cut. I love watching on Netflix where you see scenes in the original format.

Back in 2004 I recorded a lot of episodes from TV Land before it became crap and when I watch Netflix I'm really surprised to see scenes that I hadn't seen before. Usually they're between Ward and June discusses some old flame that are very funny.

I was surfing old posts. Aha! Post 1 from 2001 is saying what I said about June's Birthday...something is missing!

Also, I vaguely remember what he mentions about burying a gopher, but I don't think it's season 3.

I'm reasonably sure, but not entirely, that the DVDs have at least all the material that was in the original airing except the commercials.

The issue came up just before Shout released the complete series. One of the Shout people reassured us that the episodes were previewed by "experts" who ought to know and they agreed that the episodes were complete.

Of course that doesn't rule out material cut in post-production that never made it to the original airing. I'd agree; it sounds reasonable that Miss Landers would have announced to the class that they were going to sing at Mrs. Harrison's.

My opinion is that some of Miss Landers' explanation is edited out. I think it might be an edit that originated with TV Land, because I remember seeing the full scene in syndication (before TV Land). Problem is, I don't have an "old" copy. I've seen the episode on Youtube, but it's just the TV Land copy.

I like how Mother's Day Composition starts with Mrs. Rayburn at the desk talking about doing something different and writing a composition where the pupils get to choose an idea. You can certainly tell something's been cut out in the beginning. When the show starts they usually show you the front of the house with that music so you know it's the beginning. Once I saw a scene I never saw before and it blew me away.