Guys,

I read in one of my TV books a few years ago that Canadian Television has the same classic sitcomes that we have known to grow and love in the United States. They however will show these sitcoms with very rare exceptions UNCUT! For example, a classic show that originally ran 25 minutes, almost always does run 25 minutes! According to information that I have, Canadian TV viewers and station affiliates will not edit classic episodes, in almost all cases because they see edited episodes as a form of CENSORSHIP! But here in the free-country of the United States, we have to put up with shows that have anywhere from 2-5 minutes cut out (for more commercials) I want to know why Canadians get the right to enjoy uncut television and the American's don't?

Explain also why it is that even with the 2-5 minutes cut out of these classic episodes that in many cases the shows STILL end with 3-4 minutes to spare!!! (No excuses here, there is still more than enough time to get all 25 minutes of a show in.) Do the Canadians spend more money on advertising?

The editing of our classic shows is a form of censorship. Canadian TV advertisors have to make money, but they leave shows in their original form as they were MEANT to be seen! We in America have the right to demand that our shows be restored to their original broadcasts lengths. Why do Canadians get the right to uncut episodes and the Americans don't?

Jack

Now now... I wouldn't call the editing of classic TV Shows censorship...

I'd call it greed.

Plain, simple, American greed.

If the networks could get away with chopping out a few more minutes of a show for commercials, I'm sure they would. But you can only go so far... I hope.

As a Canadian myself, I feel fortunate that our channels do this with older sitcoms, however, I'm not so happy with the way they treat the current prime-time shows. That's where they happen to stick the extra commercials in and where they indulge in simulcasting so that the commercials not only show up on their station but also on the American station that happens to carry the show. The worst example of this happens during the Super Bowl where naturally the largest advertising rates are charged and the station that runs it (usually Global) takes advantage of it every chance they get and generally annoys the viewers by running a small ad on a picture of the stadium's scoreboard just as the American feed is coming back from a commercial which sometimes leads to the viewers missing a key play. You can imagine the reaction that must get across the country.


With the "classic" shows this doesn't happen because, and I'm only guessing here, they aren't as big an advertising draw and so they run pretty much unedited with the one exception being when CTS won't show all of the closing credits of a show because they have to rush to get their next show on on time. As one who prefers the older sitcoms to the current ones, I don't mind this trade-off one bit and can consider myself lucky that I can see these shows pretty much the way they were meant to be seen. One thing for sure, it's a lot easier to tape them this way than the alternative which is the American way-- and you can have it!!!

Historically, Canadians have enjoyed all kinds of groovey stuff Americans have not.

I can't imagine what it must be like to step outside my door and not see (and smell) a rancid McDonald's franchise.
They've got healthcare, culture, literacy, the McKenzie Brothers .... oh, don't worry, you'll find us Americans at the border begging to get in, eh.