View Full Version : TV Land, Bewitched, and the Dreaded "E" word (Editing)


Flash72
06-01-2003, 06:51 PM
I was not surprised to see that like any other show, "Bewitched" has been put on the chopping block. One noticeable edit came in the episode where Tabitha and Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk trade places.

Dialogue included: Jack- Tabitha said you like boys better than girls. I'm a boy.
Samantha: That's not true!
Jack (Cut from TV Land)- I am so a boy!

For whatever reason, TV Land deemed this necessary to cut. Perhaps they were afraid those confused about their gender would be offended by this innocuous line from the show. *Rolls eyes*

TV Guy
06-01-2003, 07:45 PM
I really don't believe that any of these older shows are edited for content, but rather for time. A line here and a line there add up to more commercial time available.

BTW, the editing is generally not done by the network itself, but by the distributor (in this case, Sony).

Flash72
06-01-2003, 08:17 PM
TV Land has admitted when it comes to "questionable" humor, to having edited the shows for content. Last year, it was brought up that they were cutting drug-related jokes on the "Beverly Hillbillies." And they refused to air episode 53 of the "Munsters" due to its storyline and content, they deemed inappropriate for some viewers. My belief is if it was aired back in the 60's, it should be shown nowadays as well.

TV Guy
06-01-2003, 09:05 PM
I knew there were certain episodes of shows, such as "The Munsters" and "Facts of Life" (on N@N) that they refused to air, but I wasn't aware that they were cutting lines from episodes themselves. Interesting. But I believe that a great majority of the line cuts (including the one above, IMHO) are for time rather than content.

I agree with you, though, that lines that were acceptable in older shows should be acceptable today, for the most part.

TVgen62
06-01-2003, 09:56 PM
Originally posted by TV Guy
I knew there were certain episodes of shows, such as "The Munsters" and "Facts of Life" (on N@N) that they refused to air, but I wasn't aware that they were cutting lines from episodes themselves. Interesting. But I believe that a great majority of the line cuts (including the one above, IMHO) are for time rather than content.

I agree with you, though, that lines that were acceptable in older shows should be acceptable today, for the most part.

I agree, TV Guy, that the majority of editing is done in consideration of time. More time is devoted to commercials now then, say, 30 years ago. If one cannot find a logical reason for deleting dialogue due to content, then one must assume it was deleted to fit it into the time allowed.

treky
06-02-2003, 12:17 AM
Originally posted by TV Guy
I really don't believe that any of these older shows are edited for content, but rather for time. A line here and a line there add up to more commercial time available.

BTW, the editing is generally not done by the network itself, but by the distributor (in this case, Sony). I think the distributer edits some shows, then TV LAND, or N@N, or TBS or whoever sometimes does further edits, for time. I THINK, I'm not sure.

bb25
06-02-2003, 12:23 AM
Yeah. I have noticed major editing in an episode of I Love Lucy titled "Housewarming" the scene where Lucy, Betty & Ethel are sitting around the table having lunch. Well, I recorded that episode back in 1997 from N@N and the last time I saw it on TV Land they edited out at least 5 lines...it took so much away, and the lunch scene was the best in the whole episode...

benjamoon
06-02-2003, 06:34 PM
In all honesty, I was surprised that TV Land left in as much as they did. I was expecting them to cut more but they only had 2 commercial breaks each episode that both weren't very long. Considering the way they've chopped some others (Mary Tyler Moore, I Love Lucy) - it's not too bad