I'm just wondering if N@N cuts Wings episodes. An episode of Wings on N@N runs 21:55. I have noticed that some episodes in the last 2 seasons run 21:30. I can't help but wonder if we are getting the unedited Wings or not. There could be time compression such as what N@N did with Cheers.

Originally posted by jpnoyes
I'm just wondering if N@N cuts Wings episodes. An episode of Wings on N@N runs 21:55. I have noticed that some episodes in the last 2 seasons run 21:30. I can't help but wonder if we are getting the unedited Wings or not. There could be time compression such as what N@N did with Cheers.

Normally episodes of ANY half-hour series are cut from their original network length of about 26 minutes to about 22 minutes for rerun purposes. This is done to allow for more commercials in the rerun version....and if you notice, there are a LOT of commercials on NICK's "Wings" airings.

Most of these edits are done quite smoothly and are unnoticed, but the other night I noticed one that really affected the story for a few minutes....

During Part 1 of "Return To Nantucket", Joe is all set to fly Brian to Boston to meet Carol, and Brian is all excited and happy about it.....then there's a commercial break.....when we return to the episode, Brian is all depressed and Joe is telling him that it's "all for the best" that he couldn't go and meet Carol. That part makes NO sense at all the way that it was shown on NICK....It isn't until a few minutes later that we learn that the reason that the Hackett brothers didn't fly to Boston was that there was a really thick fog. The thick fog should have been (and probably WAS in the original network version) explained to the viewer BEFORE seeing Brian all bummed out, but because the original explanation was edited out, the "bummed out" scene didn't make much sense.

Did anyone else find that part of the episode as confusing as I did?
Just one example how a sloppy and thoughtless edit can have a bad effect on a rerun episode!

Originally posted by pilotguy
Normally episodes of ANY half-hour series are cut from their original network length of about 26 minutes to about 22 minutes for rerun purposes. This is done to allow for more commercials in the rerun version....and if you notice, there are a LOT of commercials on NICK's "Wings" airings.

Most of these edits are done quite smoothly and are unnoticed, but the other night I noticed one that really affected the story for a few minutes....

During Part 1 of "Return To Nantucket", Joe is all set to fly Brian to Boston to meet Carol, and Brian is all excited and happy about it.....then there's a commercial break.....when we return to the episode, Brian is all depressed and Joe is telling him that it's "all for the best" that he couldn't go and meet Carol. That part makes NO sense at all the way that it was shown on NICK....It isn't until a few minutes later that we learn that the reason that the Hackett brothers didn't fly to Boston was that there was a really thick fog. The thick fog should have been (and probably WAS in the original network version) explained to the viewer BEFORE seeing Brian all bummed out, but because the original explanation was edited out, the "bummed out" scene didn't make much sense.

Did anyone else find that part of the episode as confusing as I did?
Just one example how a sloppy and thoughtless edit can have a bad effect on a rerun episode!


I noticed that bummed out scene too. If Wings is edited, it isn't as bad as some older shows that have aired on N@N. Wings started around the same time as the Simpsons. I have the Simpsons first season DVD and all of the episodes are between 22:30-23:10 unedited. I assume that Wings episodes have the same time length as the simpsons.

This isn't really "Wings"-related, but it DOES tie-in with the thread's topic of editing reruns:

One of the all-time WORST rerun edits HAS to be the episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" with guest Tallulah Bankhead. (This was shown on both NICK and on TV Land).....

There's an early scene where Tallulah is having dinner at The Ricardo's house, and the dessert (a strawberry pie) is ruined. Lucy feels terrible about it, but Tallulah tells her not to worry about it....it seems that Tallulah is DEATHLY allergic to strawberries, and they make her break out and itch all over.

In the second half of the show, the Ricardo's, Mertzes and Tallulah are acting in a stage drama for the PTA. Lucy and Tallulah have had a big fight before the PTA show, and Lucy's doing everything that she can to make Tallulah look bad on stage....

Lucy's playing Tallulah's Lady-In-Waiting in the play, and there's a scene where she's SUPPOSED to serve Tallulah a sauce made of mandarin oranges...but she substitues strawberries instead....

When Tallulah tastes the sauce, she gets this horrified look on her face and yells, "Tastes like STRAWBERRIES!", and proceeds to wildly scratch herself all over in front of the PTA audience.....

The only trouble is that Viacom deleted the part of the earlier dinner scene where Tallulah tells the Ricardos that she's allergic to strawberries....so the later bit with her being horrified and wildly scratching is virtually meaningless!

Another classic example of: "What were those syndication editors THINKING?"

Originally posted by pilotguy
This isn't really "Wings"-related, but it DOES tie-in with the thread's topic of editing reruns:

One of the all-time WORST rerun edits HAS to be the episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" with guest Tallulah Bankhead. (This was shown on both NICK and on TV Land).....

There's an early scene where Tallulah is having dinner at The Ricardo's house, and the dessert (a strawberry pie) is ruined. Lucy feels terrible about it, but Tallulah tells her not to worry about it....it seems that Tallulah is DEATHLY allergic to strawberries, and they make her break out and itch all over.

In the second half of the show, the Ricardo's, Mertzes and Tallulah are acting in a stage drama for the PTA. Lucy and Tallulah have had a big fight before the PTA show, and Lucy's doing everything that she can to make Tallulah look bad on stage....

Lucy's playing Tallulah's Lady-In-Waiting in the play, and there's a scene where she's SUPPOSED to serve Tallulah a sauce made of mandarin oranges...but she substitues strawberries instead....

When Tallulah tastes the sauce, she gets this horrified look on her face and yells, "Tastes like STRAWBERRIES!", and proceeds to wildly scratch herself all over in front of the PTA audience.....

The only trouble is that Viacom deleted the part of the earlier dinner scene where Tallulah tells the Ricardos that she's allergic to strawberries....so the later bit with her being horrified and wildly scratching is virtually meaningless!

Another classic example of: "What were those syndication editors THINKING?"

I'v seen that episode. They sell them (Lucy-Desi) on VHS for those who want to see the episode uncut.

There was a scene in the pilot of "NewsRadio" where Ed the then news director insults Matthew. Matthew walks away and starts to cry. Dave, who is about to become the news director, comforts Matthew by telling him that he's about to fire Ed and take over his job. However in reruns, they cut out the part where Ed insults Matthew. It skips right to Dave comforting Matthew. Which for people who haven't seen the episode uncut don't know why Matthew's crying.

I could be wrong but after watching last nights episode Sports and Leisure I believe N@N is using time compression. you have to watch for it though. In one of the scenes, the characters seem to be moving faster than usual. Does anyone else notice this?

i wouldnt even notice if Wings was cut, as it has never even aired on TV in Britain.
I am just lucky that i have been having it recorded for me in the US.:)

While we're on the subject of compression, does the pitch of the audio seem to go up as well?

I know that there's a radio station that does the compression and the sound is really warped beyond repair.

Originally posted by jpnoyes
I could be wrong but after watching last nights episode Sports and Leisure I believe N@N is using time compression. you have to watch for it though. In one of the scenes, the characters seem to be moving faster than usual. Does anyone else notice this?

lol they actually do that? I never knew that! I've never noticed it before.
I know they do it to songs on the radio. and Ange- I have noticed that some songs are in a higher pitch because they speed them up slightly. ...but I don't even listen to the radio anymore anyway because that stupid Clear Channel company is taking over all the radio stations in existence, and turning them into crap... but that's another story...

I don't understand why netowrks cut out scenes in reruns for even MORE commercial time. Why do we need 8-12 minutes of commercial time for each half-hour show?

Also, one thing I've noticed about ER is that NBC often starts it a couple of minutes before 10 PM. I don't know why they do it. I don't see any point to it at all. Do other current network shows do this?

Originally posted by Snoopy
I don't understand why netowrks cut out scenes in reruns for even MORE commercial time. Why do we need 8-12 minutes of commercial time for each half-hour show?



WE don't need more commercial time, but the networks and/or local TV stations do! The more commercial time they fill, the more revenue they have coming in from businesses buying commercial time....It's all set up to make more money!

Originally posted by Snoopy

Also, one thing I've noticed about ER is that NBC often starts it a couple of minutes before 10 PM. I don't know why they do it. I don't see any point to it at all. Do other current network shows do this?

NBC has been doing bizarre things on Thursday nights since last season. because every time I go to watch "Scrubs", it's on at a different time almost every week, and Friends runs about 45 minutes long, and so does Will & Grace sometimes, and then I think Scrubs is only on for a half hour, and then ER starts early.... they do something bizarrely different every week. I don't get it.

NBC is treating Scrubs like garbage, just like with NewsRadio and Wings :( Maybe when Friends and Frasier are finally gone, Scrubs will start to get the respect and attention it deserves :D