Slight difference in pilots on DVD Set - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TeeVeeCloset · 03-20-2006, 02:32 PM

I haven't really gotten through much of the DVD set but did notice this while watching the pilot, in the colorized version an original credit appears in the opening sequence for Hayden Rorke and two others while this does not appear on the black & white set.....strange???

also speaking of the pilot, can anyone shed some light on why the original 31 minute unaired pilot did not appear on the set, same episode with 5 additional minutes.....this is routinely traded by collectors and seems it would have made a wonderful addition to the set.

treky · 03-22-2006, 02:47 AM

I never knew there's also an unaired version of the pilot!!!

You're right, that would have made a GREAT extra. Maybe it'll be on one of the other season sets.

Maybe someone can contact Sony and ask them about it.

TV Knowledge Fan · 03-31-2006, 04:47 PM

Yes, there is a 31 minute version of the pilot episode floating around in collectors' circles...that was a 16mm print that was shown to potential advertisers and NBC executives in the winter of 1965. (I was lucky enough to have a friend show it to me a long time ago!) The title sequence is different (with Hayden Rorke, Philip Ober and Karen Sharpe getting co-star
credit) as are the closing credits (Sidney Sheldon and Gene Nelson's credits
appearing there instead of the beginning of the "first act") with the complete closing theme....and a number of extra scenes that concur with Sidney's original script (and some unexpected ones--when Tony asks Jeannie for a helicopter to rescue him, she mouthes the syllables "hel-i-cop-ter" before blinking one up from nowhere...this bit of business is not in the written script, and not seen in the final version shown to this day....still, it proved that Jeannie THINKS before she blinks!!). And, of course, only in the "unaired" version do WE get to see what Jeannie is saying to "Master" in Farsi {Persian}, because the translations appear at the bottom of the screen.
The "official" version of the pilot had none.

I don't even know if SONY has a copy of the unaired version....

treky · 04-01-2006, 03:13 AM

are you sure it's an unaired version? Because, I seem to remember, YEARS ago, in the 70s watching "IDOJ" weekday mornings on channel 11 in New York and seeing the pilot once, and every time Jeannie said something, the english translastion appeared at the bottom of the screen. I DISTINCTLY remember that.

This was about 74 or 75 I saw it.

TV Knowledge Fan · 04-03-2006, 02:01 PM

...I vaguely remember seeing the pilot episode WITH the English translations
for Jeannie's Farsi on Channel 11 in the early '70s (they eventually chopped the original opening title off the episode, too)......but the one shown on WTBS in the '80s DIDN'T have them!!!

treky · 04-04-2006, 05:32 PM

YES!!!! Someone else remembers too!! I thought I was just imagining it.

I remember Tony said "Oh, I wish you could speak english!" And suddenly she could.

TeeVeeCloset · 04-11-2006, 02:03 PM

I too remembered seeing the english sub-titles in the pilot, in fact they are on the columbia house VHS release from about 10 years ago.....very strange that they would be eliminated on the DVD set and from syndication....

Joeytrom · 07-11-2006, 06:57 PM

I also remember the English subtitles. And when Tony asks for a helicopter, she blinked him at first a strange looking ship that isn't on the later reruns.

That pilot episode when aired on Channel 11 in NYC never had an opening title sequence. When Nick at Nite first reran that episode, they used the original opening with Hayden Rorke and the others.

Channel 11 used both the original filmed opening sequence (after the teaser) and the color episode opening sequence (after the first commercial break) for the second episode thru halfway of the first season.

TV Knowledge Fan · 07-12-2006, 04:36 PM

.....WPIX-TV DID show an opening title for the first episode in the early '70s...but it was eventually cut away for some unknown reason, I don't know why. I know that, in [W]TBS' print shown in the '80s, the opening title used in the pilot episode was the "color" title in black & white...not so channel 11's.

See, because "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" had an "alternate sponsor" in its first season {Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. for L&M, Lark, and Chesterfield King cigarettes}, the opening title ended on alternate weeks with Paul Frees' voice-over, "'I DREAM OF JEANNIE'...brought to you by-". For some reason, Screen Gems/Columbia didn't make their first season titles "uniform" in syndication- they kept most of those voice-over titles intact in syndicated prints (leaving it up to local stations to cut Frees' voice off the end) or substituted the "color" title instead. Sometimes, when the "recap" title, with Frees' narration, was used during episodes 2 through 8, they'd stick the "color" title in as well!! TWO openings in syndication, how about that!!

By the way, the opening title in the pilot that 'Nick At Nite' showed, with Hayden Rorke's, Philip Ober's and Karen Sharpe's names prominently featured, was originally the one used in the UNAIRED version of the show's pilot episode. By the time regular production began, Sidney Sheldon decided not to have Ober and Sharpe appear as regular characters, and had the opening titles refilmed to eliminate their credits- that's the one shown in the first episode and the first half of that season. Beginning with the episode "Is There An Extra Jeannie In the House?" [1/22/66], Sidney Sheldon was credited in the opening titles as creator AND producer, and that's how the title stayed for the rest of that season.

treky · 07-14-2006, 01:12 AM

yes, I remember seeing that in the pilot; YEARS ago when channel 11 in New York showed it.

BSDDomi · 07-14-2006, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by munsters100

Does anyone remember when Jeannie is on the beach with Tony, she blinks up a slave ship [ before she can speak english ]?

Yes, very well actually because that scene is in the pilot of the colorized season one DVD set

and it sure was a funny looking ship...would have been fun had Tony Nelson used that one to get home..

TV Knowledge Fan · 07-17-2006, 11:55 AM

...and I suspect the reason why is because, in the 2003-'06 'TV LAND' edition of the pilot, the sequence with the "galley (slave) ship" was missing. Believe me, that scene- and everything else in the "broadcast version"- is in the DVD set.
If you traded for the "unaired version", 'munsters100'...you're very lucky, indeed!!

TV Knowledge Fan · 07-17-2006, 07:36 PM

...'munsters100', has a running time of about 31 minutes {"30:49"}, so you've got it! I've never come across a "35 minute version"....and you're one up on those people who haven't seen it yet! Including the "leader countdown" at the very beginning......

[Oh yes, because the original pilot episode was prepared and completed by February of 1965, the "Screen Gems" logo at the end was the one used in the 1964-'65 season. Not until the following season was the "abstract S" logo used in every SG pilot and series.]

brgmgb · 07-29-2006, 10:24 PM

WGN in Chicago used to broadcast the original pilot, with Jeannie not speaking English and the slave ship. For years, the afterschool lineup included Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan's Heros, Andy Griffith, and the Dick Van Dyke Show.

03-20-2006, 02:32 PM	#1
TeeVeeCloset Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 25, 2003 Posts: 1,873	Slight difference in pilots on DVD Set I haven't really gotten through much of the DVD set but did notice this while watching the pilot, in the colorized version an original credit appears in the opening sequence for Hayden Rorke and two others while this does not appear on the black & white set.....strange??? also speaking of the pilot, can anyone shed some light on why the original 31 minute unaired pilot did not appear on the set, same episode with 5 additional minutes.....this is routinely traded by collectors and seems it would have made a wonderful addition to the set.

03-22-2006, 02:47 AM	#2
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	I never knew there's also an unaired version of the pilot!!! You're right, that would have made a GREAT extra. Maybe it'll be on one of the other season sets. Maybe someone can contact Sony and ask them about it.
	__________________ the Clampetts are in a fancy Beverly Hills jewelry store. Granny points to a tray of rubies. Granny: "How much fer one o' them red diamonds?" clerk: "Madam, those are rubies." Granny: "OK ask her kin we buy one offa her." clerk: " The ruby I am talking about is not a lady." Granny: "Lissen, how she got them diamonds is her business. I'm just sayin' ask her kin we buy one from her."

03-31-2006, 04:47 PM	#3
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	the "unaired" pilot.... Yes, there is a 31 minute version of the pilot episode floating around in collectors' circles...that was a 16mm print that was shown to potential advertisers and NBC executives in the winter of 1965. (I was lucky enough to have a friend show it to me a long time ago!) The title sequence is different (with Hayden Rorke, Philip Ober and Karen Sharpe getting co-star credit) as are the closing credits (Sidney Sheldon and Gene Nelson's credits appearing there instead of the beginning of the "first act") with the complete closing theme....and a number of extra scenes that concur with Sidney's original script (and some unexpected ones--when Tony asks Jeannie for a helicopter to rescue him, she mouthes the syllables "hel-i-cop-ter" before blinking one up from nowhere...this bit of business is not in the written script, and not seen in the final version shown to this day....still, it proved that Jeannie THINKS before she blinks!!). And, of course, only in the "unaired" version do WE get to see what Jeannie is saying to "Master" in Farsi {Persian}, because the translations appear at the bottom of the screen. The "official" version of the pilot had none. I don't even know if SONY has a copy of the unaired version....

04-03-2006, 02:01 PM	#5
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	come to think of it, 'treky'... ...I vaguely remember seeing the pilot episode WITH the English translations for Jeannie's Farsi on Channel 11 in the early '70s (they eventually chopped the original opening title off the episode, too)......but the one shown on WTBS in the '80s DIDN'T have them!!!

07-12-2006, 04:36 PM	#9
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	actually, 'Joeytrom'..... .....WPIX-TV DID show an opening title for the first episode in the early '70s...but it was eventually cut away for some unknown reason, I don't know why. I know that, in [W]TBS' print shown in the '80s, the opening title used in the pilot episode was the "color" title in black & white...not so channel 11's. See, because "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" had an "alternate sponsor" in its first season {Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. for L&M, Lark, and Chesterfield King cigarettes}, the opening title ended on alternate weeks with Paul Frees' voice-over, "'I DREAM OF JEANNIE'...brought to you by-". For some reason, Screen Gems/Columbia didn't make their first season titles "uniform" in syndication- they kept most of those voice-over titles intact in syndicated prints (leaving it up to local stations to cut Frees' voice off the end) or substituted the "color" title instead. Sometimes, when the "recap" title, with Frees' narration, was used during episodes 2 through 8, they'd stick the "color" title in as well!! TWO openings in syndication, how about that!! By the way, the opening title in the pilot that 'Nick At Nite' showed, with Hayden Rorke's, Philip Ober's and Karen Sharpe's names prominently featured, was originally the one used in the UNAIRED version of the show's pilot episode. By the time regular production began, Sidney Sheldon decided not to have Ober and Sharpe appear as regular characters, and had the opening titles refilmed to eliminate their credits- that's the one shown in the first episode and the first half of that season. Beginning with the episode "Is There An Extra Jeannie In the House?" [1/22/66], Sidney Sheldon was credited in the opening titles as creator AND producer, and that's how the title stayed for the rest of that season.

04-01-2006, 03:13 AM	#4
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	are you sure it's an unaired version? Because, I seem to remember, YEARS ago, in the 70s watching "IDOJ" weekday mornings on channel 11 in New York and seeing the pilot once, and every time Jeannie said something, the english translastion appeared at the bottom of the screen. I DISTINCTLY remember that. This was about 74 or 75 I saw it.

04-04-2006, 05:32 PM	#6
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	YES!!!! Someone else remembers too!! I thought I was just imagining it. I remember Tony said "Oh, I wish you could speak english!" And suddenly she could.

04-11-2006, 02:03 PM	#7
TeeVeeCloset Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 25, 2003 Posts: 1,873	I too remembered seeing the english sub-titles in the pilot, in fact they are on the columbia house VHS release from about 10 years ago.....very strange that they would be eliminated on the DVD set and from syndication....

07-11-2006, 06:57 PM	#8
Joeytrom Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 03, 2002 Posts: 60	I also remember the English subtitles. And when Tony asks for a helicopter, she blinked him at first a strange looking ship that isn't on the later reruns. That pilot episode when aired on Channel 11 in NYC never had an opening title sequence. When Nick at Nite first reran that episode, they used the original opening with Hayden Rorke and the others. Channel 11 used both the original filmed opening sequence (after the teaser) and the color episode opening sequence (after the first commercial break) for the second episode thru halfway of the first season.

07-14-2006, 01:12 AM	#10
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	yes, I remember seeing that in the pilot; YEARS ago when channel 11 in New York showed it.

07-17-2006, 11:55 AM	#12
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	there's a bit of confusion here.... ...and I suspect the reason why is because, in the 2003-'06 'TV LAND' edition of the pilot, the sequence with the "galley (slave) ship" was missing. Believe me, that scene- and everything else in the "broadcast version"- is in the DVD set. If you traded for the "unaired version", 'munsters100'...you're very lucky, indeed!!

07-17-2006, 07:36 PM	#13
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	the "unaired version"... ...'munsters100', has a running time of about 31 minutes {"30:49"}, so you've got it! I've never come across a "35 minute version"....and you're one up on those people who haven't seen it yet! Including the "leader countdown" at the very beginning...... [Oh yes, because the original pilot episode was prepared and completed by February of 1965, the "Screen Gems" logo at the end was the one used in the 1964-'65 season. Not until the following season was the "abstract S" logo used in every SG pilot and series.]

07-29-2006, 10:24 PM	#14
brgmgb Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 26, 2006 Posts: 88	WGN in Chicago used to broadcast the original pilot, with Jeannie not speaking English and the slave ship. For years, the afterschool lineup included Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan's Heros, Andy Griffith, and the Dick Van Dyke Show.