Why is Bus Stop edited on the DVD set?

[Christopher]

Does anyone know why this episode is edited on the DVD sets? I know it's edited because there's a scene in the closing credits that's missing from the episode. It's a scene with Mrs. Garrett sitting down in the store with Natalie while Tootie is at the counter cleaning. I took a screen shot of the closing credit scene to show what I mean. I'm guessing it takes place after Jo tells Natalie what a waste it is that she's not going to college. I don't understand why it was cut. Anyone who has seen this episode uncut, was there a song playing the studio couldn't get clearance for? Is the uncut copy damaged and that's why they are only releasing the edited version? It's weird it's only on this episode we don't have an explanation for. I did a search on here for this episode and it appears Netflix Canada also aired the edited version that's on the DVD set.

[RetroGuy2000]

Hey Christopher!

Good catch on spotting the deleted scene in the ending credits! I have no idea why it might have been deleted, but I hope someone here can give you an answer. (I'm just glad to have Felice's deleted scene restored.)

['80sSitcoms]

Hmm, well, just to make sure, are we absolutely certain it's edited? I'm assuming so, but, suppose they filmed this brief scene, possibly only a matter of seconds, but decided at the last minute to cut that out of the actual show. If the end credits had been assembled, it could have been forgotten about after the "fact" (ha).

Does the episode's running time seem like it's definitely missing a scene?

You never know, just thought I'd mention that as a possibility, no matter how faint.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Hmm, well, just to make sure, are we absolutely certain it's edited? I'm assuming so, but, suppose they filmed this brief scene, possibly only a matter of seconds, but decided at the last minute to cut that out of the actual show. If the end credits had been assembled, it could have been forgotten about after the "fact" (ha).

Does the episode's running time seem like it's definitely missing a scene?

It's definitely edited. Every episode of season 6 is close to 25 minutes long except Bus Stop. It's barely over 22 minutes. I assumed that was the original length of this episode since Shout stated the only edit was The Graduate on the box set. I watched Bus Stop yesterday (I literally watch an episode or 6 a day) and noticed that scene in the closing credits was not in the episode. I don't understand why the full length episode hasn't been available.

[stevea]

Years ago Comcast showed FOL episodes unedited, On Demand. I recorded them on DVD, and I found the DVD this episode would have been on, and they skipped it.

I'd have to think the network version is lost in the archives, or maybe it's damaged. If Sony had done the DVD set they might have been more likely to make an effort to find it, or restore it.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by stevea

Years ago Comcast showed FOL episodes unedited, On Demand. I recorded them on DVD, and I found the DVD this episode would have been on, and they skipped it.

I'd have to think the network version is lost in the archives, or maybe it's damaged. If Sony had done the DVD set they might have been more likely to make an effort to find it, or restore it.

I remember the Comcast Demand channel. I have episodes recorded as well from there. They did play Bus Stop and it's the same version as on the DVD set. I just don't get why. People on here years ago said Netflix in Canada had the edited version of Bus Stop as well. It's a pity. I don't really care for this episode but I can't help wondering if I would had the original version been released. I wish Sony had continue to release this show instead of Shout. Shout didn't even bother to restore the last few seasons before releasing them. The picture is grainy on a lot of episodes. Sony would have done a better job.

[stevea]

I must have just missed copying that one on Comcast.

I don't think Shout gets the access that the owners of the original shows have. When the owners decide to release a show, they access the original network tape, or film, and remaster, doing color correction and other restoration. In the case of Shout, Time-Life, etc., they probably must work with what they are given, which is most likely a videotape copy, hopefully original length. Of course, they certainly should have the ability to do color correction and general restoration on that.

['80sSitcoms]

Time-Life/StarVista Entertainment got amazing access to The Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family.

[stevea]

What I should have said was that independent studios most often don't have access to original films owned by large companies like CBS TV Productions, Sony, Universal, etc (you can tell by looking at some of Shout's releases, like the FOL examples above and the color seasons of Hazel, that the originals aren't remastered). For Mama's Family, I think Warners only has the rights to the syndication episodes. At least for the first two seasons, IIRC, they made a deal with the owners of the network episodes (Joe Hamilton maybe?). With Carol Burnett, although her masters (I think) are stored at CBS, (again, I think) she owns them, and probably made a deal with Time Life.

['80sSitcoms]

Warner Brothers only did the first release of Mama's Family which was close to 15 years ago by now. All they did was release the syndicated edited episodes from the first two seasons on NBC, and fans were absolutely LIVID (there are horrendous reviews on Amazon). Time-Life/Star Vista did an amazing job with The Carol Burnett Show, and then after hearing Vicki Lawrence say this kind of release was her dream for Mama's Family, the TL/SV folks started looking into MF, and they made a deal with Warner and they did the release and they did it right---master tapes for most of the episodes, nearly 13 hours of extras across the entire collection. There were a handful of music edits due to clearance issues, but the fact that they put back in nearly all of the material which was edited out for syndication, including the Alistair Quince introductions (Harvey Korman spoofing Masterpiece Theater), that it made up for that. Plus, hard-core fans can get MF collections from fans on iOffer.com that have the music edits intact.

[stevea]

I have the MF S1/S2 sets, and the most irritating thing is the 2 part mayor episode with the Harper Days cuts. I've been trying to figure out a way to combine the MeTV version with the Star Vista version and get complete episodes, but I can't do it since I can't copy the coml. DVD (then there's the minor Willie Nelson thing, the Gert Rides again thing, and I think there was another music problem in the Ellen's Boyfriend episode). Any particular seller on Ioffer (you can PM me since this is pretty off-topic and thanks for this info!)

I don't worry about music cuts in the syndicated seasons, since I recorded those off TBS and am pretty happy with those.

['80sSitcoms]

No particular sellers on iOffer I know. I would just search there, and be sure and ask the seller if their set was recorded from TV (explaining you want the versions which were shown on TV, which will include things that were edited out for DVDs).