at the begining of each dvd there is a disclaimer saying something along the lines of their being unable to fix the glitches in the episodes without editing them and that mpi has decided to air them unedited.what is being edited out?
As the first five or so sets of DVDs were released, people began to notice tiny bits missing from the supposedly unedited episodes. These were mainly minor technical gaffes like the camera spinning wildly, or incongruous sounds (I believe Grayson Hall's off-stage coughing was dubbed out of one scene.) The most flagrant example came during the infamous appearance of Bathia Mapes when the director should be heard calling a cue to the actress from off-stage; on the DVD, I understand that the sound of a thunderclap was used to dub over the prompt. There was a lot of debate about the worth of these cuts, as you can see if you search through some of the older posts: some people grumbled that the edits damaged the integrity of the original broadcast, not to mention the "complete and uncut" advertising, while others argued that tweaking the episodes made them look more professional and more acceptable to a mainstream modern audience.
What had happened was that the early DVDs were being made from some 1980s-era tapes of the show that were aired on public television. (Supposedly, these tapes offered a clearer picture than the 1960s-70s originals.) Whoever was in charge of those broadcasts had taken it upon him or herself to edit out certain "mistakes", either not understanding that the bloopers were supposed to be part of the show, or deliberately trying to spruce up the episodes. Eventually, MPI took note of the problem, a representative posted an explanation/apology on the board, and every DVD release from that point on has been made from the original, uncut, flubbed footage.
ProfStokes
