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« on: October 14, 2003, 11:34:03 PM »
First off, the blacked out portions would have not aired on ABC because they didn't exist then. It is not an original error on the master tape, but caused by the aging process.
Secondly, the edits in this volume may have been only in scenes where there was damage, but earlier DVD release contained damaged scenes and they remained on the DVD version, identitically like the VHS version. Plus as Midnite informed us when the first one was found, there was more left in tact of the scene where the first edit in Set 7 was found, than exists on the DVD version so not just the damaged or blacked out parts are being omitted.
Also some of the blacked out portions still have their audio in tact so you don't miss any of the dialogue. When that is edited so is the dialogue.
I'm sorry but I don' t buy the commerial release theory of this. If it was good enough for the VHS versions and trust me they have all the bad scenes in them so it should have been good enough for the DVD version. Frankly anyone who would buy the DVD's or VHS versions, for that matter, are primarily already fans of the show. They may not have seen it in years, but it is rare that somoene who has not previously been exposed to the show actually decides to buy a video or DVD. It is considered a cult classic, which means it appeals to a certain fan base and it will never be bought on a wide scale by the general public. MPI knows this, but the audience for the material is so large and so diverse that it make it profitable to produce the material. Therefore, cleaning it up is not going to sell more videos or DVD's. It just is not and fans are used to the condition of the shows and most are just grateful that all but one episode survived the decades between their original airing and their release on home video. Most other soaps of that day cannot say that.
To me, uncut and unedited means I'm seeing it all, warts and all, just like it was released on the VHS versoin. Now I know that syndicated versions for Sci fi were edited, but again that is for broadcast and I can see doing that, but not for home video release.
The first edit found on the DVD versions was not a technical problem and was not a blackout scene, but the omission of one of the most famous bloppers in the history of the series. The character of Bathia Mapes having to have her lines fed to her in the scene in the tower room during the 1795 flashback. The person off camera can plainly be heard on the VHS version but it is cut out completely in the DVD release. It is like someone started there and decided that they were going to polish this show up. I'm sorry, I don't want it polished up and I sure don't want to buy polished versions when they are said to be complete and unedited.
Now, I'm not blaming MPI because the blame for this could lie anywhere in the process of this from Dan Curtis Productions all the way to MPI, but someone is definitely trying to clean the series up and if it embarasses them, then I'm sorry but that is their problem. To me the errors, goofs and technical glitches are just part of enjoying DS and if cleaning it up causes me to lose one second of one episode then I don't like that and I do not call that complete.
Raholt