Curiouser and curiouser.
Well, you know what's really curious? I was definitely wrong when I posted the other day:
Apparently someone edited the original version. Though apart from the missing placement cards and shorter end, I don't believe anything else is different.
While I was doing captures today for the pilot background, it stuck me today as I watched the part of Vicki and Willie at the train depot and Vicki in Willie's truck that something seemed to be missing, so I just went and checked my sources for the pilot script vs. the actual pilot. I discovered that there are three lines of dialogue missing: after Willie says that Vicki is wet, he apologizes to her for being late and says it's because the trains usually run late, then he makes a comment about all her luggage, and then once they're riding in the truck, Willie warns Vicki to hold on because things are going to get bumpy on the road, and it isn't until a few seconds after that that Vicki spots the Old House and asks if they've passed the house. But what is even curiouser: what's been removed has been replaced with material that wasn't in the pilot when I saw it in '05, namely Willie singing along with the radio and keeping beat on the steering wheel!! And that's only what I've checked so far - who knows what other small things may be different?!
So, who knows what the hell is going on with the YouTube upload!! But now it's obvious that someone has not only removed bits from the pilot, but they've also added at least one bit of new material. And that has to mean that somehow had access to footage that was originally left on the cutting room floor...