And Even Yet Another New Slideshow

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It might be needless to say that when it comes to today's quote -

Page 13 - Kelly: (as Willie backs off) 'If Stokes is right, the Collins family stashed away a fortune in gold just after the Revolutionary War... their own early-American hedge fund.'

- Willie doesn't actually back off (from having wrapped his arms around Kelly) because the two of them are still on his bed. But what does need to be said is that in the pilot Kelly actually says "If Professor Stokes is right, the Collins family hid a fortune in gold just after the Revolutionary War" with the "... their own early-American hedge fund" part being dropped.

Also, after Kelly delivers the above, the script indicates that -

Willie goes to the fridge, grabs two beers, pops one.

- but that doesn't happen in the pilot either because, well, you guessed it, he and Kelly are still on his bed. 

[Gothick]

Many thanks again for the fascinating notes, MB.  I wonder what stage in the project the screenplay copy you're working from represents.  It almost sounds as if this screenplay might have been written for a 90 minute or even two hour TV film... too bad they didn't go for that length with the pilot.  I still wonder whether they would have wound up doing a re-shoot given some aspects of the "finished" pilot we have seen...

Best,  G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given what I've read about TV scripts in general and what we know about the production of the pilot, I'm pretty sure the script we're working from was always intended to only be an hour ep. Apparently two hour TV scripts tend to be between 95 to 125 pages, depending on how much direction is added with the dialogue - and by example, the script for the two hour pilot for the '91 DS is 119 pages. One hour TV scripts tend to be between 50 to 60 pages, depending on the same criteria - and the script for the '04 pilot is 59 pages.

It's not unusual for changes to be made during production. Almost any good commentary/featurette on a DVD/Blu-ray boxed set of a TV show will probably talk about that. And it's also not unusual for bits of dialogue from scenes to be trimmed or for entire scenes to be shot but not included in the final edit of an ep because the ep ran long. That's why so many boxed sets of TV shows include deleted/alternate scenes.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yup, today's quote -

Page 14 - Willie: 'So? They probably burned through it years ago.'

- is another another bit of dialogue that was completely dropped. And it's not the last...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The differences between today's quote -

Page 14 - Kelly: 'Maybe not. Couple of months ago, he asked me to index the older Collins correspondence.'

- and what's in the pilot is that, for starters, the "maybe not" is dropped - but then that's in response to Willie's dialogue that was also dropped (and neither really added much to the scene, especially when we as DS fans know the "fortune in gold" is very much still where those Revolutionary War era Collinses put it ) - and what Kelly actually says in the pilot is "A couple of months ago, Stokes asked me to index the oldest Collins correspondence."

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before we get to today's quote, we need to deal with two lines that appear in the script but are skipped over in the slideshow because they were not only dropped from the pilot, they're insignificant as far as moving the story along (which is no doubt why they were dropped from the pilot).

After Kelly brings up the Collins correspondence, the scripted lines are:

WILLIE
(offering Kelly a beer)
Beer?

KELLY
Are you listening?
(Willie nods, annoyed)

Of course, considering that in the pilot Willie never goes to the kitchen for the beers, that's another good reason why those lines were dropped. Keep in mind that in the pilot, through all of this discussion of the correspondence, Willie and Kelly are still very much entwined on his bed. Which brings us to today's quote:

Page 14 - Kelly: 'I found some coded entries. Fairly simple "one" equals "A" stuff, but Stokes could have missed it.'

The slight differences in the pilot is that Kelly delivers it as "And I found some coded entries. Pretty simple 'one' equals 'A' stuff, but Stokes could have missed it." But then in the pilot Kelly hasn't been interrupted by Willie and she's continuing to explain about the correspondence.

[Gothick]

Thanks again for these notes, MB. I somehow missed yesterday's quote about Kelly being asked by Stokes to index Collins family correspondence.  So when I saw today's quote, I was thinking that she must be talking about Ben's diary--wrong!

I'm on vacation next week and will most likely miss most if not all of the posts here, but I really am enjoying this presentation very much--in fact, so far I've enjoyed it much more than viewing the actual pilot tape all those years ago!

Hard to believe that 2004 was ten years ago now...

Best,  G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm on vacation next week and will most likely miss most if not all of the posts here

The current scene will be going on for another week and all the quotes will require comment, so once you come back you'll be able to easily catch up. 

Hard to believe that 2004 was ten years ago now...

Time certainly flies. I can't believe it's almost the end of March already because it seems like I changed the calendar only a few days ago! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Instead of asking today's quote -

Page 14 - Willie: 'Meaning?'

- what Willie actually asks in the pilot is "Missed what?" And that's the million (or more) dollar question, as we will see with tomorrow's quote...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today's quote -

Page 14 - Kelly: 'If I read the code right, the gold's hidden on the grounds in the cemetery near the old manor house.'

- has a more familiar take in the pilot because what Kelly actually says is "Don’t you get it? If I’m right, the gold is hidden on the grounds in the family mausoleum." And hearing that Willie is stunned. There's a long period of silence between them before Kelly releases an excited "that's right" sort of half-giggle as it's sunk in for Willie and then he delivers tomorrow's quote...

[Gothick]

Thanks again for your fascinating notes, MB.  I know I'm going to enjoy catching up on this when I get back from my trip, though it's possible I will have some Net access while I am away.  I have to confess it is not a very high priority for me--but getting to follow this thread would definitely be a treat.

Best, G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Rather than today's quote -

Page 14 - Willie: 'And you think it's still there.'

- in the pilot Willie says "And you wanna go."

[Gothick]

I wonder if the character of Kelly was invented in part to explain how Willie, not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, was able to figure out the clues about the hidden Collins "legacy."

She's clearly got the brains between the two of them...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That's a very good observation that I'd never thought of. 

Kelly also had another place within the story - one that might have proved fascinating had it been allowed to play out if the pilot had been picked up. But discussing any of that just now would be premature at this point...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today's quote -

Page 14 - Kelly: 'It's worth a look.'

- was completely dropped from the pilot. Though Kelly does get something added to one of her later bits of dialogue in the scene...