Posted by David
on 12/22/2006, 3:10 am, in reply to "Re: Why is Encore running cut episodes?"
72.245.7.85
Mark is absolutely right: 70 - 72 minutes is too short for a 1960s 90-minute series original print. The episodes should be in the range of 74-78 mins. each like 1960s 90-minute series "The Virginian," "The Name of the Game" and early 1970s 90-minute series "Columbo." I'm speculating these "CS" copies that Encore is airing and that are used for the DVD sales are dubbed from the first master syndication prints made nearly 40 years ago, after the original 1967-68 run on CBS. The Silverbach-Lazarus Co. (I'm pretty sure that was the name) was I think the first company Stu contracted with to syndicate "CS." Somehow the clipped scenes have not been recovered/located in the intervening years. I interviewed Stu in May 1996 for profiles that ran in June 1996 in the NY Post, L.A. Times and San Antonio Express-News about the VHS availability and WGN airings of "CS." Wonderful interview. I questioned him about the abbreviated running times (RT). He was kind enough to have his attorney provide me with photocopies of the cue sheets from the (supposed) master prints he had at a film vault. These documents, one for each episode then available on VHS, listed the length of each act and, most interestingly, the length of each commercial break (black, i.e. no image). I immediately realized something was amiss when I saw commercial breaks with three minutes of black. Anyone old enough to remember TV from the 1950s and '60s or who's gone to the Museum of Television and Radio in NYC or Beverly Hills knows that the traditional break was usually a minute and no more than a minute and a half (unlike today's 5-minute commercials/promos blocks). It's very frustrating to be a "CS" fan and feel/know you're not seeing the entire print. My guess is that the material edited out approximately 35 years ago is in a film vault somewhere, or (horrors) tossed or lost. Certainly a nice extra on the DVDs and Encore airings would be, if ever located like the missing minutes, the original network trailers/previews for the following weeks' shows. Mark, thanks for being so observant and concerned! Wouldn't it be nice to see a happy ending to this dilemna! Merry Christmas everybody. David
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