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Post by snacky on Nov 3, 2014 22:30:52 GMT
Since the US syndicated episodes are from earlier seasons and are subject to unusual conditions, I thought they needed their own thread for random comments.
My comments for the San Francisco Bay Area KRON 4 syndication:
1. Too late at night and not advertised.
2. Episodes not shown in order which will lead to arc confusion.
3. Lots of cuts - not just to add commercials but seemingly to rev up the pacing. The effect is weird. Sometimes important things get cut, too.
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Post by Hodge on Nov 4, 2014 15:41:10 GMT
Since the US syndicated episodes are from earlier seasons and are subject to unusual conditions, I thought they needed their own thread for random comments. My comments for the San Francisco Bay Area KRON 4 syndication: 1. Too late at night and not advertised. 2. Episodes not shown in order which will lead to arc confusion. 3. Lots of cuts - not just to add commercials but seemingly to rev up the pacing. The effect is weird. Sometimes important things get cut, too. I told you be careful what you wish for. If a US network had got their hands on MM this would have been how the show was shot, at least as there is no US money in it you still have the original Canadian version to watch. |
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Post by snacky on Nov 4, 2014 17:03:53 GMT
Since the US syndicated episodes are from earlier seasons and are subject to unusual conditions, I thought they needed their own thread for random comments. My comments for the San Francisco Bay Area KRON 4 syndication: 1. Too late at night and not advertised. 2. Episodes not shown in order which will lead to arc confusion. 3. Lots of cuts - not just to add commercials but seemingly to rev up the pacing. The effect is weird. Sometimes important things get cut, too. I told you be careful what you wish for. If a US network had got their hands on MM this would have been how the show was shot, at least as there is no US money in it you still have the original Canadian version to watch. Point well taken. I emailed the network about the show order 2 weeks in advance, and they didn't even respond to my email. This is a shoe-strong budget local network in the Bay area, but you'd think that would make them even more responsive to local viewer concerns. I wasn't watching them before for anything - not even their vaunted "local news": now they have a show that brought me over, and it might bring other people over. Someone should pay attention to that. I have to say again, those cuts have a *very weird* effect on the show. I'm not sure how to describe it. They aren't badly done, so the show isn't spastic, but the pacing just seems wrong somehow if you've seen the original version. The irony is the original version is comparable to American shows already, so I think this change was made to fit in commercials, not because the pacing needed to be improved. |
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Post by snacky on Nov 4, 2014 17:05:35 GMT
By the way, if the "weird cuts" I'm describing apply across the entire U.S. syndication, then this might be a good future selling point for the DVDs.
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Post by bookworm1225 on Nov 4, 2014 19:30:35 GMT
I told you be careful what you wish for. If a US network had got their hands on MM this would have been how the show was shot, at least as there is no US money in it you still have the original Canadian version to watch. Point well taken. I emailed the network about the show order 2 weeks in advance, and they didn't even respond to my email. This is a shoe-strong budget local network in the Bay area, but you'd think that would make them even more responsive to local viewer concerns. I wasn't watching them before for anything - not even their vaunted "local news": now they have a show that brought me over, and it might bring other people over. Someone should pay attention to that. I have to say again, those cuts have a *very weird* effect on the show. I'm not sure how to describe it. They aren't badly done, so the show isn't spastic, but the pacing just seems wrong somehow if you've seen the original version. The irony is the original version is comparable to American shows already, so I think this change was made to fit in commercials, not because the pacing needed to be improved. Yes, I noticed one, too. So far, I haven't watched much of my local syndication showing, since it's on at the same time as 'Doctor Who.' But I did flip over once, at the end of 'Mild, Mild West' (which was shown only a few weeks in, so yes, my local station's also showing the episodes out of order), when they cut most of Buffalo Bill's speech about packing up. I can't think of any reason to cut that, except for fitting in commercials. The earlier seasons' episodes are longer, so I'm sure they'll all be cut. |
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Post by snacky on Nov 4, 2014 20:00:57 GMT
Yes, I noticed one, too. So far, I haven't watched much of my local syndication showing, since it's on at the same time as 'Doctor Who.' But I did flip over once, at the end of 'Mild, Mild West' (which was shown only a few weeks in, so yes, my local station's also showing the episodes out of order), when they cut most of Buffalo Bill's speech about packing up. I can't think of any reason to cut that, except for fitting in commercials. The earlier seasons' episodes are longer, so I'm sure they'll all be cut. Hmm - so this means there is an upstream "syndicator" that is doing the cutting as well as providing the episodes out of order. I wonder who the culprit is here, because they've done a few really bad cuts (like eliminating the invention of tape in Mild, Mild West). |
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Post by snacky on Nov 10, 2014 10:23:06 GMT
The part about William paying to bury the poor patsy, the accompanying recitation of Shakespeare, and banter with Julia were all cut out of the American syndicated version of Body Double. The ep ended abruptly after the arrest of the guilty. I stared at the TV screen for a second trying to figure out what was missing, since that obviously wasn't right. Finally figured out it was William paying for the burial. Important character development, grr.  U.S. viewers are being cheated here, and I worry that the show isn't as good with these parts subtracted. |
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Post by snacky on Nov 17, 2014 9:05:37 GMT
Still Waters - cut William yelling at George the second time to release him from the lie detector machine and George saying that he didn't think Dr. Ogden saw anything!!!!  Also the intro music is inserted in a different place which makes things weird. |
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Post by snacky on Nov 24, 2014 9:55:34 GMT
Belly Speaker - William doesn't see the ghost of Harcourt Grimesby...
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Post by randomkiwibirds on Nov 24, 2014 13:56:36 GMT
Belly Speaker - William doesn't see the ghost of Harcourt Grimesby... That's when he figures the whole thing out! |
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Post by snacky on Nov 24, 2014 16:55:47 GMT
Belly Speaker - William doesn't see the ghost of Harcourt Grimesby... That's when he figures the whole thing out! In the syndicated version they just go straight for the closet and find the body, William apologizes, fade to black. I also wonder if some Jilliam scenes were missing - didn't catch much Jilliam this ep. |
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Post by snacky on Dec 1, 2014 9:07:48 GMT
It's really weird how the re-editors try to create a "teaser" at the start of the episode where none existed before. Sometimes it doesn't really work.
I'm not sure why they are trying to create a teaser before the intro music unless it's an excuse for an extra commercial break...?
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Post by Hodge on Dec 1, 2014 16:11:18 GMT
Last night I was watching Inside Foyle's War and was taken by the way the programme was described. Everything about it was the same as Murdoch Mysteries. I can't remember everything that was said but the descriptions of the actors, characters, sets, storylines, period accuracy and costuming rang true for MM as well as FW. I really do think that PBS would be the best fit for MM going off what I saw last night and it wouldn't have to be butchered to fit the time slot. Of course it doesn't quite fit their unofficial mandate of British crime shows but it does have British backing so it could technically fit. I've watched FW, it's an amazing show but still doesn't quite come up to MM in my opinion. MM is one of a kind and I think it's a shame PBS and US viewers are missing out on it. The networks will never do it justice. I'll get off my soapbox now.  |
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Post by snacky on Dec 1, 2014 16:40:03 GMT
Last night I was watching Inside Foyle's War and was taken by the way the programme was described. Everything about it was the same as Murdoch Mysteries. I can't remember everything that was said but the descriptions of the actors, characters, sets, storylines, period accuracy and costuming rang true for MM as well as FW. I really do think that PBS would be the best fit for MM going off what I saw last night and it wouldn't have to be butchered to fit the time slot. Of course it doesn't quite fit their unofficial mandate of British crime shows but it does have British backing so it could technically fit. I've watched FW, it's an amazing show but still doesn't quite come up to MM in my opinion. MM is one of a kind and I think it's a shame PBS and US viewers are missing out on it. The networks will never do it justice. I'll get off my soapbox now. I've written PBS in the past about MM (they did attempt to pick it up the first season in 2009, but apparently it failed then). I also tried again recently because I was hoping they might carry the "unbutchered" version, and CBC might make a bargain with them to show the current episodes. There are a couple of problems. First, PBS scheduling and/or the speed of deal-making still results in major delays. Downton Abbey and Sherlock air on PBS here, and both get downloaded by younger viewers first simply because they want to see the show at the same time as the "International fandom". The second issue is PBS is run like a confederacy: there isn't a Kingdom of PBS - there are lots of tiny fiefdoms of PBS that decide, locally, what to air. So while they seem to have an "uber" structure that is capable of making big deals on behalf of the tiny stations, the tiny stations then decide whether to lease it from the "uber" structure and when to air it, etc. The San Francisco Bay Area actually gets multiple PBS stations, and one of them carries Miss Fisher as well. I have seen Foyle's War (as well as Miss Fisher) and while it has the features you describe, I didn't start watching it because it struck me as "belonging on PBS". Perhaps it was the British accents. Perhaps because it ran on PBS I didn't trust the scheduling enough to become involved. Perhaps it really did have "British mystery pacing" as opposed to "American TV pacing". In any account, I still mentally placed it (as well as Miss Fisher) in a different category as MM. And I'm wondering if PBS is doing that as well. On the bright side, PBS has long needed a lift from its elitist (I should apologize for this, but Americans automatically associated British accents with intelligence, money, and elitism) rut so it can win next generation viewers and secure Congressional funding. PBS is under more siege than the CBC because it's a completely "public" station (government funding plus donations/sponsors) and unfortunately strongly associated with partisan politics. Therefore the attack on its funding is bound to be successful eventually. I believe Downton Abbey and Sherlock were big successes for PBS. If it could secure NEW episodes of Murdoch Mysteries to run at the same time as the Canadian ones, I think that could be a hit here, too. Especially if the network syndication of the reruns creates an underlying runway of interest. |
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Post by snacky on Dec 1, 2014 16:48:58 GMT
it doesn't quite fit their unofficial mandate of British crime shows but it does have British backing so it could technically fit. Some stations show Miss Fisher, so I so don't think the British rule is hard and fast. At this point the issue probably has more to do with cost, scheduling, and consideration of audience interest. The 2009 salvo was a flop (in which they ran only Season 1, a year after the Canadian showing...). Sherlock only came here after there was tremendous buzz that happened concurrent with the Star Trek movie. Not quite sure how Downton Abbey became a thing, but it was probably a thing before PBS purchased/aired it. Actually Downton Abbey is a lot closer to the PBS mandate, so it was probably already on their list but just happened to become a thing also. |
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