For some reason, whenever a show gets sydicated, the time length is too long for local station and some scenes are removed.

This really pisses me off, especially when it's the The Simpsons. I was watching a repeat of the Catburglar episode, and they cut one of my favorite sequences where Bart's walking home from school, and all the houses go haywire with their security equipment, including Prof. Frink's Runaway House.

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This happened years ago, when The Mary Tyler Moore Show first went into syndication. There's an epi where Rhoda's mom wants to get closer to her daughter and one of the things she does is get them mother/daughter dresses. There's this huge payoff scene where they first appear in the identical dresses and Mary reacts and the audience reacts -- it's so funny. But they cut it for syndication. You see them later in the dresses, but without comment or reaction or explanation.

This is one of the reasons I'm so thankful for DVDs -- most of them are restoring all this stuff.

About two weeks ago TNT showed Alias's Phase One in syndication. The problem? Phase One was a ninety minute episode. The episode starts in medias res, then jumps back to 72 hours earlier, builds back up to the starting scene, and moves forward from there. TNT cut out most of the "72 hours earlier" part so the effect was seeing the same scene twice and then moving on with no explanation. It was more hilarious than annoying, at least if you've already seen the episode.

I agree. Only on Canada's The Comedy Network do they show them in their entirety. Sometimes I see scenes from 1990 that I've never seen before NOW, for chrissakes!

What I hate is that little piece at the end of some shows, while the credits are shoved off to one side that are the funniest or tie things together a little more, are completely gone.

The Equalizer, when I saw it on A&E (between 1996 and the end of 1999), they had different cuts (they played it for a while, five days a week, took it off, put it back on once a week, and eventually ran it five days a week again) between the first go around (and its repeats), and the second go around (and its repeats). Put both versions together and (for the most part) one would have the entire episode. How the cuts were decided, and who, I have no idea. The ones that pissed me off the most were when a line or two from a scene was cut (although the beginning of the scene was shown), especially when it was ten seconds or less of a scene that was cut out. At least once, part of the ending scene of an episode was cut, so the payoff was gone. The most hair pulling cut? The viewers had it confirmed in the second season that McCall suffers from fear of heights. What did A&E cut? The whole bit when McCall confirmed it, and his friend and ex-colleague's reaction to it... which also fed into the ending of the episode. Without that there, it fell really flat.

Also on the first go around, a pivotal 2-parter, "Mission: McCall" was skipped entirely, which set up a reason in the show for why Robert McCall wasn't in the best of health (in real life, Edward Woodward was recovering from a double heart attack).

Showcase, in Canada, continually pisses me off when the Kung Fu: The Legend Continues episode "Retribution" airs, because missing from the ending is the 'In Memory Of Robert Lansing', who passed away in late 1994, from cancer.

It also pissed me off when it ran first season Forever Knight because the episodes were cut (in the U.S. in the first season, the episodes were 41 minutes long and in Canada, 48, 49 minutes long, without commercials). I remember at least one episode didn't even have the last scene shown, it ended with Nick ripping the door off a car and telling the bad guy inside, something along the lines of, he'd be called a liar if he told anyone that Nick had ripped the door off. At least (as far as I know) Space: The Imagination Station doesn't cut the first season episodes of FK.

I, too, hate the credits scrunching, be it to the side or top or bottom of the screen or just generic credits replacing what were filmed for the end credits.

One of the worst cuts was on WKRP in Cincinnati. In the episode where Les was banned from a team's locker room because he was presumed to be gay, Johnny tells Herb that Jennifer is the result of an amazing sex-change operation. In syndication, that scene with Johnny is cut. Without it, Herb talking about "knowing" "Jennifer's a guy" doesn't make any sense.

The Simpsons is an obvious one. Here's one of the worst:

In "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One" the writers sprinkled clues throughout the episode as to who shot him. My friend and I Zaprudered his tape of it until we figured it out. At one point, we were leaning towards Smithers, but we realized that he seemed too obvious.

Now, early in the episode, you can see that the TV in Moe's Bar is tuned to Comedy Central. An advertisement for the (fake) show "Pardon My Zinger" pops up, showing that it'll air at 6 p.m.

Later on in the show, a drunken Smithers is at a town meeting. He admits to spending his days since his firing "Drinking cheap gin and watching Comedy Central" When Dr. Hufnagel responds "Dear Lord!" Smithers shamefacedly mumbles "Ah, it's not so bad. I never miss 'Pardon My Zinger'"

Burns is shot at 6 p.m. If Smithers never misses the show, he couldn't have been there for the shooting. Q.E.D., right?

In the syndicated version, they cut the reference to him watching "Pardon My Zinger" Now I have to buy the DVDs to prove my insanity to my friends.

3 PM, actually.

Thanks to the season 7 dvds, I finally get to see Marge join the "you don't win friends with salad" conga line. Also, the wonderful scene from Bart Sells His Soul where Homer obliviously reminds Moe how much financial trouble he's in.

D'oh. Of course. Lots of people have seen the sun set at 6 p.m.

Both "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Kate and Allie" ran with an epilogue - a "bonus" scene that occurred after the main plot wrapped up.

For example, after the main plot would be something that said "don't go away, 'Kate and Allie' will be right back. Then, after a couple of commercials would be a wrap-up scene - usually Kate and Allie in the living room, with a throw-away conversation. Then, off to the closing theme music.

Neither show offers these features in their syndication package. Heck, we are lucky to get to hear/see those that were done as part of the ending credits (a la "Living Single" or "Frasier").

Also, on "Friends", there is an episode where Rachel is dating Russ - basically Ross (David Schwimmer) with a putty nose. At the end, after Rachel has dumped him, the doppelganger finds himself with Julie (the girl Ross met in China). This whole sequence is gone from the syndication cuts.

Finally, going back to "Andy Griffith", I understand that the final episode was of Andy's and Helen's wedding. I have never seen this episode in syndication. Perhaps I just keep missing it - or, maybe, they just don't run it. This, however, might be a different subject.

Andy and Helen got married in the first episode of the sequel series, Mayberry RFD.

My film teacher in college called this kind of epilogue the "Cheetah scene," after the humorous, irrelevant bit at the end of Tarzan flicks. (Apparently, anyway; I've never seen a Tarzan film.)

Topic? I hate that I can't always remember the stuff that's missing. I look at these messages--for example, the one about the mother-and-daughter dresses on Mary Tyler Moore--and I have this dim flicker of recall...I hate that they're changing stuff, especially when it ruins the comedic payoff or plot coherence.

"I Love Lucy," one of the first series to be syndicated, has been routinely butchered to allow for more commercials. Sometimes the 'tag' scene was cut, sometimes bits and pieces throughout...

My favorite episode, "Lucy's Italian Movie," [the one where she 'soaks up local color' working in a vineyard] has a running joke that builds to a pretty decent laugh in four beats:

1] When Ethel asks Lucy what she intends to do about the fact that she doesn't speak Italian, Lucy says she knows a little, and then demonstrates her mastery of 'shrugging' through a conversation. One of her gestures [holding out her arms and forming a large circle] evidently means 'Get me a big pizza'.

2] In the vineyard, two peasant women gossip and complain about the heat. One says you could bake a loaf of bread on the stones. The other says 'or a big pizza' and makes the same gesture Lucy made earlier.

3] Lucy enters and, after taking off her shoes - no one else is wearing them - hops from foot to foot on the hot pavement and settles on the vat, where she is questioned by the two peasant women. When one asks her "Where are you from?" Lucy - who doesn't understand a word anyone says to her - hesitates a bit, then does the 'large pizza' gesture, which, predictably, causes a great deal of amusement at her expense.

4] The foreman separates out the women for different tasks, sending the two local women into the huge pressing vat and sending Lucy with the others to pick grapes. On the way he stops Lucy and orders the uncomprehending redhead to work in the vat instead. When the demoted worker protests and asks why, the supervisor points to Lucy's feet and - making the now-familiar gesture - compares them to 'big pizzas'.

That's the 'sting' to the whole running joke. And most syndicated versions leave out the opening bit at the vineyard, coming back from the commercial to show Lucy entering in her peasant garb. We don't see the women talk about how hot it is - rendering Lucy's reaction to the stones, and later to a cool footbath, meaningless - and we don't get the second beat of the joke.

It really annoys me. But I finally got the DVD so I can get a life now.

Worst ever syndication cut in the Simpsons is when they actually cut the punchline of a joke in the "Flaming Homer" episode. Marge tells Homer that he should just be thankful that something he invented is making people happy. Homer responds by dancing out of the room while saying in this very over-the-top sarcastic voice, "Ooh, look at me! I'm the magical man from happy land! In a gumdrop house on Lollipop Lane!" In syndicaton they cut the punchline, which is that he pokes his head back in and says, "if you couldn't tell, I'm being sarcastic." Without that context, the magical man from happy land speech just isn't that funny.

Don't forget Marge's reply of "Well, duh"

I recall an Everybody Loves Raymond show where Ray has bought some sort of board sex game - Sexuopoly?- and in the end he and Debra play it. You see them start playing and bickering about how to play then at the end of the show - the very end, after the last commercials, you see them laying in bed looking quite "spent" and Ray says something like - I think you need a third person for that one square or something similar. The times that I have seen that episode in syndication they have not shown the last bit with the joke about the third person and I could never figure out why because it shows that they eventually did get in to the game and enjoyed it.

In the Seinfeld episode where George gets engaged, they always butcher the conversation between Jerry and Kramer ("They're prisons. You're doing time!"). If you watch it on syndication, it has awkward cuts and doesn't feel right. I'll be happy when the season 7 DVDs come out.

When VH1 airs America's Next Top Model Cycle 4 marathons, they cut out one of my favorite moments from Tyra's tirade against eliminated contestant Tiffany. "Why are you still talking?" That's when Tyra really goes psycho. Her eyes look like they are going to pop out of her head and then she really gets going. It's dissapointing not to see that epic performance from Tyra in all its glory, even if it is only missing one line.

Gotta say, the "lollipop lane" bit is pretty funny on its own. But I do get your point.

I don't have an example but I do have a question, if I may. Why do the networks cut the episodes short for syndication? It's the same alloted time to run the episode, right?

They cut one of my favorite lines from the episode of South Park where Cartman unknowingly creates an underwater society by combining sea monkeys and semen. The boys don't realize what semen actually is, they think it's sea men, which leads to this exchange after Cartman acquires more to build the society:

Kyle: Wow, that's a lot of sea men Cartman!
Cartman: Yeah, I bought all that I could at this bank, and then I got the rest from this guy Ralph in an alley.
Stan: That's cool.
Cartman: Yeah, and the sweet thing is; the stupid asshole didn't even charge me money for it! He just made me close my eyes and suck it out of a hose!

In syndication, that last line is cut.

I think-- but I may be wrong-- that sometimes things are cut for commercial breaks, etc(different networks have different periods of time for acts/commerical breaks). This isn't a cut, but it annoys me royally watching old Angel episodes on TNT; the commercial breaks are waaaaay off, and sometimes they break the scenes in half (in between lines of dialogue) to take their five minutes of commercial time. Ruins the fun!

Or an episode ran over the hour and the network that's got the syndication rights can only run a cut-down version. For example, the Alias pilot originally ran, commercial free, 60+ minutes; TNT showed a highly edited version that fit into their time frame (60 minutes with commercials). I suspect when Lost hits syndication time, a few of its episodes that ran of the hour are going to get chopped up as well.

"Sex and the City"

It may not be as bad on TBS but WB is just criminal. There are many things that they have to cut out of course, but sometimes it really does not help the story.

1. When Miranda gets 'hit' with some of that old guy's love juice in the foreheadat the tantric workshop is cut out. However, later in that episode Miranda is reading a book and dabs at her forehead...why is she dabbing at her forehead? Well you wouldn't know why if you watch it on WB only.

2. The episode when Carrie decides she wants Aidan back, she goes to his house asks for another chance...blah...blah...blah..."You broke my HEART!" Carries runs off. On WB, they cut out Aidan coming back later that night, them having sex and the 'talk' in the morning. ON WB all you get is Aidan coming with Pete telling Carrie they will give their relationship another chance.

Perhaps if I didn't watch the DVDs day in and day out, I wouldn't notice the cuts...but I do and their annoying.

Actually, no. Syndicated shows get cut so that they can run more commercials. All shows in syndication lose a minute or two (except occasionally during first run through. I know that FX didn't cut their Buffy until the second airing of any episode).

The other day I was watching a mini-marathon of The Alan Partridge Show on BBCAmerica, and they did something inexplicable. Each episode ran 40 minutes (with commercials), so we got one from 4 to 4:40, one from 4:40 to 5:20, one from 5:20 to 6, and then an obviously shortened one from 6 to 6:30. I mean, I know a forty minute running time is not the way American TV time is structured, but why not just show three episodes back to back in a two hour block instead of shoehorning an extra episode in? Grr.

At the very end of one episode of Laverne and Shirley the cast sang a song called "Milwaukee Moon" on the steps of their apartment building... it had nothing to do with the story; it was just there. I taped the first-run ep sometime back in the late 1970's, but it doesn't run anymore and I haven't seen that song again since... they always cut it in syndication. I hope I can get it back on a DVD; it was really cute.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer suffers a lot in syndiaction edits. The absolute worst is in "Once More With Feeling," the musical episode.

Joss Whedon made the syndication edits himself, but it still feels rushed and incomplete. Especially if you're a fan who's sung along to the soundtrack more times than he would readily admit to the public. Entire verses of songs are cut...cute lines of dialouge...it's just so disturbing to watch...I can never bring myself to do it.

That's the sort of thing that makes me wary about watching anything in syndication, or watching theatrical films on broadcast tv. They invariably edit out the little 'grace notes' that may not contribute to the linear plot, but enrich the overall work in countless ways. One of my [least] favorite examples is when I caught a local station airing Lawrence Kasdan's film noir "Body Heat": it's been established that the DA, played by Ted Danson, is taking tap dancing lessons for fun. Later, while waiting for William Hurt late at night, at the marina, he takes advantage of the hard wood of the dock to do a little tap routine. A key scene between the two men then ensues. Needless to say, the local station cut the tap dance in the moonlight - my favorite 'non-essential' scene in the film - and went straight to the meat. But good filmmaking is often much more than meat and potatoes. That applies to tv shows, too. Those episodes of "Lost" and "Alias" and "ER" that went a few minutes long will lose somethiing in syndication...

Another grievous loss for fans was when the hour-long "Twilight Zone" first produced in the 80s was cancelled and came back as a syndicated half-hour show. When they sold the whole package for general syndication, in order to make the rather jaggedly-timed segments fit the half-hour time slot the ruthlessly cut some long stories [including "Palladin of the Lost Hour," one of my favorites] and needlessly padded many efficient little short-shorts. Well, the DVDs are coming, so that's one less thing I need to rant about, but the principle remains.

I don't know whether it was cut for time or content, but when BBC ran Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the ep where Spike says to Giles "What's the matter, life flash before your eyes? Cup of tea, cup of tea, almost got a shag, cup of tea"
they cut out the 'almost got a shag' line.

Of course when TV-3 showed it, they cut out the 'cup of tea' as well.

The only shows where I really notice the cuts are Buffy, The Simpsons, and some Seinfeld episodes.

One cut that drives me absolutely crazy is from Hush. Giles goes to put a transparency on the overhead projector, only he puts it on upside down. It's a really minor joke, but I love it. Anyone who has ever used an overhead projector has done that same exact thing. It's possibly my favorite joke from my favorite Buffy episode... and in syndication, it's gone. They start the overhead "lecture" from where he's flipped the transparency around to right-side up.

A cut from Buffy that really bugs me is from Graduation Day pt. 2. They cut Cordelia's line about chasing the Mayor with a box of ebola virus.

On Deep Space Nine, on Spike, the episode Way of the Warrior, which just happens to be one of the best--IMHO--episodes of any Trek series ever, the crew of the Defiant are traveling through the wreckage caused by the Klingons getting frisky again. Doctor Bashir wonders why they arent stopping ot give aid since there is a good chance that there are survivors. Worf, who has joined the series at this point, states that there are most likely Klingon ships in hiding, waiting to pounce on anyone giving assitance. Bashir comments that that doesn't sound very honorable. Worf says that in war, there is nothing more honorable than winning.

The entire scene is gone from the version shown on Spike. Like I said, to me this is one of the best Treks ever, so I remember the scene from the original airing. Can't wait until I can afford the dvd's

Laverne and Shirley is terrible in this respect. Sometimes the dialogue cue for a Lenny and Squiggy entrance is omitted, other times the entrance itself is. But evidently they have to air the complete long-ass opening credits (verse two: "Doin' it our way!") in lieu of more episode. Some syndi Golden Girls used to cut the "And if you threw a party" lyric that I became so accustomed to, but it's back again sometimes.

I discovered this thread last night while mr. megasaur was season 7 w/the commentary. The writers/producers mention a lot of the syndication cuts during the shows on the first disc at least. It's funny for me because most of the episodes I've seen in syndication only, so I never knew things were missing.

They cut out one of my favorite parts of the Buffy episode "Earshot." When Buffy is running to the Sunnydale High clock tower to confront Johnathan, she runs up the side rail of the stairs, shocking everyone, then flips up to the roof before climbing in. They cut out the part where Nancy, whom Buffy had shown up in English class earlier with her observations about Othello, looks up and mutters, "hmph. I could've done that."

Rychard, I couldn't agree more that because of certain horrible edits, Buffy veritably bites in syndication. MUCH harder than any other series. The worst for me occurs in the ep follwing Oz's break-up with Willow. In that hour, when Buffy and Giles discuss Willow's condition in front of Spike, both agree she's alright. Spike's moving interjection is edited away in all syndication repeats I've watched since '02: "Are you people blind? She's hanging on by a bloody thread!" Smilla always misses that line.

Another Simpsons editing disaster that has always disturbed me happens in one of my favorite episodes called “Bart on the Road”. Here, Bart obtains a fake driver’s license and drives his friends to the Knoxville World’s Fair – unaware of course, that the Knoxville World’s Fair closed about a gazillion years before.

Anyway, one of the best scenes shows Bart, barely able to see above the wheel of their Rent-A-Car, and the gang traveling down the highway with Golden Earring’s song Radar Love playing on the radio. Bart’s friends begin to pester Bart with strange requests - Bart, can we ride through that corn field?, Bart, can we stop for ice cream? – all of which Bart replies “yes”. But the best part, as well as the one piece that was of course cut out, is their request to pick up a hitchhiker. Which Bart also easily agrees to. Cut to the follow-up scene of a seedy looking hitchhiker, eating an ice cream cone, sitting in the back seat between Martin and Nelson. And the hitchhiker is saying to the boys - Well, I don't think I was rehabilitated, but I guess they needed the extra bed.

I can understand why the hitchhiker was an easy piece to cut out since the story, and even the scene itself, flows fine without it. But to me, it’s one of the funniest parts of the episode. My heart drops a little every time this ep. plays through without it.

One that annoys me, I saw on TV Land with The A-Team. It's the one with BA's mom and she tells a great story about the team sending a postcard to her to let them know that BA was okay at Christmas. Cut. Of course, they didn't cut the absolutely extraneous "go from here to there" driving shots...
(I could also swear that the season 2 box set has a syndication cut in Taxicab Wars...)

TNT also cuts Law & Order in bizarre ways, with the commercials in the wrong places.

TNT does that with most of their hour-long dramas. I watch their late night X-Files blocks, and it's irritating getting a commercial when you least expect it.

The Medea/Jackass scene between Jed and Abbey from 20 Hours in America, Part II. That scene is edited out on The West Wing repeats on Bravo and the DVDs.

Marge's "well...duh," is the part that makes it magic. Why they'd cut out one of the best jokes of the episode is still beyond me.

Finally found this on p. 15.

From the first season of Cheers:

Carla beats up a customer who then tells Sam to fire her or face a lawsuit:

CARLA: Sammy, you can't fire me! Think of my kids!
(cut for syndication)
I'd have to stay home with them!

The Cheers crowd fears that the bar is about to turn gay. Diane tells them that they're being ridiculous, and that there are two homosexual gentlemen present even as they speak:

NORM: (looking around) Nope, everyone here checks out. Too ugly to be gay.
(cut for syndication)
Too ugly to be out!

They also cut that bit where Carla pretended that her unborn baby was talking.

(Quotes are from memory.)

They cut one of my favourite lines from Cheers in syndication, too.

In the episode where Cliff takes these stress pills that could cause gynecomnastia (or "male breast enlargement"), he starts to worry about "turning into a woman". Rebecca tells him that she once took medicine that could have some strange side effects, but she turned out fine. Cliff asks her how long ago she took the medicine, and she replies, "Oh, years ago, back when I was just one of the guys." Cliff storms off, chugging the pills, and Rebecca and Carla high-five each other.

And speaking of The Simpsons....

In "Lemon of Troy", as Bart leaves to invade Shelbyville, he tells Marge that he's going to teach the kids in Shelbyville a lesson, which Marge says she chooses to take literally. (The worst part of this cut is that it sets up Marge's line "Homer, come quick! Bart's quit his tutoring job and joined a violence gang!")

There was also the episode of Frasier where he brought Tom, his new station manager, home to meet Daphne, unaware that the man was gay and thought he was Frasier's date. Niles finally takes Frasier outside and tells him the truth, and he has to go in and face Tom.

(cut for syndication)

"You're cute when you're nervous."
"Then I must be downright adorable now!"

Then there was the Edward Scissorhands episode of Seinfeld -- you see Jerry advancing on Newman with clippers in his hand and murder in his heart, but not that final shot of Newman, totally bald.

Comedy Central last night cut one of my favorite Scrubs moments. From the one where Turk and Carla come home from their honeymoon, and Turk is so excited to see JD, they cut Carla's great line, "Maybe someday he'll love me that much."

Ahh! I noticed that, too, watching Scrubs last night. That's one of the best scenes in the show. They also cut out the whole Turk and JD trying to find each other and ending up on different floors while yelling at each other through the windows thing. But that bit did go on a bit long. Still, what makes the scene is Carla's resigned, "Maybe someday he'll love me that much." I love that she realizes that she just has to accept the "guy love." Stupid Comedy Central!

I'm in agreement with the poster upthread that hates all the "Sex and the City" cuts. I know the show isn't exactly family material, but some episodes are so sliced the plot makes absolutely zero sense. It's like when you watch "Showgirls" on VH1.

I mean, um, I've HEARD they cut "Showgirls" pretty heavily.

Word. Some of them leave out entire plot points and reaction shots and then the episode makes absolutely no sense. TBS's are better than the other networks. But the other networks show it after 11 pm, you think they'd be able to get away with just a little bit more.

This cut of the The Simpsons I especially hate from the episode where Lisa starts "dating" Nelson-

Class: Lisa likes Nelson!
Milhouse: No she doesn't!
Class: Milhouse likes Lisa!
Jenny: No he doesn't!
Class: Jenny likes Milhouse!
Uter: No she doesn't!
Class: Uter likes Milhouse!

They always cut the last taunt in syndication. It's the funniest part and makes the whole exchange rather pointless with no payoff =/