Anybody know or remember the original American airdates for the PBS broadcasts back in 1977? For years, I thought that I'd seen it around Halloween of '77 (I was only 5 years old), but I seem to recall reading many years ago that it was actually a few weeks into NOVEMBER of '77. Anyone know for sure? Was it broadcast all on one night, or over the course of two or three?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
I first saw this episode on Halloween night of 1979 and it was aired in one night. It is listed as coming out in 1977 but I guess I was not watching much PBS at that point. I have never seen it since and would love to own this episone on DVD.
shareI'm not positive, but I believe it originally aired in the U.S. on Halloween of 1978. That's when I recall first seeing it. It's original U.K./BBC debut was in December of '77.
shareThe American broadcast first aired on March 7, 1978 (the BBC version premiered the previous Christmas week and aired on two consecutive nights), and ran for three consecutive weeks. Part 2 aired on March 14th and Part 3 aired on March 21st. The Halloween airings began in October 1979 (with the baby eating scene omitted which did air on the original broadcast March 7th., of the previous year). Since 1979, depending on the PBS station, some would run the re-broadcast over three consecutive nights or run all three parts back to back. This continued until 1987.
Hope this is helpful.
I do not know where this three night broadcast info comes from. The last poster does have one thing right It aired in the US as part of the Great Performances series on March 7 of 1978, but, the entire 150 minutes was shown that night. It WAS NOT shown over three consecutive weeks. Now this was a national airing and was seen all over the country in its uncut form. Later Halloween showings were done at the local PBS station level, thus each city may have shown it in different forms. Here in Denver the local station, KRMA, always showed it in one go and did not split it into parts. I feel bad for anyone who had to see it on consecutive nights. Thank goodness the DVD has finally come out so that my fading VHS copy can finally be put to rest.
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I remember watching this when it originally aired on WNET, the New York City PBS station back in 1978. It was originally shown on Great Performances. The original WNET airing was done in three parts. The baby scene was included. Subsequent airings on WNET were done in various ways, usually around Halloween.
BTW, WNET was a co-producer of this version. The UK government was in dire fiscal straits during the 1970's. The BBC receives most of its funding from the British government. Apparently the BBC didn't have enough money to fund this project on its own, so WNET provided some of the cash.
Thanks for backing up my reply. I saw it when it originally aired on WNET, here in NY (Channel 13), on March 7, 1978. And it did air in three parts over three weeks. I don't know about the airing dates (such as in Boston, Philly, Chicago, etc.). I can only speak about the PBS flagship station and their weekly "Great Performances" presentations. I would assume that the airing dates in other US cities would be the same, if they were broadcast under the "Great Performances" umbrella title. (Later broadcasts in subsequent years were not). "Great Peformances" was then (as is now ) a "weekly" series.
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Here in Chicago it was originally aired on consecutive nights as well (Great Performances) though the few times I was lucky enough to catch it since the seventies I seem to remember it being shown in it's entirety in one evening.
shareIt was originally scheduled for viewing in October or November 1977, but was delayed to to the murder of the daughter of a prominent politician, and PBS felt that it would have been "insensitive" due to some similarity between her murder and something in the movie - sorry I can't be more specific, but after 30 years, my memory has more than a few holes.
shareThat story does sound vaguely familiar. I also remember watching it the first time in parts, but subsequent viewings were back-to-back episodes. Seeing it in parts only added to the surprisingly suspenseful feel. It wasn't as if I didn't know the story already, but this version just felt fresh and lively somehow.
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