MSW - Shortened episodes on DVD?

My first post on the IMDB message boards - and owing to the recent announcement by the Powers That Be, likely to be my last. But since this list obviously includes many experts on all things Cabot Cove, I had to ask the burning question: Have the episodes which now appear on DVD (and in re-runs) been shortened from the originals?

I ask because I noticed that the "Technical Specs" for many of the early episodes in particular show a run-time of 60 minutes - if I've got it right, that's the run-time without ad breaks, yes? Yet many of the eps presented on DVD barely make 50 minutes.

Also: while the cuts, if cuts there are, have been carefully done, sometimes there are odd lapses - e.g. in S4E1, it's stated that a particular character is known to have a gun in their possession, yet up to the exposition at the end, this has never been shown or mentioned. OK, tight plotting wasn't the series' strong point, but this sort of thing seems clumsy to the point of unprofessional. There also often seems to be an odd lopsidedness to plots. We're given careful setup and introduced to a variety of characters - many of whom then simply disappear. In S4E4, for instance, we see a novice nun struggle to convince a persistent boyfriend that her vocation is genuine... yet after the midway mark, the issue is just dropped, together with the characters.

Is there any aficionado out there with, say, home video tapes made at the time of first broadcast who could check? I know that ordering the UK version of NEW TRICKS - which added 10 minutes per episode - greatly improved the viewing experience. Maybe MSW's also missing that extra something?

Thank you in advance!