MovieChat Forums > Grantchester (2015) Discussion > PBS/Amazon inflicts cuts on another qual...

PBS/Amazon inflicts cuts on another quality series

posted 9 years ago by Flora_Poste
8 replies | jump to latest

When I finally got around to watching Grantchester on Amazon, I was annoyed that scenes which had been cut so that PBS could shoehorn shortened episodes into its broadcast schedule had persisted in the episodes offered for viewing on Amazon.

The UK viewing time for each episode is 60 minutes, and sure enough the running time for each episode on Amazon is 50 minutes. Ten whole minutes of content cut from each episode! That's a entire hour of content cut from the first series as a whole.

It's bad enough that PBS has to make such drastic cuts to fit its US broadcast time slot, but why stick to the cuts when offering the series for online viewing from services other than PBS? It drives me crazy. The scenes that are cut always prove enriching to the understanding of the characters and the plots.

I can't understand why streaming services like Amazon don't restore the cut scenes to series edited for PBS. Restoring the cuts would show respect to their customers and to the show's creators. As it is, American audiences for the most part don't realize that they're watching episodes that have been drastically cut down, contrary to the intention of the people who put the series together in the UK.

[–] Prismark10 9 years ago

The UK running time is not 60 minutes.

The series is shown on ITV. Factor in about 12 minutes for advert breaks.

It's that man again!!

[–] Flora_Poste 9 years ago

My apologies! I just checked out the streaming episodes on Amazon.co.uk, and their running time is indeed 44-46 minutes. I don't know why IMDB states their running time is 60 minutes. Grantchester appears not to be the victim of PBS edits like so many other UK series (Endeavour being an egregious example).

I guess I'm a bit suspicious, having been burned before by nonsensical PBS cuts, and jumped to conclusions. I never realized how many quality series were hacked up for no good reason by PBS until I moved to Europe and started catching re-runs of some of my favorite series. The scenes I'd missed on PBS always made the series better.

After I moved back to the USA, I started comparing UK series that I watched on PBS with library DVDs that were labelled "unedited UK version." Sure enough, there were about 10 minutes of scenes cut from most UK series that had been picked up by PBS.

I'm glad Grantchester was not subject to this practice. Sorry for the false alarm.

[–] Prismark10 9 years ago

No worries.

I understand that some BBC series when shown in the USA, even BBC America are subject to minor edits for ad breaks.

It's that man again!!

[–] horatiohellpop 8 years ago

I have the DVD of the first season and each program runs about 51-52 minutes, which seems to be the appropriate running time for a one hour episode, less the time for adverts.

[–] randommovies2002 8 years ago

Keep in mind, though, that in many cases, DVDs released in the US contain the edited versions of the program. Likewise the streaming versions on amazon, hulu and netflix have also been the edited down versions that were broadcast on PBS, BBCA, A&E, or other channels.

Examples of edited/incomplete DVDs:

A&E Home Video DVD releases of 1990s-00s programs
Catherine the Great (1996) - cut to shreds. Missing: sexual content and other time edits.
Charles II: The Power & the Passion (2003) - also cut to shreds. Missing: sexual content and other time edits.

WGBH Home Video (programs that were shown on PBS; released on DVD and some on VHS)
Northanger Abbey (2007) - time edits made for the PBS broadcast
Mansfield Park (2007) - time edits made for the PBS broadcast
Rebecca (1997) - nude and/or sex scenes and time edits made for the PBS broadcast
Far from the Madding Crowd (1998) - nude and/or sex scenes and time edits made for the PBS broadcast

BBC Video (programs broadcast on BBC America or PBS)
Gavin & Stacey (2007) - entire scenes were cut to save money on licensing the pop music in the soundtrack. This is also true for the amazon streaming version.

In the UK, the DVDs for the classic series of Poldark (1975) are very edited. Complete versions are available in the US from Acorn Media Group and in Australia from Magna Pacific. As far as I know, all other DVD releases of this program are incomplete.

I don't know about the DVD, but apparently all the licensed streaming versions (for the US) of The Devil's Whore (2008) are chopped to bits.

[–] kinglet 8 years ago

Minor my foot. Doctor Who episodes, once they repeat, are hacked to death. Entire endings disappear on BBCA.

[–] CartlinK 8 years ago

Yes, Doctor Who and Lewis ARE edited down to fit 1hr time slots. Lewis is an egregious edit, since 3 minutes of it is for the stupid masterpiece intro!

If anyone boos you off stage, that is simply applause from ghosts. ~Sharon Needles

[–] mlaiuppa 8 years ago

Sounds like PBS and Amazon Prime are restoring the cuts and giving us more than the UK viewers get.

Average episode is 50 min. not 44-46.

This was an issue when the old Highlander TV series was broadcast in the U.S. and Europe.

They would get additional "racey" scenes cutting the violence and we'd get more graphic violence scenes with PG relationships.

When compared most of the lost footage for length was driving cars or other non-dialogue mood inducing scenes that just weren't very important. I don't know if the writers and directors allowed for that during production so we would't miss anything essential.