The Complete Mr. Bean 4/29 - not so complete after all? (1 Viewer)

[bobby_bar]

Here are the emails I got back yesterday about my Mr. Bean inquiry.

First one is from newvideo.com


"Hi Bobby. The Mr. Bean DVD set you received are the complete, authorized
episodes as Rowan Atkinson and the Executive Producers of Mr. Bean intended
the episodes to be. Any differences in the episodes from the episodes
you originally saw had been made because Rowan asked them to be -- the
episodes on the DVD set are his final cut.

I hope this explains things. Let me know if you have any more questions."



Other response is from aetn.com



"Hello from A&E Television Network and thank you for your recent e-mail. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, we will be looking in to this immediately. I will keep you updated on the outcome.

Thank you in advance for your patience."

That was all. Hopefully things will get changed.


This may or may not be a cut but is something I noticed. I was watching on Disc one-The Return of Mr. Bean-The Department store. In it Mr. Bean is putting things in his shopping basket and after he puts the towel in they cut to him on the escelator and now he has a scale on top of the towel. As I said earlier, I don't know if this is a cut or was just never aired. Just thought I'd throw it out there for someone who has an uncut copy to compare to.



Also when I watched the animated trailer it was presented in Full Screen.


Voyagerbob

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Do these cuts delete scenes that show him in a crude manner? Maybe they are trying to make him look softer, nicer!

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

The department store gag with the chair is classic! How could they cut that?

I don't think it was crude either. So not sure why they would cut that.

Bobby,
The first email doesn't sound promising but could be just a canned response. The second however gives a slight bit of hope.

I really really really want this set but not if they are cut versions.

 

[DeathStar1]

I just don't understand this whole situation. I mean, the Chair bit WAS a classic, not to mention about 4 minutes or so in length, so a whole CHUNK of the episode will be missing!

Man... now I may just have to hunt down the VHS versions and burn them to DVD unless something is done. Besides, why would OTHER regions get the un-altered versions except R1? That's what I don't get.

 

[norman j]

I checked the taped versions that were taped off the CBC, and both those scenes were missing as well when I taped them. I wonder if these versions were edited for time for commercial TV, and these were the versions they choose to use.:frowning:

 

[Randy A Salas]

I wonder if these versions were edited for time for commercial TV, and these were the versions they choose to use.

Or, again, if the scenes were added without authorization to pad out a few too-short episodes for non-commercial airings, such as on HBO or PBS.

 

[JohnS]

I checked the taped versions that were taped off the CBC, and both those scenes were missing as well when I taped them.

I guess it's looking a little bit more logical now.
But why couldn't they feature the deleted scenes as extras, since it's being called the Whole/complete Bean.

From these episodes, they should be calling this DVD set "The Official Bean set" not Whole/complete Bean,which is a little missleading

 

[norman j]

Some versions might not have included these scenes, but I don't think they missed them on purpose. Now that they did miss them, I'm sure they will say anything to cover up the fact that they weren't included, so they don't have to do it over and send out replacement discs, like with BTTF.

 

[Curtis T]

Well , it is now Wednesday and the Bean set is now on store shelves everywhere. Any more updated news on the cut episodes ?? Has anyone received a response from A&E ??? I've sent them 2 emails about this and not one response back. Great customer service.

 

[Malcolm R]

Until there's some further comment/explanation, I think I'll add this to my "buy used" list so my money won't go to A&E.

 

[Brian PB]

My two cents:

I see a lot of (potentially) misdirected anger at A&E in this thread. We can only speculate how much input they had in the contents of this set. I suspect they are merely packaging and releasing what the production company gave them. I don't think there's some sort of vast conspiracy afloat to deprive fans of a few scenes (i.e., I don't think A&E is acting as a censor here).

I also think Randy's point is well-taken: it's unclear whether the scenes in question were edited out of the original conception, or added later to pad them out for broadcast. I think if A&E had had any sense the release would provoke this outcry, they would've labeled it "The Official Rowan Atkinson Authorized Version". However, Peter Bennett-Jones' statement above should quash much of the speculation (it also probably rules out a corrected re-issue).

 

[FredCampbell]

Personally, I think the anger at A&E is somewhat properly directed. If they put their name on it, they ought to take some responsibility.

I'm noticing all the cuts that are mentioned in this thread, plus the missing "winning the turkey" sequence from "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean", and frankly they make me pretty angry with this whole set. If we can have the complete segments on the old video tapes, why can't we have them on dvd? Weren't the tapes "Rowan Atkinson approved"? If Rowan Atkinson actually approved this set, then he is either the dumbest man in entertainment (doubt it) or the most insincere when it comes to his comedic art.

 

[Randy A Salas]

If we can have the complete segments on the old video tapes, why can't we have them on dvd? Weren't the tapes "Rowan Atkinson approved"?

Please clarify this. As I've been following this thread, I thought people were referring solely to tapes they made from broadcasts. Are there pre-recorded, store-bought tapes that have the additional scenes?

 

[FredCampbell]

I have commercial video tapes of MR. BEAN that I bought 5 or 6 years ago. One of them has "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean" on it, complete with the "winning the turkey" segment.

 

[Paul_Nyman]

Fred,

My brother has my VHS set at the moment. Do you recall if they were released by Thames Television, HBO or A&E on those VHS tapes?

 

[Matt_P]

I saw all the episodes when they originally aired on PBS quite a while ago. They are also being played now in the Twin Cities area on PBS, channel 2 (TPT), Monday-Thursday at 10:30p. From what I remember, I have never seen the scenes everyone is claiming were cut from the DVD. The current broadcasts do not include them, either.

This indicates that the versions on DVD are the cuts presented for US television airings.

 

[FredCampbell]

Paul,

Those tapes are at home right now, and I'm at work, butI think those tapes were HBO. Not sure, though. I don't remember seeing the Thames logo on it, just the Tiger.I can post again once I get home.

 

[MarkHastings]

I checked the taped versions that were taped off the CBC, and both those scenes were missing as well when I taped them. I wonder if these versions were edited for time for commercial TV

That's what I was thinking.

I wonder if the missing scenes have to do with air time? I mean, I wonder if those scenes were deleted when they originally aired to allow for commercials? I've only seen Mr. Bean on HBO and they have the entire 1/2 hour to play the episode (i.e. no commercials), so maybe they put those scenes back to fill the 1/2 hour?

I wish I can remember...Were the episodes (on HBO) the full 1/2 hour? or only 22 minutes?

 

[Malcolm R]

Most Brit-Coms are 30 full minutes, AFAIK. That's why Comedy Central had to expand "Ab Fab" to 40 minute blocks when they showed them (30 mins. + 10 for commercials) and other British comedies like "Are You Being Served?", "Keeping Up Appearances," and "Vicar of Dibley" all run a full 30 minutes on PBS.

I'd guess A&E used the versions edited for North American broadcast TV. Who knows why Rowan Atkinson would claim these are his "approved versions" since they must have originally aired complete and uncut in the UK?

 

[MarkHastings]

Who knows why Rowan Atkinson would claim these are his "approved versions"

Maybe he didn't watch them all? It's probably like anything...They throw the set at him, he looks at it quickly and says "good enough" and now they can say he "approved" them.