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

FredCampbell

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On these dvds, there are the placards that say "End of Part
One" and "Part Two". I've never seen these before in any of the PBS broadcasts or on any of the tapes. Looks like commercial slots to me.
 

James Reader

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FredCampbell
On these dvds, there are the placards that say "End of Part One" and "Part Two". I've never seen these before in any of the PBS broadcasts or on any of the tapes. Looks like commercial slots to me
Mr Bean is shown on the ITV Network in the UK, which is funded by commercials (not the licence fee) and yes, the "End of Part One" is the bumper to the adverts. Typically in a half-hour slot there is only one commercial break during the programme. Due to the adverts, the running time for ITV "Brit-Coms" is less than 25 minutes (probably around 22 all-in-all).

BBC America, shows programmes from the BBC Networks and other British networks (such as "Father Ted" and "So/V Graham Norton" which are both on Channel 4 in the UK - another station funded by advertisements.)
 

FredCampbell

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FYI: The commercial video I own entitled "The Merry Mishaps of Mr. Bean", complete with "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean" bears the Tiger Television logo and was manufactured and released by Polygram.
 

Curtis T

Grip
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Here is a review I saw over at Amazon :

This DVD set which proclaims itself to be the "whole" Bean isn't quite what it appears to be. While it does contain, in essence, all 14 episodes of the classic series, many of the episodes are slightly or even significantly EDITED. Two glaring examples are: in "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean," the scene of Mr. Bean winning the turkey by guessing it's weight, then throwing it in the back of his car has been CUT. It is NOT here. In "Do-it-Yourself, Mr. Bean," the entire 4-5 minute scene of Bean inside Harrod's trying to take the sale chair away from the old people who get there first has also been CUT. He goes inside... and comes back out with the chair. There is NO scene inside. I would hardly call this the WHOLE Bean. Many other minor segments of him driving have also been cut. All in all, each episode now runs 24-25 minutes instead of the general 27 to 30 minutes. It's a real shame that this set couldn't have been done right, even if it took a fourth disc to do it. I will miss those little moments that are now apparently lost forever. However, what we are left with, edited or not, is still a nice collection... thus, I have to at least give it 3 stars despite my disappointment at it not being truly COMPLETE. I really doubt we will ever see a special "uncut" release, so go ahead and add this set to your collection. The picture's better than ever and the special features are nice but a wee bit minimal. Enough complaining, it's still the best show around... even with his bits and pieces removed.

SO IT SEEMS THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 2 SCENES CUT. MANY OTHER MINOR SEGMENTS OF HIM DRIVING HAVE ALSO BEEN CUT.
 

DeathStar1

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Neil
The more I hear of missing scenes, the less interested I am in getting this set. And the more I think about it, the more I think that R1 fans are getting ripped off.

I mean, why would only the fans state side get the 'Rowan Atkinson authorized versions', while every other country in the world seems to be getting the uncut versions found on the VHS tapes? Just dosn't make that much sense..
 

Jeff Jacobson

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Who knows why Rowan Atkinson would claim these are his "approved versions" since they must have originally aired complete and uncut in the UK?
It is possible Atkinson didn't really approve of the final product.

Didn't Universal claim that the misframed Back to the Future discs were also "director approved", when the director didn't approve of them at all? Maybe A&E is doing the same thing.
 

FredCampbell

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Didn't Universal claim that the misframed Back to the Future discs were also "director approved", when the director didn't approve of them at all? Maybe A&E is doing the same thing.
Excellent point! A&E needs to re-examine the situation and issue a recall/exchange. :angry: :emoji_thumbsup:
 

James Reader

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I suggest somebody times one of the affected episodes and (adjusting for PAL speedup :)) reports the timing. I would imagine it will be 22-23 minutes.

I'm not sure, after all it was a long time ago, but the inclusion of the "End of Part One" and "Part Two" captions (which are not on any of the UK VHS tapes I own) suggests to me that these are the programmes, as originally aired in the UK - and therefore it could be said, as intended. Like I say, it's a long time ago and I can't remember if the sequences mentioned (Turkey, Old Lady) were on the original TV showings or not.

Also, if anyone has the German or Australian set, could they confirm if the "End of Part One" and "Part Two" captions are included.
 

DeathStar1

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I agree with the posters over at DVDTalk Forum. The response, no matter how many times it's given, still dosn't mesh with me. I hate to sound like a broken record, but as one of their posters put it, everyone else around the world gets complete episodes, yet we get the edited versions.

Why is that if the version we get is supposedly 'used for world distribution since 1996?' It just dosn't add up. It's a long shot, but maby someone can bypass the Tiger Aspect people and get Rowan Atkinson on phone for an 'interview' about the DVD set and ask him directly. I really wonder if this is corporate BS to cover up a mistake, or if it tis really true...
 

Curtis T

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everyone else around the world gets complete episodes, yet we get the edited versions.
Actually , everyone else is getting the "padded" episodes while we get the official , authorized versions as originally shown on British television.

No matter how you look at it though in order to see the few extra scenes you will need to get a hold of a different copy.
 

Curtis T

Grip
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I think I've finally sorted out this Mr.Bean mess. I'll try to explain it step-by-step so follow closely. If I've made a mistake somewhere please correct me.

1) Mr. Bean was originally shown in the UK on ITV and NOT BBC1 or BBC2. ITV has commercials but the BBC channels do not.

2) Therefore , when Mr. Bean first aired in the UK the episodes were around 22-25 minutes in length so that 5-8 mins. of commercials could be shown in a 30 min slot. This is why you get the placards showing such as "End of Part 1" etc.

3) Therefore , the official explanation from Katherine (the show's producer) that the new DVD set here in Region 1 (The Whole Bean)is the official , approved and authorized version is correct.

4) HBO and PBS have no commercials during a 30 minute slot. Therefore , in order to play the Mr. Bean episodes they needed to "pad" the episodes to make them a bit longer so that they could fit the 30 minute slot better. I'm guessing they asked for the extra scenes to be filmed so that they could insert them. I'm surprised that this was allowed to happen but I guess the producers didn't mind. (?)

5) For Canadians : The CBC has commercials. Therefore , when CBC shows Mr. Bean they use the original (22-25 min) UK version and that's why these 2 scenes are not seen on the CBC.

6) VHS Releases : I suppose that if some VHS copies out there have these scenes then that must mean that they got the rights to the HBO/PBS versions (the "padded" versions)

7) Overseas DVD releases : I suppose that if overseas (Region 2 German or R2 Australian etc.) DVDs have these scenes then they too must have got the rights to the "padded" versions.

So to sum up : there seems to be 2 different versions : an official one (22-25 mins. - original) and a special version exclusively for stations such as HBO and PBS. ("padded")

Since this new DVD set The Whole Bean is the official set then the episodes are only 22-25 mins long and will not have any of the "padding" that was added for the HBO/PBS broadcasts. Therefore , you will not see the turkey scene , the old lady scene and some other parts of Mr.Bean driving around in his car.

I suppose that if you want to see the "padded" versions you will have to get a hold of the appropriate copies. I myself have not figured which copies have both these scenes but it seems that the US VHS versions (I have the Canadian VHS versions and they do not have the scenes) and some overseas versions have the scenes.
 

DeathStar1

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Well, after a little bit of searching, Amazon.com has the videos still in stock it seems. For anyone who wants to buy 'em and convert them to home made DVD just to have the missing scenes...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...109630-5828613

I might just have to buy a few myself. I've seen the HBO versions so many times, it's going to be a bit strange not seeing some of those great gags included.

Then the next question is, wich overseas versions have the HBO versions, and wich one would be the cheapest/best to order?
 

EdwardF

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I guess I am late to the discussion. I just finished viewing everything on all three discs.

The scenes I have found missing are: (I guess everyone has found the first two scenes are missing ;) )

Episode 7 Merry Christmas Mr. Bean
After Bean's girlfriend gives him major hints about a ring for a Christmas present, there is almost two minutes of this episode missing where he cheats to win the Christmas turkey we see later in the episode that he gets his head stuck inside.

Episode 10 Do it yourself Mr. Bean
After Bean enters the department store to buy the chair, there is a three minute scene missing showing how the old couple that waited in line the longest for the store to open actually beat bean to the prized chair, but Bean rewires the reclining chair so that the chair starts crunching the woman and Bean turns up the store's background music so that the husband with his hearing aid cannot discern his wife's cries for help. This was one of the more hilarious scenes of the whole bean series.

Episode 11 Back to School Mr. Bean
This episode has a brief 30 seconds missing of when after Bean con's the two soldiers into pushing the other Bean car away, the formation of soldiers marches towards Bean pinning him against the wall of the school.

The series is so great to have on DVD and I have personally wanted this series to be released for a very long time. I guess I really got my hopes up when the called it "The Whole Bean" that it would have everything. They should re-name it to the "Almost Whole Bean". I did really enjoy the bonus material though.
 

Curtis T

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This episode has a brief 30 seconds missing of when after Bean con's the two soldiers into pushing the other Bean car away, the formation of soldiers marches towards Bean pinning him against the wall of the school
Thanks for adding this information about Back to School , Mr. Bean. I'm picking up the set this weekend and I'm going to compare it to my old VHS tapes.
 

DeathStar1

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Well, I finally broke down and decided to buy it today. I'll let anyone know about any other edits I've spotted. But it's been so long since i've seen the HBO versions, it's going to be tough to tell.

But here's a question about BBC comedies.

How are audiences shown these comedies to record a laugh track? I doubt it's canned laughter, because no two shows sound the same. I also doubt that they bring an audience out to a live location shoot as well. I mean, do they bring out a call in a newspaper looking to record an audiences laughter for a Mr.Bean type show, or is it done another way?
 

Curtis T

Grip
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On the weekend I compared the Whole Bean DVD set to my store-bought (in Canada) Polygram-released VHS tapes. The 2 sets are identical except that the old VHS copies have the "turkey cheating" scene. There is no sign of the "old lady and the recliner" scene on either set. Since the DVD set is only missing one scene (a very short one too) I will probably sell my VHS set. Anyone else make any comparisons ???
 

MarkHastings

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Anyone else make any comparisons ???
I keep meaning to check those scenes, but I've been too lazy to re-hook my VCR back into my system ;)

I find it interesting that the old lady scene wasn't on the VHS. Maybe this will be enough incentive for me to get off my lazy but and check it out. :D
 

Curtis T

Grip
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Has anyone determined which sets (versions) have the old couple/recliner scene ??? Do any of the overseas DVD sets have the scene ?? Do the old US VHS versions have it ?? I have done comparisons and I know for a fact that the Canadian VHS versions released by Polygram do NOT have that scene.

I just picked up my Whole Bean boxset and now I want to get a hold of that old lady/recliner scene because I've never seen it and it sounds hilarious. Any versions out there that have it or is it something you could have only seen on HBO or PBS ?
 

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