Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

... the more harder they fall.

The acquisition of Artisan seems to have infected Lions Gate. I have an inquiry into the company about this screw-up asking how it happened and, if it was a mistake, if it will be corrected. I am not optimistic but will report what I learn.

I had some season 1 episodes on video and i didn't notice any cuts in those, also on the last disc is the unaired pilot which contains a few minutes not in the pilot that aired. the episodes seem to clock in anywhere between 21 to 22 minutes a piece (except for the pilot which is only 20 minutes) give or take a few seconds. i have only watched the first disc. If they are the syndicated versions it is pretty dissapointing, but has anyone found a list of what is actually missing how much longer could these episodes be timewise than what is on these discs allready ? just curious as i thought 22 minutes was the normal runtime for a half-hour show back then.

I can confirm that at least one episode is cut. A couple years ago, a Candian company called VSC released a disc called "The ALF Files" in Canada containing 3 hour-long episodes, including "Try to Remember," which is included in Lions Gate's season 1 set. I have that Canadian disc and since I opened the season set before seeing this thread (unfortunately) I checked the running time of that episode on both discs. I didn't watch the episodes so I can't tell you what's cut (I will try to watch them tomorrow). But I can tell you that the Canadian disc clocks in at 48:54 for that episode, a full 3:09 longer than LG's set, which was 45:45.

Plus, Aryn, the season one episodes of "Punky Brewster" on Shout! Factory's release of that are each over 25:00 in length. Those aired just 2 seasons prior to ALF season 1 (1984-85). I doubt sitcoms would have lost 3-4 minutes of show to commercials in just 2 seasons. That doesn't seem right to me.

Scott: sounds like that one is definately cut then. perhaps most of them are i dunno i was just going by runtime, but you bring up a good point about punky brewster. Hour shows in the early 80's ran for about 48 to 50 minutes so that makes sense about the 25 for half-hour show. Alf ran from 1986 to 1990 so the later seasons definately would be shorter times as the hour shows got cut back to about 45/46 minutes around then so id presume 1/2 hour shows did aswell but i'm not positive. Anyhow thanks for your info it was helpful.


Edit: I am realizing alot of these episodes on the set are also not in the correct order either.

Thanks for checking into this, Randy. Look forward to hearing what you find, even if I don't expect quick correction and free replacements.

Geez. Guess I'll just wait until the full episodes come out. I won't hold my breath though.

Too late for me also opened the packaging in the car to make sure no Floaters.

I always tell myself wait a week before buying a new release TV set. Yet this time I didn't because I loved the show that much.

Fool me once shame on You. Fool me twice shame on Me.

Thanks Chris! Seems like I won't buy this one, no subtitles and cut scenes, just have to wait for the Seinfeld release then in November!

Jan

Deep Discount has issued me a Mailing Label and RA number to return the set for Credit even thou it's opened. Bravo DDD and shame on Lion's Gate.

This is a real disappointment. Mind you, I'm still somewhat on the fence about purchasing this one. Yes, I know the episodes are cut, but this is by far one of my favourite shows that came out of the 80's. Not to mention that the chance of this set being re-issued unedited is highly unlikely. Furthermore, The $32.99 price tag from Future Shop (Canada) is nothing to sneeze at. However, due to the fact that the episodes are the syndicated cuts, what are the chances of further seasons being released? My head tells me to pass on this set, since the episodes are mutilated, but on the flipside, I do love this show a great deal and would love to have it. What to do........what to do.

Good catch. You know what's even funnier? When you add the running times printed on the individual discs, you get 3x154 min. and 1x111 min. which adds up to a much more realistic 573 min! False advertising indeed.

I haven't checked any further episodes yet since I'm mightly pissed off. All I did check was the running time of about 20 of them and they all run approx. 21:30 or lower. I can confirm that the beginning of "Mother and Daughter Reunion" is missing (check the end credits sequence for a portion of what they cut!!), and the asparagus song in "It's not easy bein' green" is missing it's first half. That (and the missing beginning of the pilot) is the stuff I noticed just by randomly checking into the shows, but I just can't bring myself to watch a full episode. I might develop an ulcer.
I know most of these shows by heart so I'm sure to spot every single cut.

Chris

Thanks guys for saving me some extra dough.

I'll put it towards the Scorcese collection next week.

Well, here's some money to be spent on Dallas instead.

i got mine from DDD aswell.. i think i will give them a call and see if i can return it. thanks for the heads up.

Mine arrived from Futureshop.ca today. I was already planning on returning it and it is a good thing since it sounds like every disc has come loose in the case!

Very troubling. Can't believe something like this would get past quality control folks. Stuff like this is going to upset fans of the show and DVD in general. Maybe Lions Gate can do a corrected-disc trade-in for those upset about it (which would be all of us, but only a fraction of likely buyers).

I'm glad someone (Randy) is looking into this, but I also won't hold my breath. Their excuse is likely to be the usual "we used the masters that were provided to us."

my guess , as was stated above, is that these are the masters given to Lion's Gate when they licensed the show. THe only thing to do is to contact the studio that holds the rights and see if they can be provided different masters. Given that the general Public will never notice the problem, I doubt highly that this will ever be resolved. Lion's Gate does a bang up job on the Dead Zone sets that I'm frankly shocked how badly this release was treated with it's bad case and cut up episodes. I would at least like to hear a response from them...

That's a big bummer. I was really looking forward to this. I love ALF, but now I don't think I'll buy the set. Thanks Lion's Gate!

"We used the masters that were provided to us" is a convienient euphemism for "we don't check things before we plop them onto disc," in my opinion.

Well, put me in the too late camp, its already open and I've already watched a disc plus worth of episodes. I didn't even notice this thread until yesterday evening.

Thanks for checking in to this Randy, I'll be curious to find out what if anything you hear about this.

It had been so long since I had seen any of these shows that I would've probably never noticed the cuts anyway, so thanks for the alert, even if it was too late for me.

I might be in the minority, but I didn't have any problems with the packaging in regard to floaters but I still hate that packaging design. I should not have to take out disc 1 to get to disc 2.

It was suggested on the DVD Talk forum that this may not necessarily be Lion's Gate's fault. Cut shows like Will and Grace, ALF, Little House on the Prairie, and perhaps Saved By the Bell have all come from NBC. Perhaps they are the real culprit for not providing proper masters. I'm not sure whether the responsibility should be placed on the original source for this or on the distribution company for not trying harder.

Leave it to the Beaver! No, seriously. We should find out who is responsible and complain!

One doesn't have to have ever seen a show to know if its edited or not. Simple rules apply:

1950s-60s shows: 1 hour shows should run 50 or more mins.
1/2 hour shows should be 25:30 or more

1970s shows: still around the same time range with the 1/2 hour shows maybe at 25:00

1980s shows: 48 and 24 minutes, give or take

1990s shows are when they really started to become shorter.

So, no, you don't have to look for edits, just time the thing. As for why they do this, follow the money. They look at it as whether or not the extra cost involved in going back to the originals will be justified in sales. The bottom line is that most people are morons who don't even know that when they watch a program in syndication its cut. 99% of the buying public are the same. They don't know how long shows are supposed to run or whether they are complete or not. The 1% of people who do notice these things (and who post on forums like this) are not enough for them to care about. So, yeah, maybe something like Star Trek, with a massive fanatical fanbase, they will treat with respect but other shows that have only a small minority of rabid fans they will put out whatever is cheapest and most readily at their disposal. Practically all TV is run off Beta SP these days and unfortunately very few shows have been mastered to this format in their original form. If it has, we are in luck. If it hasn't, we are SOOL. The only way to send a message is with your wallet, the only thing these places understand. Forget such things as maintaining the product in its original form, for art's sake. Forget a company having the integrity (a lost concept in America) to want to produce something properly that they can be proud to have their name on. Its all about money. Let everyone write to Lions Gate and tell them they are NOT buying Alf and why. Write to Image and tell them they are NOT buying Combat and why. These things aren't cheap. Let them know they are missing a few hundred sales and then maybe it might get through to them.

BTW, loved the analogy about buying a book with 10 pages missing. Perfect.

Well A&E has managed to get NBC's Homicide out without edits so I have to place the blame on the distributor

By the way, the syndicated edits even had more in some of these episodes. I've already noticed that music is missing from "Help Me, Rhonda" and "Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue?"

To update my last post (#34), the uncut episode is actually 48:13, not 48:54 as I previously stated (the commentary on that disc went overtime, causing the extra time).

As far as cuts to that episode, I didn't notice any of the dialogue cut, so I think they just cut out some of the clips shown in that flashback episode. The only one I actually noticed was a clip of ALF eating on a date with a blind woman (that was in the middle of a montage of clips of ALF eating).

What a shame, I was really looking forward to this show - one we all watched and loved, and one I didn't actually think would make it to DVD.
Off the list unless it's sorted

Amy, I still find it inexcusable, as they also provided Shout! Factory with the tapes to Punky Brewster, and they were all uncut. Because NBC was involved, I worried about that set. It's laziness on someone's part.

Combat! could easily be time-expanded on a program like Final Cut Pro.