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Julian, are you sure the shows were re-edited?
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Well, I can't claim to be an expert, but I've certainly compared different recordings of the first couple of episodes that are radically different. These are recordings made in the UK.
What I believe happened is that the first few episodes were aired once in their original format, and then re-redited with later episodes to create a new set of opening episodes, which blended material from the first batch of episodes and the next batch they made. I'm sure I read something to support this, a year or two after the series started.
A complication is that it seems that many of the episodes apparently aired in the UK before they were shown in the US.
Comparing the UK transmission dates with the American dates on
this episode guide the UK got episodes PR06 to PR12 before *any* of the season two was shown in the US. (8402 to PR12 were originally shown in one uninterrupted run between April 29th 1997 and the 22nd of July 1997. After this, I don't have any UK dates catalogued, I'm afraid).
It certainly wouldn't be the first time producers have gone back and changed footage in a series to match later changes (the replacement of Fairuza Balk in
The Sopranos, for example).
I've no idea whether there was any footage removed in this revamping process. I think it was simply re-jigged in a different order.
I'd love to have some hard and fast information about this, since I really don't want to go hunting for my old tape copies!
Of course, if there are two versions of some episodes available, and they were to have both on a DVD set, it might push up the price by perhaps $20-30, so I'm not sure I'd *need* both!
