Simpsons: The Incomplete Seventh Season - "Much Apu about Nothing" ??? (1 Viewer)

[battlebeast]

Something has bothered me for a long time now, and I wanted to see if It was just me or everyone.


In the Original broadcast episode, Much Apu about Nothing, from the 7th season of The Simpsons, Homer is trying to teach Apu about American history. In one scene, he is trying to find Springfield on a map, pointing to several various states, when Bart walks in. He asks, "What are you doing?" and Homer replies something like, "Trying to find Springfield on a map," to which Bart points at the map and goes, "Hey! We live right there!" (Bart's body covers the map so you can't see to which state he points.)


On my Season 7 DVD, and probably in syndication as well, the scene goes as follows:


Bart walks in and asks, "What are you doing?" and the Scene IMMIDIETLY cuts to Apu, who says, "I'm so confused..."


The ENTIRE "Where is Springfield" gag is Missing from my DVD, so is this a mistake, or correct? are OTHER episodes missing scenes like this?


Is this scene on your DVD?


I know I have seen this scene before, and I know it exists because I have read about it on other websites, so why is it not on the season 7 DVD?


Seems to me, this makes the season 7 DVD "The Incomplete Seventh Season."

 

[vnisanian2001]

Complete means every episode. It doesn't mean uncut or unedited.

 

[battlebeast]

That's very missleading. I always took "Complete" to mean EVERY ORIGINAL BROADCAST EPISODE, UNCUT.


How can it be called "complete" when episodes are cut and included with missing scenes? that's not very "complete" to me...

 

[vnisanian2001]

The definition of complete as far as TV-on-DVD releases are concerned is very debatable.

 

[TravisR]

Are you just going off your memory of an episode that aired 15 years ago? I've just looked at an exceedingly reliable guide (which notes changes between every network airing, syndication cuts and what is on DVD) and there's no mention of anything like that being cut. EDIT: I just took a look at my DVD and the scene plays with Homer trying to locate Springfield and pointing to Chicago, Lisa corrects him and as she does, Bart's head moves into frame so the audience can't see where she's pointing. Then Apu says how he's confused. Considering the entire joke is there, I doubt there's any edit from how it originally aired.

 

[battlebeast]

No, there is an edit... Bart asks, "Whatcha doin'?" and i the scene IMMIDIETLY cuts to Apu. Lisa and Homer are supposed to tell Bart they are looking for Springfield, and Bart is supposed to point to where it is, but he is blocking the shot so we can't see where he points, as he says "Hey! We live right there!" This IS a missing scene, and is referenced on the Wikipedia.

• At one point, as Homer and Apu are studying, Bart appears over the map of the USA and asks, "Watcha doing, studying?" They then proceed to tell Bart that they are looking for Springfield on the map. Barts goes, "Hey, we live right there!" and points to the map, but his head is blocking the map so we cannot see where he is pointing. This scene is not shown in syndication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_The_Simpsons/Example_generated_lists/S07



I guess it is EVERY DVD missing this scene...

 

[battlebeast]

I jsut found another website that states that this scene was editied out of all syndicated showings and the DVD for an unknown reason.


http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Much-Apu-About-Nothing

 

[TravisR]

Here's a frighteningly detailed list of edits, cuts, weird trivia for The Simpsons DVDs: http://www.snpp.com/guides/dvdguide.html . That list makes no mention of any edit for Much Apu About Nothing. That's not to say that they're infallible but I trust their 'research' more than an anonymous Wiki entry or a site that just wholesale copy and pastes that entry.

 

[battlebeast]

No, I know the sne exists... they reference it on several websites and talk about it on the audio commentary.

 

[TravisR]

No, I know the sne exists... they reference it on several websites and talk about it on the audio commentary.

I'm not trying to argue with you and I acknowledge that you may be totally correct but what websites mention it? Links to a messy Wikipedia page and a site that steals that same info isn't very convincing to me especially compared to the very thorough site that I gave a link to. I listened to about a minute of the commentary during that scene and they don't say anything about an edit. I didn't have 22 minutes to listen to the entire track but when do they mention the edit on the commentary of that episode? Once again, I'm not saying that there definitely was no edit but I'm certainly not convinced that there was one either.

 

[battlebeast]

If other websites reference this scene, and not just my own memory, it must have existed at some point, right?

 

[TravisR]

If other websites reference this scene, and not just my own memory, it must have existed at some point, right?

Please provide a reliable link and not an incomplete and messy entry Wikipedia (which is something that anyone can edit with no proof other than their memory). I was able to provide a very detailed link that doesn't make any mention of an edit in that scene. Once again, I'm not saying that that site can't be wrong but if someone was looking at the links that each of us provided, which seems to be the most reliable?

 

[battlebeast]

I provided TWO links, both different. I can't find anymore right now, but since I DID NOT write the text on either page... then SOMEONE ELSE ALSO KNOWS about this missing scene. There fore, it DOES EXSIST. I was trying to find out why it was cut from the episode... I guess i'll never really know.

 

[TravisR]

I provided TWO links, both different.

The second link (which is no longer even active and seems even more unreliable now) just copied and pasted the information from the first link you provided. Maybe there is an edit but it's much easier to believe that two people could misremember one line of dialogue from an episode that aired more than 15 years ago over believing that no one else (including a site that has compiled a list that is so obsessively deatiled that it compares copies of all the network airings to the DVDs) has found it yet. I have the original airing of the episode on VHS. It's buried deep in a box so it could take me weeks to find it but I will check. I will have no problem admitting if I am wrong but I really doubt that I am. The way that the scene plays on DVD is the way the joke should be told. The joke is that Bart is blocking the audience's view of the map as they locate Springfield. Having him say "Hey, we live right here" is unnecessary to the gag.

 

[battlebeast]

I just tried both links and they still work... and I'd be greatful if at some point you could check your original tape. No worries if you can't.


I find it odd to have Bart walk in, ask a question, and they cut to Apu without acknowledging Bart. In the version I remember, they say to Bart they are looking for Springfield. Lisa can't find Springfield either, and Bart points right to it, blocking where he is pointing so we can't see. Maybe they cut it down, feeling the gag to be over kill, or maybe they felt it gave away too much as to the location of Springfield. We'll never know unless we could see the full gag.


And IMHO, I doubt TWO people could come up with the EXACT same wording and action for a gag that supposedly doesn't exists.

:/

 

[TravisR]

I just tried both links and they still work... and I'd be greatful if at some point you could check your original tape. No worries if you can't.

You've definitely have me interested enough that I'm going to check but like I said, it'll probably take a couple weeks. I have too much junk and I'm not exactly sure where it is so it's going to take a while.

 

[battlebeast]

Hey, No worries! When ever you can!

 

[DavidBC]

I know that occasionally there are alternate audio tracks used, that's possibly what has happened here. In one cut Bart says 'Hey, we live here' as blocking the map and in another (and the dvd) he says 'What are you guys doing?'.... Frankly the joke is better as it is on the dvd, are we really expected to believe that Lisa doesn't know how to find Springfield on a map and that Bart needs to correct her?

 

[iDarren]

Anxiously awaits the VHS comparison

 

[TravisR]

OK, I dug out my tapes (which are recordings of the first network airing and not from syndication or a network rerun) and the scene plays exactly as it plays on the DVD. Homer and Lisa are discussing where Springfield is on the map and as it's about to be pointed out, Bart walks into frame blocking the audience's view of the map and says "Whatcha doin'? Studyin'?". The shot cuts back to Apu who says that he's so confused that he doesn't know where he's getting kicked out of and then it goes on to the next scene.