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Films Modified for Television

Posted on: Monday, 21 November 2005, 00:00 CST

By R.D. Heldenfels, Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Nov. 19--QUESTION: What networks (if any) modify movies that originate at the theaters to make them suitable for TV? I have pre-teen and teenage children and I'm concerned about what they are viewing. I was under the impression that anything outside of "pay per view" was modified for television. My 14-year-old has been watching R-rated movies on TNT, TBS and USA because I believed they were modified -- similar to what the major networks used to do. But when I sat down with him the other night to watch "Saving Private Ryan," I realized this movie was not modified. Please help!

ANSWER: Outside of premium services like HBO and Showtime, and pay-per-view telecasts, movies are usually edited for telecast on cable and broadcast.

"Saving Private Ryan" is an exception, a movie that was sold to television with the understanding that it would not be edited. You may have missed the brouhaha a year ago when some TV stations refused to air ABC's uncut telecast of "Ryan" for fear of a Federal Communications Commission crackdown.

That said, what gets cut may vary, and you can certainly see more language and sexual content getting through than a few years ago. Many TV shows come with a rating like the motion picture industry's, but the ratings are highly subjective. The only way anyone can be sure of what a child is seeing on TV is to watch it, too.

Q: On "General Hospital" during Sonny and Reese's shootout they played a really awesome song. It may be titled "I Wanna Live." Could you find out the title of the song and the group who performed it?

A: That was "I Just Wanna Live" by Good Charlotte. You can find it on its "Chronicles of Life and Death CD."

Q: On an episode of "Medical Center," my mother told me there was one that starred "The Brady Bunch's" Robert Reed getting a sex-change operation. I would like to know if the series will be available on DVD.

A: Reed played a doctor seeking a sex change in a two-part telecast of "Medical Center" in 1975. I don't know of a commercial release of the series or of those episodes, called "The Fourth Sex." Rare-video site www.robertsvideos.com is selling a nine-episode package of "Medical Center;" the Robert Reed episodes are not in it, and I can't vouch for the quality or origin of the set.

Q: Will you please tell me why "American Dreams" was taken off the air? There was no "closing" or explanation. I waited all summer for it to return in the fall. The program was so real and meaningful.

A: The drama simply did not draw the audience NBC had hoped for, and it announced last spring that the show would not be returning. "The West Wing," though not as popular as it once was, is attracting about a million more viewers a week than "American Dreams" did in the same time slot.

As for the lack of an "American Dreams" finale, footage was shot for one and this summer it sounded as if NBC was going to air it. But so far it hasn't.

Q: About 20 or so years ago, there was a miniseries on TV called "Return to Eden." It was set in Australia at a ranch named "Eden." I was wondering if it had ever been reprinted on video in any format. If so, how would a person purchase a copy?

A: There was indeed a 1983 Australian miniseries called "Return to Eden." It starred Rebecca Gilling and led to a regular series of the same name. The miniseries was released on VHS some time ago; copies are for sale on www.amazon.com, although they are expensive. I have also seen DVD copies of it and the sequel series for sale on eBay, but cannot vouch for their quality or origin.

Q: Some time ago on PBS, I saw a documentary called "Paper Clips" about a group of students that collected paper clips to represent each Jewish person killed by the Germans. I wanted to see it again and asked for it at Blockbuster. The clerk said they did have it, but Blockbuster ordered them to remove it and it would not be available because it did not meet with their standards. Please give me some explanation.

A: I think the clerk misled you. Blockbuster here and in other areas put the DVD out before it was supposed to be released and had to remove it. I could not pin down an official release date.

By the way, you may not have seen the movie on PBS. It has been running on HBO's various channels, and will air on HBO Signature today at 2 and 9 p.m.

MASS MAILBAGGING: Several readers wrote in about the confusion of the late-night telecasts of the Penn & Teller and "Saturday Night Live" specials on WKYC (Channel 3) following Sunday night's Browns game. Channel 3 program director Terry Moir says the station planned to run "Penn & Teller" followed by "SNL" and sent out that information.

Late last week, the station reversed the order at NBC's request. Channel 3 sent out a notice of the change, but it was too late for most listings and reports, Moir said. (I wrote about the original plan before the change and never got an update.)

Moir hopes NBC will replay the shows, but did not know if and when that will happen.

Other readers asked what happened to "Threshold" last week. CBS decided to try out "Close to Home" in "Threshold's" slot and move the thriller to "Close to Home's" Tuesday time slot for a couple of weeks beginning Nov. 22. Don't be surprised if the move becomes permanent; "Close to Home" did better than "Threshold" has on Friday.

Do you have a question or comment for the TV mailbag? Write to me by e-mail to rheldenfelsthebeaconjournal.com or regular mail to the Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309. Please put "TV mailbag" on the envelope or e-mail header.

Please do not phone in questions. Letters may be edited. You can also find questions and answers on www.ohio.com.

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To see more of the Akron Beacon Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ohio.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

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Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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