Does Spike cut Voyager?

[erastus25]

Back when TNG first started airing on Spike I tried to watch it, but simply couldn't. They were cutting too much out of each episode. It felt like I was watching those cut for time episodes of MASH that used to float in syndication.

However, VOY feels more complete on Spike. Is it being cut as well and the editing is superior or am I getting the "real deal" and Voyager's original run time just happens to be the same as a Spike hour block of TV?

 

[Christopher]

Spike's airings of VGR are indeed edited. Syndicated reruns always have more commercials put in than they had on their original runs.

I wouldn't have thought TNG would have had more cuts, though. I mean, that originally was a syndicated show, and I'm pretty sure its episodes always had 43 minutes of story, so that would mean only a minute or two would need to be cut from each, much the same as on VGR. Maybe you're right and the editing is just being more smoothly done.

 

[DarthTom]

Christopher said:
Spike's airings of VGR are indeed edited. Syndicated reruns always have more commercials put in than they had on their original runs.

You'd think they would time compress the opening or ending credits if anything rather than losing dialog to fit in more commercial time. Law and Order reruns on TNT are time compressed well IMHO by overlapping the next episode's beginning on a split screen with the prior's credits.

 

[Corran Horn]

DarthTom said:

Christopher said:
Spike's airings of VGR are indeed edited. Syndicated reruns always have more commercials put in than they had on their original runs.

You'd think they would time compress the opening or ending credits if anything rather than losing dialog to fit in more commercial time. Law and Order reruns on TNT are time compressed well IMHO by overlapping the next episode's beginning on a split screen with the prior's credits.

They also time-compress Voyager by doing something like removing frames while people are walking and stuff. Watch a Spike Voyager episode carefully. It happens a lot in the corridor walk and talks. Everybody has a little extra spring in their step....

 

[Peacemaker]

^Rationalize it by pretending Janeway has gotten them all hooked on her coffee. Either that or they're cookin' crystal meth in the cargo bay.

 

[Charles Trip Tucker III]

Each episode from Seasons 1-5 are 45 minutes each. Each episode from Seasons 6-7 are 42 minutes each. Shorter episodes in the final two seasons is because the standard length of commercials per hour has increased from 15 to 18 minutes. I generally don't watch VOY on SpikeTV, but I would guess that episodes from the first five seasons are editted down from 45 to 42 minutes. Episodes from the final two seasons are probably not editted.

 

[DarthTom]

Corran Horn said:
They also time-compress Voyager by doing something like removing frames while people are walking and stuff. Watch a Spike Voyager episode carefully. It happens a lot in the corridor walk and talks. Everybody has a little extra spring in their step....

Personally I don't have a problem with those types of time compression because they don't remove dialog. It's when they cut scenes that it bugs me.

In DS9 they cut one of the best scenes IMHO in the second to last episode where Damar, Kira and Garak are all joking how they cannot get into the Dominion compound and they make a bunch of jokes between each other that gives the whole scene and finale a lighter ending [at least at that moment]


I was very disappointed when Spike cut out that scene.

Edited to add: They also cut out the scene on the finale when the Dr. and Garak are lamenting on how many Cardassians had died - another scene IMHO that brings some finality to Garak's character.

 

[homoaffectional]

In a word: yes. And I do find it bothersome, often times. I wish they would at least allow the uncut version to play on the 1 AM showings and then alternate it so it's the 5 PM one that they rerun at 1 AM when they reboot the airing of the entire series run.

 

[Saxman1]

So they are cutting 2-4 minutes out per ep in seasons 1-5 and nothing out of 6-7? If true, you just saved me a ton of $.

 

[homoaffectional]

Saxman1 said:
So they are cutting 2-4 minutes out per ep in seasons 1-5 and nothing out of 6-7? If true, you just saved me a ton of $.

Actually, they cut out at least 15-30 seconds from some of those episodes. I know for a fact that they cut a bit out w/Janeway "apologizing" to Seven in "The Void", for one. Sorry if that means you aren't still going to be saving money, but I thought you might like to know.

 

[Saxman1]

I got 1-2 used. The rest is being DVR'd. Rather do that than spend $90 new. The used sets were $60 each. I can afford that. $90 - $120: no freaking way!

 

[Fel]

Whatever happened to Trek Uncut?

 

[homoaffectional]

Saxman1 said:
I got 1-2 used. The rest is being DVR'd. Rather do that than spend $90 new. The used sets were $60 each. I can afford that. $90 - $120: no freaking way!

I rent them from Netflix, and download them from BitTorrent. Between that and taping what Spike *DOES* show of the episodes worth taping, I can pretty much have every ep of Voyager I want to have 'on demand' without actually spendng the money on the DVD sets, money which has a 100 uses w/a much higher priority.

 

[Charles Trip Tucker III]

Saxman1 said:
I got 1-2 used. The rest is being DVR'd. Rather do that than spend $90 new. The used sets were $60 each. I can afford that. $90 - $120: no freaking way!

Wow. I got Seasons 2 and 3 off E-Bay, new, for $50 each. Try e-bay, it's cheaper.

 

[Dimension11]

Or sometimes the used section in Amazon has great deals too. Theres treasure if you know where to dig!

 

[nx1701g]

Charles Trip Tucker III said:
Each episode from Seasons 1-5 are 45 minutes each. Each episode from Seasons 6-7 are 42 minutes each. Shorter episodes in the final two seasons is because the standard length of commercials per hour has increased from 15 to 18 minutes. I generally don't watch VOY on SpikeTV, but I would guess that episodes from the first five seasons are editted down from 45 to 42 minutes. Episodes from the final two seasons are probably not editted.

Yeah they are. I noticed heavy edits in Inside Man, Endgame, Unimatrix Zero, Pathfinder, and Life Line.

 

[freak]

Yes, they do and I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN THEY DO THAT!!! But at least VGR seems more carefully put together than TNG was when it was edited on Spike.

 

[Charles Trip Tucker III]

nx1701g said:

Charles Trip Tucker III said:
Each episode from Seasons 1-5 are 45 minutes each. Each episode from Seasons 6-7 are 42 minutes each. Shorter episodes in the final two seasons is because the standard length of commercials per hour has increased from 15 to 18 minutes. I generally don't watch VOY on SpikeTV, but I would guess that episodes from the first five seasons are editted down from 45 to 42 minutes. Episodes from the final two seasons are probably not editted.

Yeah they are. I noticed heavy edits in Inside Man, Endgame, Unimatrix Zero, Pathfinder, and Life Line.

If "Endgame" was shown as two episodes, then of coarse it'll be heavilly editted. As for the rest... wow... Seasons 1-5 must be butchered.

 

[number6]

It should be noted that Spike isn't responsible for these edits.

Any show that gets packaged for syndication gets edited to fit a standardized programming clock, which has allotted time for commercials that the syndicator is required to run as part of a syndication agreement and "open" time for local broadcast commercials.


Whether any of these shows air on Spike or G4 or any other channel.. These cuts were made ahead of time and would be made despite who's aring them, unless they have some kind of agreement to show them uncut, which is more an exception than the norm.

 

[gcmcdowell]

At some point I saw "Encounter at Farpoint" - Data throwing the rock at the holodeck wall was completely missing. I started to wonder if I had imagined the whole scene until I learned about the dismal practice of trimming stuff out for the sake of more commercials. Then it dawned on me what all the Trek Uncut stuff had been about . . .

VOY "Scientific Method" was missing most of the scene where Neelix and Chakotay swap stories about their ailments like a couple of old men. I always thought that was one of the more redeeming moments of the episode. (At least they didn't cut out Tuvok's 'Shall I flog them as well?')

So I have a new-found appreciation for DVDs now.