Monday, April 23, 2007

The Cuts

I happened to come across an episode of Alias on TV yesterday afternoon. It was episode 4.1 "Authorized Personnel Only Part 1." Um, sooooo good- that is if they showed the whole episode!!

When the shows originally aired on TV, they ran complete- all 48 minutes. Last night, several scenes were cut, minor details clipped. WTF? I don't understand! If the show was built around the 1 hour time-slot, which is 48 minutes with commericals, then why would a network need to cut it? LAME!

Anyways, aside from the obvious cuts any Alias fan would have noticed, I was reminded of what an amazing episode it is. Tomasaki! One of my favorite bad guys! Syd is back in her apartment! Cute hair cut, great lighting, new APO set, Angela Basset! Soooo good. My room mate actually sat through the whole thing- but she didn't ask any questions. Nothing. Not a one. I was fully prepared to give her the entire story of Alias, in order to catch her up- as it must have been hard to understand Sydney's bitterness towards Sloane has her new boss without knowing that he was her old boss, a terrorist cell leader who killed her fiance. But Amanda didn't ask. I mean, if 4.1 wasn't enough to peak her curiousity, then maybe she's not cut out for the world of Alias after all. Oh, well.

16 comments:

Page48 said...

People who are not up for the world of Alias can always find intellectual stimulation in the world of "Sanjaya Idol"or "Dancing with Heather McCartney". Me? I'll stick with Alias.

On the subject of editing Alias content, it's interesting to watch an eppy of Alias on a traditional TV while watching the same eppy in widescreen on your laptop and see the bits that are lopped off on the TV version.

This is only recommended for the addicted and afflicted Alias fan. Sanjaya watchers will not find much to grab onto here.

Anonymous said...

I guess Pres. George W. Bush would not find Alias entertaining seeing that Sanjaya was at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. :)

Page48 said...

Alias doesn't contain enough fantasy to hold Dubbya's attention, hence the Svogda-like "storyline" about WMD's in Iraq.

SRM said...

lol too funny dlove! :)

I've successfully gotten two of my closest friends addicted to Alias in the past, one who actually wanted to go into the CIA and went in the ARMY right after high school. I tried getting one of my other friends into it by showing her the pilot episode which she found to be "predictable," I was like "what?!?" I was highly disappointed she wasn't interested since that was in my truly obsessive phase (naming my cat Milo and such), but I guess it's not for everyone.

APO 1&2 are great eppies, disregarding the disappointment over their explanation of the season 3 cliffhanger. I love the mission to steal the sword, the chemistry between Syd and her would-be assassin, the recruitment of Marshall, good stuff. There's no way I could watch reruns that cut out parts, I know them all way too well to not be annoyed by that (yup, I'm a DVD snob).

uncle111 said...

Seems like I noticed the time on the DVD episodes to run 42-43 minutes. I know they make cuts on sydicated shows, but they also time compress them by speeding them up slightly.

I don't guess I'll ever understand people who don't become Alias addicts after watching the pilot. Maybe they have to watch far enough in to get a taste of the Rambaldi elements. But then I know Alias fans who didn't care much for that storyline, which is even less understandable to me.

This episode was an exceptional one, even with the total wimp out on the S.A.B.47 Project storyline

Girlscout said...

I KNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! What in the sam hell is SAB 47!!?? So unfair! Those papers she looks at say nothing about her mother- all they say is something about Sydney, some mission, signed off by Jack. It doesn't say Jack authorized Irina's death! What is up with that!

I watched season 1 "Reckoning" last night. Good run of eppies! I still love season 3 the most. Aside from the fact that we only see Will once in season 3. Lame.

Page48 said...

More fictional faves from the Presidential library: "The Jessica Lynch Story" and "The Pat Tillman Story". Add that to the epic miniseries "Bin Laden...Wanted,Dead or Alive" and we can see that the Presidential One is actually a true fantasy buff. Next time he's on FOX News, I'm checking him out for Vulcan ears.

What if Dubbya really IS addicted to Alias? Could it be that Iraq was not about WMD but a botched attempt to recover something akin to the Mueller Device?

Is it possible that Dubbya looks in the mirror and sees Arvin Sloane in all his stubbly glory staring back at him?

Anonymous said...

Page 48. Sloane was smart, clever, creative, intelligent, a nice dresser and above all, he would never have a need for a Cheney or a Rove.

uncle111 said...

Just before the Iraq War there were guests on the late night radio show "Coast to Coast" who said we were going to go over there to obtain things Saddam had uncovered in his excavation of the ancient city Babylon - writings and ancient technologies. Sounds like a cool movie idea.

Girlscout said...

How did we get talking about the worst president ever? OBAMA '08!!

Anonymous said...

nice.
this used to be a place for all Alias lovers. now it seems to be a place to post invective expressions of Bush-hatred. if you would keep your personal politics reserved for some political forum, this could still be a place where Alias brings everyone together.
just a thought.

Page48 said...

Sorry for the invective expressions, Mr. Rove, my bad! I'll report to Gitmo in the morning.

Final scenes for Alias were wrapped up at 4:00 a.m. April 25th, 2006 (according to Mia Maestro). We are officially in year 2 with no new Alias (aside from Uncle's screenplay).

Anonymous said...

My apologies for going off topic. Although, I have to admit JJ did throw in references to current political times.

Page48 said...

Got my first look at the debut of "Painkiller Jane" tonight and it's just not worth a second look. Reminded me for all the world of a low budget, made-in-Canada, taxpayer funded drama. Nothing here to soothe an audience suffering from Alias separation.

Jane is attractive enough, but she's rough around the edges, and she doesn't have the finesse or personality or intellect that makes Sydney Bristow such a hottie.

One thing she does have that Sydney does not possess is the obligatory lower back tattoo that graces the back side of 90% of women under the age of 35.

Now, apologies in advance for going OT here, but I can't help but consider that forty years from now there are going to be a whole lot of elderly white girls down at the local nursing home with these wrinkly old tattoos tucked under a couple of rolls of backfat. Call me old-fashioned, but what the hell is that all about?

uncle111 said...

I really don't understand the tatoo thing. Look at the tatoos on old guys who got them when they were young. You people who have them are going to wish someday (maybe sooner than you think when the fad is gone) that you had never done it.

Money or no money, I want o see my Alias movie on the screen more than anyone. I wrote it as therapy for my Alias withdrawal. Now I'm having screenplay withdrawal:(

uncle111 said...

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