More and more are being made as 20-25mins or 40-45mins. Eastenders is now 20 minutes an episode down from 30 minutes.Clearly there is a move towards making just one version where they in the past would have possibility had to have made two? Covid restrictions on filming was the reason given but it's clearly to save money.Lord Reith wrote: ↑Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:34 am The US version was shortened so the broadcasters could insert ads. That's quite a common thing for the BBC to do. In fact, they still do it. The "international" versions of popular tv series like Silent Witness are all 50min, whereas the UK originals are 58min. Sometimes these shorter versions are even released on dvd.
Major wildlife series (such as Blue Planet) are transmitted here with a 10 minutes 'how it was done' at the end. Easily left out to make each episode commercial TV friendly.
And also more and more you hear dialogue made to make more sense to the US English educated viewer. Holby City (which is now around 40 mins instead of 60 mins) around Christmas reference was made to going home and having an eggnog. Although the drink has origins here hardly anyone in 'normal' society would drink it here these days. It would more likely be a snowball. But most people in the UK would have a rough IDEA what eggnog is from references in imported TV and film...so we sort of understand but also are left thinking it was an odd thing to say. Most in the US wouldn't know what a snowball (as a drink) was...so eggnog goes in clearly as it the most internationally understood. Makes it very clear that international syndication and sales are more important than making a drama a true reflection on British language and behaviour. But I digress!
My problem with the proposal there was a US 45 minute per episode version is that it flies in the face of BBC Wavelength versions of the transcription discs...they, according to images of cue sheets I've seen, were still the full 55 minutes approx each. So as it stands there seems to be no evidence of the truncated versions on transcription disc...only on R2R. Now surely it wouldn't have been distributed internationally by bulky tape reels??
