let's speculate why Nickelodeon edited certain scenes

[minor muppetz]

Back when Nickelodeon aired reruns of The Muppet Show, the UK spots would usually be shown, but other segments would be cut, presumably for time, but I wonder how often Nickelodeon chose to cut something because of content (in addition to time). I thought I'd start this threat to speculate on such matters.

First of all, it was rare for Nickelodeon to cut scenes with guest stars. The few guest stars to appear in scenes cut on Nickelodeon were Loretta Switt, Rita Moreno, and Mark Hamil.

In the case of Loretta Switt, that epsiode focuses more on the backstage plot than on sketches. There are logn backstage scenes between the few on-stage sketches, and the only sketches that could have been cut without looking too weird are the Veterinarian's Hospital sketch (Loretta's sketch) and the UK spot, since one preceded a commercial break and the other followed it. I haven't seen that Veterinarian's Hospital sketch, so I don't know if that had any material that could have been seen as objectional.

In the case of Rita Moreno, I think it could have been censorship. After all, that's the onyl epsiode where Nickelodeon cut the opening number, instead repalcing it with the closing number. And I feel like the opening number was a bit violent. Nickelodeon might have thougth it was too violent to show, though Nickelodeon didn't cut out very many violent scenes from the various Looney Tunes shorts. Then again, I am not sure whetehr that number took place in a bar or a cafe. I have read that Nickeloden doens't allow any alcohol to be shown in it's programming, and doens't even allow any mention of alcohol or beer in it's programming. But things might have been different back then. After all, when Nick showed The Muppets Valentines Show, the big mouses line "I'll buy you a beer" wasn't cut. Nick also didn't cut the scene from The Frog Prince where Kermit got drunk. Nick also didn't cut Peter Seler's "Cigarettes and Whisky" song. And Nick did show some Looney Tunes shorts that heavily feature drinking, such as Tobasco Road (in which Speedy Gonzales helps two drunk mice get home) and Wise Quackers (where Daffy drinks a lot).

Nick cut several small scenes from the Star Wars Cast episode, and Mark Hamil's number with Angus McGonacle was a bit boring. I cna see why it was cut.

In Nick's broadcast of the Avery Scrieber episode, the second backstage scene was cut. I think that scene was a bit suggestive (especially the part where Scooter tells Kermit that Avery touched Piggy with his hand).

Very few UK spots were cut. Some include Waiting at the Church and the Sherlock Holmes sketch. The murder mystery aspect of the Sherlock Holmes sketch might have been why that was cut (though Nick did broadcast the Liza Minelli epsiode, which was all about a murder mystery). Nick might have chose to cut Waiting at the Church, since it's implied that Miss Piggy had an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

I wodner if Nick chose to cut the Mupet Labs sketch involving exploding clothes because Bunsen chose to wear exploding clothing. That episode (the Phyllis Diler one) also had Hugga Wugga, which could have been cut. After all, that one seems more violent, and I know that soem people were scarred by that sketch. Then again, it's more of a classic than that Muppet Labs sketch. I don't know if Nick chose not to cut what's considered a "classic".

The final backstage scene from the Candice Bergin episode was also cut, and I can see why. Fozzie's last practical joke was a bit mean. His jokes went from being harmless gags to going a bit too far. Fozzie could have jsut showed Kermit the bag of flower, but instead, he had to dump it on Kermit, and it looks like Kermit was just barely keeping from losing his temper and going bezerk. Also, at the beginning of the scene, a few other Mupets are standgn there waiting for Fozzie to play the joke on Kermit, as if they were aware of the pranks. It's also a bit mean because Scooter was there, enjoying seeing Kermit get fooled like that. Then again, Scooter did like Fozzie's jokes.

What do you think?

 

[Squonk]

I'm sure there may have been some cuts due to content. But there's one big reason that accounts for probably 95% of the cuts that networks make...it makes time for more commercials.

 

[minor muppetz]

It would be an obvious choice for Nick to cut two minutes of show content, especially if the UK spots are included, but it seems like on some episodes Nick cut less than two minutes.

The only scene cut from the Candice Bergin episode was the last backstage scene, and that scene feels like it's less than a minute. The Pual Simon episode actually had two segments filling the time of the UK spot, but Nickelodeon onyl cut the Veterinarian's Hospital sketch, not the Muppet News sketch (and not only that, but Statler and Waldorf's scene following the Vets Hospital sketch was included). And the news segment from the Ruth Buzzi epsidoe was the only thing Nick cut from that episode.

 

[Drtooth]

I swear that I've seen some episodes that had stuff that didn't belong in them in the original broadcast versions. Like they cut stuff out of one episode and replaced it with something from another episode.