Posts: 48
From: Vienna, VA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-24-2005 09:18 AM               

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The Discovery Channel recently showed the drama-documentary "Voyage to the Planets." This is essentially the Americanized version of the BBC special "Space Odyssey." (An American narrator.)

I have looked up both versions on Amazon. The original BBC version is Region 2, so it will not play on a US DVD player.

Does anybody know if the two versions are otherwise identical? I am concerned that significant portions might have been cut from the American version. But Amazon does not list the length of either version.

Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-24-2005 08:30 PM            

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The BBC DVD running time is 117 minutes, which tallies with the running time of the two episodes.

By the way, are there any American TV channels which show their programmes like the BBC: with NO advert breaks? (What a joy!)

Posts: 48
From: Vienna, VA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-25-2005 10:41 AM               

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Thanks for that info. When they showed it on The Discovery Channel, it went for two hours. Typical running time for a one-hour show on cable is 42 minutes with 18 minutes of commercials. So two hours would be 84 minutes.

So... if the original was 117 minutes long, and what they showed on cable was only 84 minutes long, then they chopped out a lot.

I wonder if the DVD version will be 117 minutes long or 84 minutes long? Dunno. I have ordered it, however. One note: Amazon.com has Voyage to the Planets much cheaper than The Discovery Channel Store.

As for your question of whether any American television channels have no commercials during shows--the answer is that no broadcast channel does this. However, some cable channels do. Turner Classic Movies still shows movies uninterrupted. And many other movie channels do (I have the Encore! digital cable package, which consists of about seven channels where they show uninterrupted movies.).

I can live with the commercials. But it makes me wonder if the story pacing is different for shows on the BBC. For American television, they write the stories to fit the commercial breaks, meaning that the big buildup of the story will occur between the second and third commercial break (30-45 minutes into the hour). The resolution then comes in the last fifteen minutes. I wonder if the BBC shows are done like this?

Posts: 157
From: Preston, England
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 05-25-2005 05:14 PM               

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I just picked up a copy of the book that goes with this series for £6.99 today. The shop was selling them off cheap as the normal book price is £20. Result!

Si

Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

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From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

Posts: 48
From: Vienna, VA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-26-2005 12:56 PM               

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Actually, it is interesting that you noted this for the original Star Trek. It is VERY noticeable in television shows from that period, particularly action/dramas.

However, it is also worth noting that the number of commercials on US broadcast television has inceased a lot since then. I believe that in 1968 or so they had an average of about 8 minutes of commercials per hour. I think that for broadcast television it is now up to at least 12 minutes of commercials per hour. And for cable it is 18 minutes. The result is that a show like Star Trek, which was written to have very distinct breaks, they now often chop them all to pieces and the pacing is messed up.

Although this may be more detail than you want to know, there is a formula that TV writers use that dictates how they pace the show. They don't simply have mini-cliffhangars before the commercial breaks, they have to include specific plots and mini-story arcs for each segment. They don't use traditional story-telling techniques, but have to suit the medium.

Getting back to the topic, I was just informed by Amazon that my DVD of Voyage to the Planets shipped today, so I will hopefully have it in a week or so. Personally, I'm hoping for the original BBC version, with the original BBC narrator and not the American one. Americans think that anything said with a British accent sounds more sophisticated, which might explain why we like Tony Blair so much.

Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

Posts: 532
From:
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 05-29-2005 09:42 PM               

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My DVD arrived on Saturday. I have only taken a quick look at it so far, but it is clearly the British version of the show. They appear to have changed only the title and nothing more (which makes sense--I always thought that the original title of "Space Odyssey" was too easy to confuse with the movie).

It features two 60-minute episodes, with British narrator. Plus some extras.

I may review this for a future issue of The Space Review. My review of Spacecraft Films' DVD "Liftoff!" will probably appear on Tuesday.

Posts: 48
From: Vienna, VA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 06-10-2005 08:51 AM               

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Just an additional note: I was informed that Discovery Channel's "Alien Planet" DVD is now shipping.

I am planning on reviewing this and "Voyage to the Planets" on The Space Review soon.