Billy has a lot of Hamptons area car repair bills and drunk driving legal fees to pay and don't forget that agent that took all his money, plus the alimony to Christie. You can't expect him just let this series be released without getting some bread in his jar can ya?

But do the individual artists have any say over this? Does he own all the rights to that song? Or is it somebody else?

Then I shall not purchase it. It isn't Bosom Buddies without that opening theme.

Thanks!

I don't care what song plays over the opening credits; I skip them anyway. I am concerned about the other cuts, but I'm hoping they're just minimal, and stuff I won't miss. I'm still looking forward to finally having this on DVD.

Rob

Those songs are intact, as are Kip and Amy singing "Mrs. Robinson" and Bob Saget (guest star) singing "New York, New York."

I don't know if any music has been changed apart from "My Life." Possibly, but I didn't spot it. Most of the episodes appear to be uncut (there's one episode that runs a minute shorter than the others but I don't know if anything was cut from it or if it just ran short).

According to the review at Sitcoms Online, the theme song situation is complicated by the fact that "Shake Me Loose" was intended to be the show's theme song (if only because the creator of the show wrote the song: naturally he wanted royalties). ABC didn't like it and replaced it with the Billy Joel song. Then the two songs alternated in syndication.

Thanks for that. Does Ruth still get to sing "Banana Boat (Day-O)" in "Only the Lonely?" I notice that episode runs a minute shorter than the others.

I was in a deli near me about a year ago, and I heard someone behind me talking to his kids, and I said half joking said to my friend "that's Peter Scolari" and he looks over my shoulder and says "it IS Peter Scolari!"

Sure enough I turned around and it was him!

Did you get his autograph?

I didn't hear it, but I've never seen that episode before -- where is that sequence supposed to be?

Near the end of Kip and Henry's evening with Ruth - they play Twister and other boring stuff and then she tells them "I was quite the bohemian at Vassar," or something and starts singing the song. Kip and Henry, who've had enough of Ruth by this point, join in on the line "and me wanna go home." IIRC from 25 years ago, that was just before the commercial break.

Realize that they had some hack singing Billy's song when the show originally ran (it was definitely NOT sung by Billy Joel).

I saw Scolari at Lincoln Theatres in Manhattan a year or two ago.

He had a diamond stud in his ear ... which made him look really cool.

And no, I didnt ask for his autograph. I just asked if he used to be Peter Scolari and if he hates Tom Hanks.

I couldn't find it. That might be the bit they cut. (I'm not sure where the cut would occur, but I couldn't find the "Day-O" song in that scene, that I know.) If so, boo. Not only for the song but for the line "I was quite the bohemian at Vassar," which is a great line that I couldn't find in that scene.

Why could Paramount get the other songs but not "Day-O?" Does it really cost that much?

On the version that ran on TBS, Ruth starts singing right after they play Twister, around the 10:45 mark, almost 2 minutes before the commercial fade. Maybe check again, as it seems like an odd portion to cut out.

The more I think about it, the line probably came in the middle of the song, like she starts in with "day-o" and then stops and turns to the both of them and says, "I was quite the bohemian at Vassar," and continues with the "come tally me bananas" part. If they had to cut all of the song, then I guess all of the lines during the song are gone, too - which would account for a minute of running time. And then later in the episode, when Kip & Henry are telling Amy and Sonny about their evening and goofing on Ruth, one of them repeats that line, mocking her and laughing. Is the later reference to that line intact, or is that cut too?

My copy arrived from DVDPlanet today; I just watched the first disc. I used to watch this show all the time, but only in syndication, so it's nice to finally see the full, uncut episodes (except the aforementioned cuts, of course).

Bring on Season 2!

Rob

Would you believe it was Tom Hanks singing the theme?

Got the set as a birthday present. In "Only the Lonely," the entire scene of Ruth singing is indeed missing, with a flip cut at the 11:43 mark to simulate the passage of time. It looks like a continuity gaffe when the guitar suddenly appears on a chair at the end of the scene and you haven't seen her get the guitar in the first place. Kip refers to her singing as he leaves the scene, but the later reference to the "bohemian at Vassar" line when the boys are talking to Sonny and Amy is missing as well. The scenes that were usually cut for syndication - Ruth using the phone after the boys leave and Amy & Sonny playing with kittens - are intact. I just wish the studios could be completely upfront about what they've cut and why. Wasn't John Ritter singing "Banana Boat (Day-O)" left intact on one of Anchor Bay's Three's Company sets?

Just a warning to anyone who might be thinking of picking up Season 2 - there are so many scenes cut out of these episodes because of music rights that the set is completely unwatchable. Not even any actual recordings of songs - characters sing, hum, or even mention songs and the entire scene gets cut. This shit has gotten ridiculous.

Thanks for the warnings. I was really looking forward to this show coming to DVD for the longest time, but it's just not worth it for what they are offering.

I watched my Season 2 set recently, and though I used to watch this show all the time, I didn't even notice any cuts. I'm not saying the cuts aren't there, I'm sure they are, but I wouldn't have even known if you hadn't mentioned it. So, for me at least, the set is not the least bit "unwatchable".

It's obviously a shame cuts like this have to be made, but if the cuts are the only way some shows can be released, I can live with it. Just my 2¢...

Rob

Oops, I just remembered, I actually did notice one cut. In "One for You, One for Me", the scene where Kip and Henry sing "Da Doo Ron Ron" in jail with Ernie Hudson. I wondered why that scene was missing, now I know why.

Rob

An even longer cut from that episode is the scene where they all sing "Yakety Yak" - now the scene that follows makes no sense. And in "The Road To Monte Carlo," the scene where Henry's meditation leads into them "om"ing to "Surfin' Bird" is cut. And Ruth's "Cooking Corner" music is changed in "Cablevision." And Kip humming the theme from "A Man and A Woman" in "All You Need Is Love" is silenced (Hey, at least the scene's not cut entirely and they got to keep the episode title!). Should I go on? In total there are 7 episodes out of 18 that have scenes cut for music rights issues. And with those cuts went some very funny bits. I don't consider that acceptable.

Well, if For The Longest Time was in the show, I'm sure it would have been cut, too.

I'm glad I found this thread - now I won't have to buy the show. Guess I'll wait until Shout buys the rights and releases it PROPERLY!

"Paramount don't care about the black man...who wants their theme songs to their shows in-TACT!"