# "Rare" episodes of syndicated reruns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442 "2005-09-07T00:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/81 "2013-04-01T19:29:23Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > …That’s because black and white episodes appear dated. The two biggest exceptions to this rule seem to be The Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy Griffith Show, because most fans consider themselves the funnier episodes. (The Andy Griffith Show has an excuse; Don Knotts is pretty much only in the B&W ones.)… **I Love Lucy** is the biggest exception of all. The whole series (save parts of the Xmas special) is in black & white and it’s never been off the air. It’s the uber-sitcom. Over 60 yrs later and modern sitcoms are still using techniques it pioneered (from the 3 camera setup to live studio audiences to filming in LA instead of NYC). Desi Arnaz \*invented \*the syndicated rerun for crying out loud! ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/82 "2013-04-01T21:20:49Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > **I Love Lucy** is the biggest exception of all. The whole series (save parts of the Xmas special) is in black & white and it’s never been off the air. It’s the uber-sitcom. Over 60 yrs later and modern sitcoms are still using techniques it pioneered (from the 3 camera setup to live studio audiences to filming in LA instead of NYC). Desi Arnaz \*invented \*the syndicated rerun for crying out loud! I meant that B&W episodes of a show that subsequently switched to color appear dated. Nobody is questioning the continued popularity of _I Love Lucy_, or of _The Dick van Dyke Show_ or _Leave it to Beaver_, for that matter. On the other hand, how often did the black & white episodes of _Bewitched_ or _Green Acres_ air in syndication, as opposed to the color ones? ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/83 "2013-04-01T23:26:16Z")
Just off the top of my head, I’m thinking that when you guys say, “I watched [name of series] for years and rarely, if ever, saw [name of episode],” it could be because of your local TV station and not some overarching pattern. (I say this mostly because my own experiences don’t seem to jibe with many of yours.) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/84 "2013-04-01T23:32:49Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > …On the other hand, how often did the black & white episodes of _Bewitched_ or _Green Acres_ air in syndication, as opposed to the color ones? Well in the latter case never since Green Acres was filmed in colour. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/85 "2013-04-01T23:59:14Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > An episode of _the Avengers_ - “A Touch of Brimstone” was banned from American airwaves for being way too racy for middle America in the mid-1960s. The story had Mrs. Emma Peel infiltrating the nefarious London “Hellfire Club” as the whip-wielding [Queen of Sin](http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel1-21a.htm). That episode was not broadcast in the States until the early 90’s, when A&E reran the entire series - including the unaired (stateside) Cathy Gale episodes. Not true. When I was in college in the early '80s, KLXI, a new station broadcasting from St. Cloud, MN, ran _The Avengers_ every weeknight, starting with the Emma Peel episodes, including “A Touch of Brimstone.” I had been a fan of the show since I was in fifth grade, so I knew about the episode being banned; when I realized what I was was watching, I thought “Oh, wow, cool! Emma Peel as a dominatrix! Yessssssss!” This was, I believe, in November of 1981. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/86 "2013-04-02T02:30:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Not true. When I was in college in the early '80s, KLXI, a new station broadcasting from St. Cloud, MN, ran _The Avengers_ every weeknight, starting with the Emma Peel episodes, including “A Touch of Brimstone.” Correction: KXLI, “K-41.” It was UHF channel 41. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/87 "2013-04-02T02:59:58Z")
Isn’t there a Married w/Children episode that was shown once and once only. When Steve and Marci went to a motel and got filmed doing “the Nasty”. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/88 "2013-04-02T08:09:41Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Isn’t there a Married w/Children episode that was shown once and once only. > > When Steve and Marci went to a motel and got filmed doing “the Nasty”. Its been shown many times in syndication. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/89 "2013-04-02T15:51:06Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Hasn’t the Puerto Rican flag episode of Seinfeld been pulled from the syndicated lineup? Yes, but it is back in and is in tact. > [@Big\_Norse](#): > > Didn’t the _Simpsons_ episode with Homer at the World Trade Center get pulled after 9/11? Yes, but it is back in and is in tact. > [@sciurophobic](#): > > The infamous _Home_ episode of **The X-Files** wasn’t rebroadcast for several years. I believe it never aired the right way. I think they took the baby crying out of the opening so it was implied they were burying a dead baby, not a living one which was actually the case. I don’t know if it airs at all in re-runs, though. I know on a MASH fansite, they used to complain that the **MASH Olympics** episode never seems to come on. It might be bad luck and confirmation bias, though. I’m fairly sure all the MASH episodes air regularly. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/90 "2013-04-02T16:13:04Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Well in the latter case never since Green Acres was filmed in colour. I could have sworn I saw the first episode in black and white, on a color TV, and there are some B&W versions on YouTube, but the first season DVDs are in color and I don’t see any references to “colorizing”, so either I was mistaken or somebody decided to air the first episode in B&W one day for some strange reason. (Another possibility: there was a separate B&W pilot, the way the _Hogan’s Heroes_ pilot was in black & white but the rest of the series is in color.) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/91 "2013-04-02T16:58:29Z")
It’s funny but reading this thread made it occur to me that in the years since it was started, between Netflix, DVD season sets and my DVR I really sit and watch a syndicated airing of a show anymore. I do sometimes but not every day (or nearly so) like I did back then. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/92 "2013-04-02T17:46:45Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I could have sworn I saw the first episode in black and white, on a color TV, and there are some B&W versions on YouTube, but the first season DVDs are in color and I don’t see any references to “colorizing”, so either I was mistaken or somebody decided to air the first episode in B&W one day for some strange reason. > > (Another possibility: there was a separate B&W pilot, the way the _Hogan’s Heroes_ pilot was in black & white but the rest of the series is in color.) According to Wikipedia: _The debut episode was a mockumentary about the decision to move to a rural area, anchored by former ABC newscaster (and then-current host of the CBS game show **What’s My Line** ) John Charles Daly. A few weeks after the show’s debut, Albert and Gabor returned the favor by appearing on **What’s My Line** as that episode’s Mystery Guests, and publicly thanked Daly for helping to launch their series._ I remember watching the entire first year of the series (Lisa agreed to try living in the country for six months, and the story arc ran from mid-September to the beginning of March), and so far as I can remember, every episode began with the “CBS presents the following program in color” intro. If there was a mockumentary, however, I’m sure at least the news footage was in B&W. Lisa, BTW, initially wanted to return to the city, but changed her mind when she realized what that would entail; she particularly freaked out when she learned they’d kill Eleanor the cow. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/93 "2013-04-02T19:11:57Z")
I spent most of the period between 1991 and early 1996 recording episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I was recording afternoon syndicated broadcasts from two different Fox stations (one from Seattle, one from Spokane - I live midway between those two cities and got both cities’ stations on the local cable). Mon-Fri, one station broadcasting at 4:00 PM and the other at 5:00PM, and also both of the stations running the regular 7:00 PM first-run weekly episodes until the show ended in 1993. So I was able to record, usually, 11 episodes a week for several years. Yet I somehow never managed to record the episode _Who Watches the Watchers?_ ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442/94 "2013-04-04T00:19:55Z")
Yay zombies > [@HPL](#): > > It’s extremely rare that you get to see the (in)famous “Not without my Anus” episode of **South Park** , which is a bit of a shame since it’s the episode where Saddam gets killed the first time. > > I know it pissed a lot of people off the first time, but it’s been a couple(5? 6?) years and somehow I doubt it’s going to inspire mass protests if CC puts it into the regular rotation. Seen it in local late night syndication recently. > [@Leaper](#): > > Hasn’t the Puerto Rican flag episode of Seinfeld been pulled from the syndicated lineup? > [@BiblioCat](#): > > After it originally aired, it was pulled from the syndication line-up, but it has recently been put back in. I think the part with Kramer burning the Puerto Rican flag was snipped out, though. Saw it (flag and all) on TBS within the last few months. First time I’d seen that episode in nearly a decade. > [@Big\_Norse](#): > > Didn’t the _Simpsons_ episode with Homer at the World Trade Center get pulled after 9/11? Depends entirely on the local station. Some pulled it for years, some never pulled it at all. > [@syncrolecyne](#): > > There was a Seinfeld episode where Elaine and her boyfriend misjudge other’s ethnicity (she thinks he is black, and he thinks Elaine may be Hispanic - in the end they are both disappointed to be dating white people)- I haven’t seen it since it was first run, and I watch Seinfeld reruns all the time. It was a somewhat controversial, but certainly not on the order of the Puerto Rican Day episode. I wonder if it was pulled from syndication too. I’ve never noticed a lack of that one showing up, whether on TBS or local reruns. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-episodes-of-syndicated-reruns/320442.md?page=4)