One part that I wish they had left in even more than the others was "My friends were wrong. You're a great boyfriend, and Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man." That bit was priceless.

Not to go all political here but as an American I'm saddened by the anti GLBT, anti woman, anti ethnic, anti worker agenda being pushed by extremist cockroaches emerging from the woodwork. Hopefully most of us will defeat this stupidity.

This American wishes to see the entire uncut, unedited version of each show as the Moffitt and Gatiss intended. J don't care if I do not fully get the UK refernces or not I'm off to amazon to order Season 2. No more PBS videos for me Thanks for the head's up!

Well I (being in UK) brought mine off amazon.co.uk and it was fine. 

Now I am quite hesitant to get mine from Amazon too. I so wanted the DVDs...

The dvd's being sold in the stores in USA  are the Masterpiece   uncut versions.  PBS  did indeed cut scenes out when they aired on the telly; that's normal  but we fans don't like that, do we? 

For North America,  they are being sold with the Masterpiece logo on them because that is who bought the series from the UK.  but they ARE  the uncut versions that The UK  did. I know this because I checked the subtitles online before I bought them,  and I rented them from Netflix  first,  too.  (for season 1  at least)   So,  every  scene is  in there, for both seasons 1 and 2. .  I  don't think it matters where you buy them. I  got mine at costco,  for 19 dollars each.    I  have the masterpiece dvd's and they are MARVELOUS.  I  hope this helps  and encourages you to get them.  I suggest renting them from your local video store before you buy them,  then you can see for yourself.

Last edited by sherlockskitty (June 19, 2012 2:41 pm)

I am disappointed that the PBS versions were cut, but do feel I have to jump in here and defend American TV a bit. PBS is a terrific organization and not only brings us Britcoms and British mysteries, but produces lots of fabulous shows on its own. As for commercial TV, we also have some very high quality programs. Mad Men is a perfect example. And, of course, Gilligan's Island.

Some of the corniest stuff from the UK sounds much cleverer to (some of) us Americans, just because it's in a British accent. Example: Are You Being Served?

kazza474 wrote:

The Ashtray scene - I think Americans (as a whole, certainly there will be exceptions) may not appreciate the humour behind 'nicking' something from the Palace. The Palace would not hold the same significance for them as it does for people who have grown up in a Commonwealth country.

Asking for a lighter & leaving out the deduction that the 'Employer' smoked - again, they would not see it in the same light as we would (The Sovereign smokes? OMG!) Certainly that is a scandal to 'us'; I doubt similar would raise a ripple in the US.

The 'sex' mention - There are certainly BIG differences in UK & USA thinking on this topic, so not surprising really. I could go on with this one for ages but i'd wander off topic somewhere lol.

And on it goes with the others.
I can't see those scenes having a huge impact on being left out; rather more so would be that the Americans didn't find those parts as interesting/meaningful.

I think there was always going to be some disregard for the original product by the Americans. It doesn't surprise me that they would take a masterpiece and chop it to fit their frame. Sad though that they believe they have that right. It's not as if ANYTHING made in their country has had such a high quality finish.

I thought the ashtray scene was hilarious, though. I'm an exception, apparently. The palace might not hold the same significance, but most people have seen the inside of the White House and could totally see an American Sherlock stealing something. Not an ashtray, but maybe one of Andrew Jackson's spittoons. (Are they even still there? Ah, well...)

Obama was a smoker when he was elected, so yeah, you're right on that one.

It is PBS, after all. Public broadcast and all that. I read somewhere that it's not as much of a sensitive subject in the UK as it is here. That seemed a bit of a push to me, but after watching an clip of the Graham Norton show I'm more likely to believe it.

Smoggy_London_Air wrote:

I thought the ashtray scene was hilarious, though. I'm an exception, apparently. The palace might not hold the same significance, but most people have seen the inside of the White House and could totally see an American Sherlock stealing something. Not an ashtray, but maybe one of Andrew Jackson's spittoons. (Are they even still there? Ah, well...)

You're not an exception Smoggy.  Don't tell anyone, but I stole a carpet thread from the White House.  I was on a tour and I saw it lying there and picked it up as a keepsake ,  The White House is a big deal, but even us Yanks appreciate the grandure and historical significance of Buckingham Palace.  It's awe inspiring - so the ashtray bit had me L'ing OL remembering my own little "nick".

Smoggy_London_Air wrote:

kazza474 wrote:

Asking for a lighter & leaving out the deduction that the 'Employer' smoked - again, they would not see it in the same light as we would (The Sovereign smokes? OMG!) Certainly that is a scandal to 'us'; I doubt similar would raise a ripple in the US.

Obama was a smoker when he was elected, so yeah, you're right on that one.

True, he was a smoker. But if he's still smoking, he's been VERY secretive about it. I remember reading this article a million years ago: http://www.newser.com/story/47541/for-paparazzi-obamas-are-as-hot-as-pitt-jolies.html

The Holy Grail of Obama pics is a photo of the president-elect smoking. Such a photo would "definitely fetch over $100,000," says the chief of one agency dispatching extra snappers to DC.

The phrase "Holy Grail" stuck in my head, which is why I remembered it. I did a quick Google search, but couldn't come up with any non-photoshopped pictures of him smoking, at least not recently. So if he's still lighting up, they've "successfully kept a lot of people in the dark about this little fact." I think the scene translates just fine, and was cut entirely because, funny though it is, it wasn't strictly necessary to the plot.

kazza474 wrote:

I think there was always going to be some disregard for the original product by the Americans. It doesn't surprise me that they would take a masterpiece and chop it to fit their frame. Sad though that they believe they have that right. It's not as if ANYTHING made in their country has had such a high quality finish.

No need to knock "Americans" for having disregard for the masterpiece... after all, the majority of people on this board are American, and it would shock me if we haven't all sought out the missing scenes. TV schedules are quite rigid here; better a slightly abbreviated version of Sherlock than not airing it at all, particularly if the cuts are made by the original makers. I've written to PBS to say that even if their TV schedules are constrained, they ought to use the uncut versions for streaming online. Here's hoping others are requesting the same!