Mummy (and Movie) Debates

Our showing of "The Mummy" Saturday night was certainly a landmark- even playing against a Chicago Bears game,it got a huge rating (thanks to all of you for the support!) I guess my blog entreaty for those who've been complaining about "too many Mummy movies" must have been heard- as I said, this original, starring the great Boris Karloff, stands bandaged head and shoulders above all the sequels.The great response would seem to indicate that even our Sven viewers who have had enough of the other Mummy films must have given us the benefit of a doubt and tuned in, God bless 'em. I did get one response that kind of irked me, however- a guy claimed that we had "hacked up" the movie, thus ruining it.He said we removed a lot of scenes.He asked why we had to cut anything, since the show is 120 minutes, and the movie is much shorter than that?! First of all, the timeslot is 120 minutes. Then you have to remove the commercial and promo time,and, yes, the time for my segments.(He did throw in that we could eliminate one "stupid Svengoolie joke" instead of editing the movie.) Dear sir, the show is a HOSTED MOVIE- which means, management WANTS my parts in the show.They could easily save money and just run the movie itself- but they don't , which would indicate that what I do must have some value to them. Quite honestly, the edits we made probably come in at about two minutes worth of content.Our critical viewer claimed we had edited out key moments, "just like editing the boat sinking out of 'Titanic'"- please! I can categorically state that we take more care in editing our movies than almost ANY other station or network- I go to GREAT pains to make sure NOTHING critical to the plot is EVER removed.In fact, if you could see my edit sheet, you'd see that we do a lot of ten or fifteen second edits when we have to remove time from the films,in an attempt to keep the integrity of the film. We have also had to re-edit older, pre-network shows to fit into the newtork time parameters. I don't know if this guy is aware of it, but almost every movie that airs on TV is edited- usually for time rather than content. In my time hosting movies, we've gotten "TV edits" of movies direct from the distributor that have taken far less care as far as what they have cut out.BY the way- do you think we would have gotten such a great rating if we had indeed "hacked up" the movie as badly as you suggest? I suggested to him the same advice I give to anyone who vehemently complains about the show- if you don't like it- don't watch.I get the feeling that these people continue to watch just so they can find things to complain about.I have no problem with anybody giving their opinion-and, very seriously, I do take constructive criticism to heart- but-if you are continually harping about the show- you don't like it, so- why watch it? Rent or buy the DVD. We're sorry you don't like our show- but, obviously, if we can't change your mind- you should stop watching.Also- I realize it helps your argument not to let the facts get in your way- like suggesting we removed something as critical to the movie as the ship's sinking in "Titanic". I know- we only occasionally get a comment like this person's- and , especially when it's the ONLY complaint, I should always take it with a grain of salt- and usually , I do- sometimes, with the whole damn salt shaker. However, while I'm urged by others to just ignore it-there are times when I feel I have to stand up for myself...especially when someone states something that just isn't true.