Ruminations on the Pilot Episode, "Cocoon"

I was comparing the pilot episode in two parts to the "movie" pilot which is on the DVDs and also the Columbia House tape. I haven't investigated it any further than what is below, though.

DVD/COLUMBIA HOUSE VERSION - ORIGINAL PILOT

Production number is 1310-5246-2669. DVD total time is 1:36:58; the Columbia House tape time is 1:35:19. I have no explanation for the difference here. These are supposed to be the same thing. The DVD has a blab at the beginning, approximately 21 seconds long, explaining that the two-hour pilot was broadcast a week before the show began. (This 21 seconds is not included in the above figure for the DVD.)

The scene corresponding to the end of Part 1 in the two-part version is at approximately 55:08. In the two-part version, it ends with a freeze-frame of McGarrett's face as he is lifting up the entrance to the cocoon. In the pilot, he closes this entrance (this brief sequence appears at the beginning of Part 2). The extra time here can presumably be accounted for the stuff at the beginning of the show like the tour bus scene with Yankee Chang, etc.

The end credits for the DVD/CH version are superimposed over the champagne glasses that McGarrett and Rosemary have clicked together at the end. The type used for these credits doesn't look right to me; it is too white and too clean). Instead, it looks like something that someone manufactured for the Columbia House tape which was used as the basis of the pilot on the DVD.

TWO-PART VERSION

This consists of the original pilot edited into two 1-hour episodes which were shown at the end of season one. These are available for download from Amazon.com and perhaps other services. (Amazon.com also has the original pilot.) I don't know where my version came from, I think it was recorded off TBS a long time ago.

The production number is 1310-1729-1383 for each of both parts. According to some CBS episode listing I have, the production numbers for parts one and two as separate episodes are supposedly 1331/6824 and 1331/6825 respectively. These two numbers (the last part of each) are the same as in the CBS syndication bible. This information is for "international syndication only." There is nothing about the original pilot in this listing at all; the CBS bible (see my WWW site) explains how the two-hour shows are numbered.

Part one is approx. 51:18, part two is approx. 51:12 (I put a bit of "blue leader" between the acts and also between the two parts). The total of these two is 1:42:30. There is a lengthy "previously on" segment at the beginning of part two which is about 6:54 in length (includes main titles which are 0.57 long). If you remove this, the total time is 1:35:26.

The end credits for this two-part version are in the usual font used for the first season on, superimposed over the blue light on the back of the motorcycle. The actors' credits reflect who is in the part, i.e., Leslie Nielsen is only in the first part, James Gregory and Lew Ayres are only in the second part. The production credits like music, editor, etc. are the same for both parts.

ONE-PART VERSION

Does this exist? A version made up of the two part-version with the "previously on" segment removed? I used to have a version of the pilot in French, but I cannot find it any more. I never watched it anyway, so I actually don't know if it was a one-part version! 😀