ReturnDEAR DAN:Our local PBS station, WVIA-TV, has been showing the wonderful series AS TIME GOES BY for about a year, with very enthusiastic viewer response. Since they show it five days a week, it takes just a little over two months to present all the episodes; then they start at the beginning again with even more faithful viewers.
I started taping the shows and, as I kept track of the action, I noticed that, after episode #20, the next program would be a repeat of #19, followed immediately by #22. They were consistently skipping #21, the "L.A. Trip."
I called Mark, vice president of television at WVIA, who told me that he had had other inquiries as well. Mark said he had called his contact at The BBC, who had assured him that "Episode #21" was never filmed. This didn't make sense to me, as the episode was clearly described in the TV Guide - and, furthermore, I have a friend who lives in California who insisted that she had seen this episode.
So, I decided to do some detective work. I called another PBS station, WITF-TV (which shows the series just once a week) and asked if they possessed episode #21. They said they thought they did and that I should keep watching, as it was scheduled for two weeks hence. So I watched - VCR at the ready - and, sure enough, there were Jean and Lionel in Los Angeles!
Next day, I called WVIA-TV again and told Regina, in Programming, that I had "found" episode #21 on WITF. "Great," she replied, "we'll call and borrow it from them and tape it in the right spot on our master tape! Now, tell me again, just exactly which program should it come after?" So I explained that it should come after the scene of Jean and Lionel at London's Heathrow Airport.
The next time the series got 'round to episode #20... HALLELUIAH!!! Episode #21 came next! I called Regina the next day to thank her, and she said "Well, thank YOU - we couldn't have done it without your help."
Soon afterwards, during the March pledge drives, WVIA aired promotional announcements for "The Famous Lost Episode of AS TIME GOES BY!" You have to love such a PBS station!
MARGARET RITTER, MIFFLINBURG, PA
**** DEAR MARGARET:
Thanks for the inspirational story. I have found that the staffs at some PBS stations are marvelous, while the staffs at other PBS stations act as though they rank above the viewers in Nature's food chain. You certainly seem to have lucked out at WVIA-TV.
DAN ABRAMSON