[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'174822\' date=\'Jan 14 2008, 02:36 PM\']
In reality, I think it's more about building some momentum. As for applauding the movement of set pieces, Johnny O exlained to me that it's about covering what would otherwise be awkward moments of silence.
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Exactly! Look at the early Barker TPiR episodes. Applause (live or canned) was either sparse or non-existent when the first 4 contestants first stood up before coming on down as well when the IUFB first came out. It really did sound awkward!
Cutting off credits/plugs mid-way through (even if in a small box) and moving straight to the next show looks very unprofessional to me.
I can remember way back in the latter half of the 70's, when either indies WKBD-TV 50 and/or WXON/TV-20 in Detroit had fun with the proverbial meat cleaver:
Not only did they eliminate the closing credits from most of the afternoon sitcom reruns, they also hacked 2 to 3 minutes off of 6 or 7-minute Bugs Bunny/Warner Brothers cartoons. And mind you this was well before the cry from the anti-violence people demanding that anvils and gunshots be edited from WB cartoons.