The Great American Fourth of July... and Other Disasters - Long and Short

Some time ago I saw The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters. Except I did not see the thing mentioned in that linked. I saw the thing that the linked program was edited from. The original, full version is closer to a full 60 minutes (though I was once sure it was nearly 90 minutes) than the shrunken "television hour" of what most know. What happened? Disney did. Disney snapped it up and cut it down. I saw the original, uncut version made for PBS's American Playhouse. And it was hilarious.

Jean Shepherd (who also did A Christmas Story which I find not to be as good) tells the story of a small town American Fourth of July and the various stories and side-stories to it all. To fit within the one-hour commercial television slot, stuff was cut. Most of the major stories are still there, but enough little bits are cut that it's a shadow of what it should be. It's annoying. It's very... almost. Maybe if you haven't seen the original, full version the cut down version can be pretty good. But if you know there are bits missing, it's quite frustrating. It's a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon: The bulk is there, but it's not all there, the part that really makes it is missing. I'd like to see it again, but only if it's the complete thing.