Screen capture provided by Hawkeye.
I just added the steam with Adobe
PhotoDeluxe Home Edition 3.0.
This is a new part of my website
where I answer the question as to why these 13 Magician episodes
never made it to air in the United States. For those of you looking
from other parts of the world, we have this little system called “Safety
Standards and Practices.” What that basically means in English is
that imported shows get screened very carefully, and not everything or
every episode will get shown exactly. For example, the animé
series Sailor Moon has at least seven episodes that were not shown in the
U.S. due to certain situations. In addition, don’t be surprised if
the fifth season (a.k.a. Sailor Moon Stars) never sees the light of day
on television because of three guys transforming into three girls. Trust
me on this one. How can I tell about all this? I have been
very very lucky to acquire the missing 13 episodes. Despite being
in German, at least they can tie up some loose ends. Anyway,
I will give a quick synopsis and the reasoning behind the non-showing of
each episode. Now, here we go…
Note: The following screen
captures were all provided by Gryph.
Flipball Fever (Behind the Orb Ball)
Okay, this episode features flipball
player Skip Ramsdale getting into a major accident in his special ball.
The culprit…manufactured drugs courtesy of Black Jack aboard a freighter.
After that ship is destroyed, Cosmo tries to convince Skip not to be so
hard on Ace. Skip is then seen taking one of the pills again…which
was for his injuries when he left the hospital. My best guess here
is that this episode showed just a little too much drug use…a major no-no
around here.
Hardbeat
This one is really a no-brainer.
Cosmo gets seriously influenced by some rather hard music and starts acting
very aggressively. At one point he is seen holding a gun and almost
taking out Senator Dobbs. Also, his rollerblading techniques were
not very helpful to the cause. The reason this wasn’t seen…this one
is awfully close to the events of Columbine High School in Colorado in
1998. The reports have said the two people behind it were listening
to shock rock music prior to the shootings. Probably the right call
for this one not to be shown. In addition, Senator Dobbs does something
that…well, let’s say the moon’s involved, and I am not talking about the
orbiting object around Earth.
Bad Weather for the Magician
This episode features Ace trying to
create a small tornado for the crowd…which goes out of control. No
one is injured thankfully, but then the weatherman is also trying to control
the weather, and at one point sends Ace and Cosmo flying in a fairly stronger
tornado. Now, there are some things that should never be done,
like Ace trying to out drive a tornado. More people get killed that
way by tornadoes. In addition, there may have been a separate reason…On
May 3, 1999, a deadly F5 tornado struck in Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma.
The Magician was on the network at that time, so it’s possible the
events of May 3 may have played a factor into this one not being seen.
The Flight of Prosperity
This one will shock most people because
Mona Malone does something we never saw her do in the States…hold a gun
to the captain’s head! She is also seen very partially nude when
she comes out of the shower. There’s a lot of action involved, and
some people get knocked over the head. Also, as you can see in this
screen capture, Sally Blade is about to push Cosmo off the Prosperity,
which is pretty high in the sky. It’s amazing how just one little
scene can keep the whole episode off the air.
The Paparazzo Affair
Duke Paparazzo has all kinds of problems
when he has to outrun a couple of bad guys…an instant convertible, aiding
in the Magic Express going underwater, the works. He nearly gets
done in by a vat of acid, but Ace quickly comes to the rescue. Perhaps
there was just a little too much violence in this episode, and at one point
Ace is floating while Paparazzo holds him by his feet! Possibly too
dangerous to impressionable kids.
Planet Electric
This one is a challenging one.
Ace gets into major trouble with the authorities, and he gets drugged every
couple of hours so he can’t use any magic. When he does manage to
escape, he jumps off the top of the police building and uses his cape as
a parachute…once again, too dangerous to impressionable kids. Also,
when Cosmo is drugged, he starts driving the car wildly, which is another
no-no.
Croesus Crisis (Casino Moloch)
This one is a bit obvious. A little
too much black magic being used in this episode. Sonny Boy
hires Scaras the sorceress to give Black Jack the scare of his life.
Then, Ace and Mona get into their own argument for a change about him trying
to help her father. There’s also the scene with Ace and Jack battling
each other. The beam breaks beneath Jack’s feet, and he falls into
the flames. Too dangerous here. Finally, the being that scares
Sonny Boy at the end could easily scare younger children. Even though
this episode practically ties the whole series together, there were more
than enough factors not to let this one be shown. Oh, and Mona sings
in English.
Masters of Magic (Showdown of the
Show Stars)
Yago the Fire Magician goes just a little
too far when he tries to force his apprentice Celine to stick with him.
He grabs her by the arm in some scenes. Also, in the big showdown
at the end, Ace jumps all the way from the top of the Ring Theatre.
That is considered a total no-no by the Safety Standards and Practices,
seeing that some kids would’ve wanted to try the same thing.
Best Wishes and Happiness
Ace gets drugged by Max Malden’s driver
and then gets really jealous about Mona’s engagement to Max. When
he gets around to the truth, the driver sees Ace in a rather uncomfortable
position, seemingly poked by the spikes in the house. Can’t have
that be seen, so they had to take this one out, too.
The Night the Lights Went Out in
Electro City
(Where Were You in Electro City
When the Lights Went Off?)
One of the longest named episodes, there
are a couple of reasons for this one not getting shown. First, in
one of Ace’s tricks, he absorbs the electrical energy himself, which is
dangerous for a child to try to do. Also, when we see flashbacks
of Sonny Boy and his father the professor, there seems to be a bit of child
abuse involved, where Professor Surge slaps his son. Even though
things do work out in the end, this one had a little too much violence.
Model Top Model
I couldn’t see a lot of problems with
this episode, except for maybe the method of Professor Braun trying to
make a clone of Zelda. The future face of her would’ve scared anybody.
Also, the chase scenes did get slightly dangerous. Now, this may
seem too close to call, but perhaps they didn’t like Zelda’s kiss on Cosmo
at her apartment?
Vega Gate
This is important, especially when it
comes to the “Twin Brothers” episode, since Richie Valenti is involved
heavily in this episode. Amazingly, there are things seen here that
were not shown before…such as Friedrichs accepting money from Clockwise!
A flashback shows Vega actually punching Valenti pretty hard. Once
again, some kids would have tried to do the same things.
Truth or Consequence
Okay, Skip Ramsdale is in trouble for
supposedly doing a hard hit on an opposing flipball player. When
he is arrested and awaits trial, Ace and Cosmo do everything they can to
clear him. In the trial, the opposing player’s boss threatens him
with a gun and moments later starts shooting around the court room.
Now, this is understandable because most of us here have seen courtroom
violence before, and it’s not pretty.
Overall, there are some well-intentioned
reasons that these 13 particular episodes were not seen. After all,
the idea here is to make sure parents keep a good eye on their children
and what they’re watching. Some cases are very impressionable, and
others can be very traumatic to some people. It’s up to the parents
to make sure what the children are watching is safe for viewing.
I’m not holding anything against the Safety Standards and Practices because
all it’s doing is keeping kids from getting seriously hurt.
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