What Was Changed, Cut, Censored, & Added For The Godfather Saga Miniseries
Along with editor Barry Malkin, Coppola reorganized the events of the first two The Godfather movies and formed what’s now known as The Godfather Saga. Released as a miniseries, The Godfather Saga aired on NBC in 1977 over four consecutive nights, formed by one three-hour segment and three two-hour parts. However, re-editing the films into one in chronological order also meant toning down the violence, language, and sex so it could be shown on TV, but it also added footage that didn’t make it to the original cuts.
Censorship affected some of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II most memorable scenes, among them the scene when Woltz finds the dead horse in his bed, Sonny’s murder, and Vito killing Fanucci and Don Ciccio. However, other, non-violent scenes were also censored, such as Michael kissing Apollonia after their wedding and baby Fredo being treated for pneumonia. The Godfather Saga also had a long list of additional scenes, totaling around 75 minutes, though not all of these scenes actually added to the stories.
The most notable additional scenes are Michael’s reunion with Vito after his return from Sicily, Michael’s vengeance upon Fabrizio for Apollonia’s death, Sonny taking charge of the family after Vito was wounded, Vito killing Don Ciccio’s henchmen, Vito visiting a man named Agostino Coppola, and Vito’s first encounter with Hyman Roth, as well as how the latter got his name (via American Film Now: The People, the Power, the Money, the Movies).
Ratings For The Godfather Saga Were A Disappointment For NBC
While a supercut of the first two The Godfather movies in chronological order and presented as a miniseries sounds interesting, especially with all the added footage, The Godfather Saga wasn’t that well received. The miniseries failed to achieve the expected ratings, which is attributed to both films having already aired separately on NBC in previous years. Critics weren’t that welcoming of this special cut either, as most found it messed with the pacing of the original versions, and the additional scenes only made the final product unnecessarily long.