Need more length?
Every time they make a good movie or TV show, you just know there's more of it lying around.
By Resli Buchel
The plot-crucial group sex scene from "Underbelly Uncut" - well, one of them anyway
Underbelly Uncut
(Roadshow, MA15+)
The surprise smash hit series based on the real-life events of the 1995-2004 gangland war in Melbourne. Many deemed it too violent and confronting for TV in its original, fully edited version; so the prospect of an uncut DVD captured the attention of hardcore fans and small screen voyeurs alike. And, Underbelly Uncut does deliver... sort of. The sex scenes are longer, the bloody corpses are closer, and the marvellously skanky Roberta Williams (aka actress, Kat Stewart) does actually manage to say "fuck" a few extra times. However, if you were hoping for some revolutionary insight into the psychological state of the Moran brothers, or the real story of corruption within the Victorian Police force, you'll be disappointed.
DVD Extras None - unless you think that Madeline West's nipples are integral to the plot line.
Bad Girls Uncut
(Shock, R)
Described as "Prisoner with an edge", this British drama set inside a womens' prison has fast become a cult classic. Boasting challenging and powerful storylines even in the edited TV version, there's plenty more violence, brutality and lesbian sex in the uncut version. These extra scenes are largely ornamental, and don't affect the plot or characters significantly. But, Bad Girls fans will find enough new footage of their favourite character to drool over.
Cast interviews Linda Henry, Mandana Jones and Co. describe what it's like to be called a "skanky dog" by strangers in the street.
Outtakes A series of the moments deemed "too hilarious" for a women's prison.
Fan featurette A special glimpse at the Bad Girls cast before they slip into their prison greens, slippers and hard-nosed-bitch faces.
Commentary track (episode 10) The Bad Girls describe the challenges of playing an irredeemable sociopathic murderess as opposed to a remorseful but pathologically violent bully.
Jerry Springer Uncut
(Magna, MA15+)
Ever wondered what is going on behind the beeps and beneath the black bars? Of course you have. And if you haven't, well you can probably make an educated guess. Actually, if you haven't been able to figure it out yet, this box set lays it all bare (literally). Although with episode titles including I Refuse to Wear Clothes, Bizarre Sex Jobs, and Wild & Outrageous Bad Boys & Naughty Girls, it's hard to imagine the Jerry Springer team ever holding back on anything for the sake of public standards or good taste. In fact, the very idea of Jerry Springer Uncut presents something of a paradox - being that the man who tells it how it really is, tells us about the bits he didn't tell us about before. In other words, what the hell gets cut out of Springer in the first place? Jerry Springer Uncut answers this question with unpixelated clarity: bad language and boobs!
DVD Extras: None - seriously, why would you need them? I suppose a game of trailer-trash Twister or spot the Klansman might be fun, but doesn't every episode of Jerry Springer end the same way?
Australian Idol Uncut
(Sony BMG, G)
Hosted by Ian ‘Dicko' Dickson, this is apparently "a collection of some of the weird and funniest exploits of these would-be pop stars" - that is, the Australian Idol contestants in 2003.
However, very soon you realise that Idol UnCut is a bad idea and is merely a mish-mash of all the content that should have been left on on the cutting room floor. Still, marketing gimmick or not, Australian Idol UnCut struck a nerve with enough of the viewing public to justify the release of Australian Idol 2004 UnCut less than 12 months later.
DVD Extras: Dicko's payback An hilarious attempt by Idol contestants to get back at Dicko for being mean to them.
15 seconds of fame An alternate name for the Australian Idol series.
Just ain't high enough What the judges say to themselves at the beginning of the tenth day of Idol auditions.
Pin the mullet on Dicko The game used to assess the potential of failed Idol auditionees to become hair stylists.
Dicko's World A magical world where an ageing record exec believes that he can criticise the size of a beautiful, talented young singer's backside on national television and not look like a complete Dicko.