‘WIVES’ GETS TRIMMED ACCIDENTALLY

A key 15-minute reel in the television miniseries of Jackie Collins’ steamy “Hollywood Wives” was accidentally omitted from a broadcast in Britain--and hardly anyone noticed.

Penny Smith, a spokeswoman for Central Independent Television, which coordinated the broadcast of the American-made program, admitted Thursday, “We were not deluged with phone calls.”

Smith said, “It was a human error and we prefer to say no more than that. We are embarrassed and very apologetic to the viewers who missed it.”

The missing segment came in the last 45 minutes. It included the funeral of the Hollywood director--played by Anthony Hopkins--whose film, and especially its treacherous casting, was a centerpiece to the story.

Smith said that in the viewing area of 9 million people in the British Midlands, the company received only “two dozen” calls. The show was also broadcast across the rest of the country on other regional commercial channels.