Choice Cuts

After getting dismal ratings for a hacked-up version of “Brazil,” KTLA-TV Channel 5 figured it would do its own editing of the steamy “9 1/2 Weeks.”

The reason: According to general manager Steve Bell, MGM/UA was distributing a cut of Adrian Lyne’s film that was “unintelligible.” Ray Cipperly, the station’s supervisor of program editing, called it “sterile to the point that there was not much of interest left.”

Example: A key scene involving Mickey Rourke blindfolding Kim Basinger, and her response, was so severely edited that their ensuing relationship made no sense. So KTLA execs restored much of the scene, along with other material.

End result: “9 1/2 Weeks” was a ratings bomb for KTLA. Worse: the original, “unintelligible” version pulled better numbers in other markets!

“In hindsight,” Bell said of KTLA’s special editing job, “it really wasn’t worth it.”