"Rebel Without a Clue"
Cut Scenes:

The episode is based loosely on an unmade first season story entitled 'August 22nd 1964'.

Two near-identical drafts exist of the Rebel Without a Clue screenplay as
credited to Holland and Brown: A first draft from October 9th 1990 called Rainbow's End, and a later unknown one called On the Road.

In the earlier version, Ernie's cafe is called Rainbow's End (hence the name) and Sam does a sketch of Dillon before the one of Mad Dog. Beyond those minor changes there are no differences between the two drafts.

In each version, Sam says after the accident on leap-in that he'd appreciate "a little arthroscopic surgery'.

Al's line about wearing sunscreen is missing (a Stockwell ad-lib?)

Other bikers are named Kraut and Ice.

When Ernie and Becky are waiting on the bikers, Ernie shares under his breath to Sam that he was a Golden Gloves middleweight boxer and could take them on.

When Sam is chatting to Becky at the ocean he claims to spot a dolphin.

Becky recalls meeting Dillon for the first time being "as magic as Brando himself" - Sam reminds her that the girl in The Wild One let Brando go, but Becky reminds him that she regretted it, and Becky also quotes at length from On the Road.

Back at the Diner, Sam and Ernie have two brief exchanges where they each worry about the other's safety.

Out in the parking lot, Dillon's recollections of Korea include the graphical "all that's left is blood and the smell of burned flesh".

In Daryl's bedroom, when Sam confronts Becky more directly, she again quotes passages from Kerouac, which prompts Sam to pay a visit to the writer.

Sam's confrontation with Jack is much more aggressive, ending with Sam yelling: "You're so full of crap it hurts. I know it. And you know it. And the only way you can deal with that glorious road of yours is by looking at it through a bottle... and that's just plain pathetic. I came here for some help, but you're too self-centred to do even that. Oh, you may be on the road, but that means you're never a part of it. To be a part of it, to be a part of humanity, you have to contribute. And you're not willing to do that. You're Jack Kerouac, professional bystander. And that's worse than pathetic, that's just plain sad."

Of this final change Ruppenthal recalled "We ultimately wound up toning it down, that scene. For me personally, I think that's one of the times where I would have liked to have seen him gone in that direction. It's a choice."

Note that "On the Road" was still a title being used quite close to broadcast, as the Fall 1990 issue of fanzine Quantum Quarterly noted this as the expected name.

Syndication Edit:

Near the beginning of the first act, when Mad Dog is confronting Sam for having almost run into him, the medium-closeup one-shot in which Mad Dog says, "Oh, like you never rode a bike before," is inexplicably mirror-reversed right to left in the syndicated version.

 


Syndication Edit:

The following opening credits are missing from the syndicated version.

Guest stars "TEDDY WILSON", "MICHAEL BRYAN FRENCH", "SCOTT KRAFT", "MARK BOONE JUNIOR", "JOSHUA CADMAN". "Theme by MIKE POST, Music by VELTON RAY BUNCH", "Co-Executive Producer DEBORAH PRATT", "Co-Executive Producer MICHAEL ZINBERG", "Supervising Producer HARKER WADE", "Co- Producers PAUL BROWN, JEFF GOURSON", "Produced by CHRIS RUPPENTHAL", "Teleplay by RANDY HOLLAND and PAUL BROWN", "Story by NICK HARDING and PAUL BROWN", "Directed by JAMES WHITMORE, JR.".

 


Syndication Edit:

[Sam and Becky have left the diner to go admire the view of the ocean.]

Becky: Don't you see? Dylan's one of the mad ones. He's living life on the edge.

-- begin cut -->

Sam: He's just going to take you down with him.

Becky: How do you know?

Sam: Because I've known types like Dylan before.

<-- end cut ---

Sam: Becky, you gotta get away from him.

 


Syndication Edit:

[In Ernie's garage. Ernie and Sam have gone to get Sam a replacement fuel line, and they get to talking about Ernie's son.]

Ernie: [Pulls out clipping] See here? See, this is about where an American boy came back from Korea that they thought was dead.

-- begin cut -->

Ernie: Now, there still some boys over there too. Sure, some of them stayed because they was young and brainwashed ....

Al: It's true, Sam. Some American P.O.W.s stayed over there after the war ended.

Sam: What about Darryl?

Ernie: Oh, no, no, no. Not my Darryl. He wouldn't do anything like that. He's smart, the boy's honest. Besides --

<-- end cut ---

Ernie: Until I see him one way or another, I gotta believe he's coming back alive.

* * *

The syndicated version runs "Until I see him one way or another" over a reaction shot of Sam (which was originally run a few seconds earlier) to cover the seam, rather than over Ernie.

 


Syndication Edit:

Still in Ernie's garage. Right after Al's line, "Darryl Tyler was listed 'Missing in Action,'" the network version runs a shot of Sam bent over with his head rising at the news. The syndicated version eliminates that shot altogether and in its place runs a shot of Sam facing the camera, but looking downcast at the news, a shot originally run a few seconds later.

 


Syndication Edit:

The original network leap-out is into a repeat of "Her Charm." The syndicated version leaps into "A Little Miracle." Both have the executive producer's credit in a nonstandard font, each a little different from the other.

The original network end-of-episode leap into "A Little Miracle" was at the end of a repeat of "Freedom," and it featured "Joy to the World" on the soundtrack, which is missing from the syndicated version. The original network end-of-episode leap into "A Little Miracle" also featured the executive producer's credit in the standard font.

 


Syndication Edit:

The network closing credits consist of clips from the episode, which run for a few seconds and are then freeze-framed with credits. The syndicated closing credits eliminate all the moving footage and just use the freeze-frames with the credits. The syndicated closing music is shortened to fit. Clips:

Sam wiping out on his bike.

Al showing Sam where all the controls are on his bike.

Sam calling Becky to get on his bike and escape.

Becky going with Dylan despite Sam urging her not to.

Sam giving Mad Dog a roundhouse kick.