The Godfather Saga

The Godfather Saga is a 1977 American television miniseries that combines The Godfather and The Godfather Part II into one film. It originally aired on NBC over four consecutive nights (one three-hour segment and three two-hour segments) in November 1977. The Godfather Saga is also known as The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television, The Godfather: A Novel for Television, The Godfather Novella, The Godfather: The Epic 1901-1959, The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic, and The Godfather Epic (on HBO). The television version was the basis for a shorter, 1981 video release known as The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic. In 1990 a new release known as The Godfather: The Epic 1901-1959 added additional scenes and reincorporated much of the footage from The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television. Following the release of The Godfather Part III in 1990, a third unified version was released to video in 1992 entitled The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980. Film structure Francis Ford Coppola asked his editor Barry Malkin to make a seven-hour version for television; Coppola reportedly did this project to raise money for Apocalypse Now, which was severely over-budget at the time. The resulting film was in chronological order. The Godfather Part II had cut back and forth between scenes in the early 1900s and the late 1950s, and was therefore both a prequel and a sequel to The Godfather. Malkin also toned down the violence, sex, and language for a television audience. The television film incorporated additional footage not included in the original films, including Don Fanucci being attacked by street thugs, Vito Corleone's first encounter with Hyman Roth, Vito killing two of the mafiosi who worked for Don Ciccio and were instrumental in his family's death, Michael Corleone's reunion with his father after his return from Sicily, Sonny Corleone's taking charge of the family after his father is severely wounded, and Michael's vengeance upon Fabrizio for killing Apollonia. The previously deleted scenes totaled almost 75 minutes. Hal Erickson summarized the results as follows, "While this rearrangement was reasonably coherent, the rhythm and pacing of the original theatrical versions of the two films was severely damaged. The inclusion of scenes previously removed from the theatrical prints also stretched out what was already an overlong project.