There's a few TV shows where the openings have something different in each show. But wouldn't it be neat to be able to see versions of the openings without the episode-speciffic elements? Like The Mickey Mouse Club theme without Donald's gong, The Muppet Show theme without Fozzie's joke, Statler and Waldorf, or Gonzo's horn/gong, The Simpsons opening with a blank chalkboard and no couch gag, the Animaniacs theme without the ending "(insert-word-that-ends-with-anny)", or the American Dad theme with a blank newspaper or without Roger's disguise (the latter might not be as interesting, the first time that opening was done, Roger appeared out of costume)? Have any such edits appeared as bonus features on DVDs anywhere?
Has anybody ever seen any scripts for clip shows, compilations, cheater cartoons, or other things that reuse old footage? Anybody know how they typically write the scripts for the clips? Do they just put in parts where the clips are supposed to go, saying what clips they are, or do they actually retype dialogue from the clips, to show where the clips begin and end, and maybe what dialogue and scenes get cut out of the clips? I have written clip show fan fics and have only made my best guesses, it would be interesting to see how close I am to being correct. I've seen examples of Sesame Street scripts showing how the inserts are put in scripts.
I think I've read a long time ago that on certain TV shows, every writer contributes to the episodes but only a few get credited. It would make sense for every writer to have to contribute to every episode of a sketch comedy show, but shows with narratives seem like they could just need a few writers per episode. But is this true (I know that on The Weird Al Show, every writer who contributed to something in an episode, even if it's just a small joke, would get a writers credit for that episode)? And if a show has a group of writers getting together to discuss ideas, would a writer still be considered a writer for the episode if he only pitches ideas but doesn't actually write or type any parts of the script?