Editing The Day After (section)

=== Editing ===
ABC originally planned to air ''The Day After'' as a four-hour "television event" that would be spread over two nights with a total running time of 180 minutes without commercials.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Naha|first=Ed|date=April 1983|title=L.A. Offbeat: A Lesson in Reality|url=https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-069|journal=Starlog|pages=[https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-069/page/n23 24]–25}}</ref> The director Nicholas Meyer felt the original script was padded, and suggested cutting out an hour of material to present the whole film in one night. The network stuck with its two-night broadcast plan, and Meyer filmed the entire three-hour script, as evidenced by a 172-minute [[workprint]] that has surfaced.<ref>{{Citation|author=((nisus8))|title=The Day After (1983) - 3-Hour Workprint Version|date=2018-08-10|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MobwUGgdI3A| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911120906/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MobwUGgdI3A| archive-date=2018-09-11 | url-status=dead|access-date=2019-05-23}}</ref> Subsequently, the network found that it was difficult to find advertisers because of the subject matter {{Contradictory inline|reason=The first sentence of this paragraph indicates the network planned to air the movie without commercials.|date=September 2024}}. ABC relented and allowed Meyer to edit the film for a one-night broadcast version. Meyer's original single-night cut ran two hours and twenty minutes, which he presented to the network. After that screening, many executives were deeply moved, and some even cried, which led Meyer to believe they approved of his cut.

Nevertheless, a further six-month struggle ensued over the final shape of the film. Network censors had opinions about the inclusion of specific scenes, and ABC itself was eventually intent on "trimming the film to the bone" and made demands to cut out many scenes that Meyer strongly lobbied to keep. Finally, Meyer and his editor, Bill Dornisch, balked. Dornisch was fired, and Meyer walked away from the project. ABC brought in other editors, but the network ultimately was not happy with the results they produced. It finally brought Meyer back and reached a compromise, with Meyer paring down ''The Day After'' to a final running time of 120 minutes.<ref name="fallout">{{cite web|last=Niccum|first=John|title=Fallout from ''The Day After''|url=http://www.lawrence.com/news/2003/nov/19/fallout_from/|work=lawrence.com|access-date=October 11, 2011|date=2003-11-19}}</ref><ref>Meyer, Nicholas, "The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood", page 150. Viking Adult, 2009</ref>