Editing Openai/695a82d6-9f7c-8010-a07b-739d13149f3d (section)

===== 📺 1. Syndication Packages Often Excluded the Black-and-White Season =====
'' The first season of ''The Wild Wild West* (28 episodes from 1965–66) was shot in black and white. The later seasons were in color. Wikipedia<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Wild_Wild_West_episodes|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2026-01-05}}</ref>
* Traditionally, syndication packages — the bundles of episodes that networks buy for reruns — for many classic shows excluded early black-and-white episodes because broadcasters historically preferred color episodes for reruns, and black-and-white blocks were often treated as separate packages or less valuable. This is a well-known phenomenon with older TV series. Pop Culture References<ref>{{cite web|title=Pop Culture References|url=https://popculturereferences.com/how-metv-changed-everything-by-saying-hey-why-not-show-all-of-the-episode/|publisher=Pop Culture References|access-date=2026-01-05}}</ref> (Comparable examples: Gunsmoke and My Three Sons also had black-and-white parts of their runs unused in early syndication.) Wikipedia<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsmoke|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2026-01-05}}</ref>