They don't seem shortened, they are shortened. In the early 1960s, shows ran a little longer, as less time was cut out for commercial breaks. Today (2021, based on network broadcast model -- internet steaming is changing this) an "hour" long show is actually only 42 minutes; in the early sixties it was a 50 minutes. Likewise, with "half hour" episodes, almost four minutes of each episode are edited out. This isn't SyFy's doing; CBS, which owns the rights to the show, provides the shorted edits to any network that wants to broadcast the show. They've gone through the whole series and cut out a few seconds here, a few seconds there in each episode -- enough to cut those near four minutes out of each ep. without excising any critical plot point, dialog, or bit of exposition. But it's still shortened. I've rewatched the whole show enough times that with all my favorite episodes, I can spot the exact bits that were edited out. The show has been artistically compromised to make way for more advertising. The same thing happens at the end credits. When I was a kid, when a show ended on television -- cable or network -- you saw the credits; these days, the credits are shoved into a corner of the screen while they play more commercials. For me, it makes it a lot more enjoyable to watch the show on my blu ray edition that to catch on any broadcast, even on the New Year's marathon.
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