I still have my VHS tape that I taped off the air of the original mini-series and I wrote on it the running time of 210 minutes, both on the inside and on the spine of the case. Also, from the magazine, Cinefantastique, which had a cover story on 'Salem's Lot in the Winter 1979 issue which said that the mini-series was 4 hours (3 1/2 without ads).
In 1979, the film aired at 210 min.
In 1993, a laserdisc was released at 193 min. (missing 17 minutes)
In 1995, a VHS was released at 184 min. (missing 26 minutes)
In 1999, a DVD was released at 183 min. (missing 27 minutes)
[I'm not counting the paired-down movie version that was made for international release]
Why does this movie's running time keep shrinking and when will we ever see the full 3 1/2 hour, 210 min. mini-series version on Blu-ray or DVD ever again?