Just came in from a 3 1/2-hour screening of Martin Scorsese's film biography of Bob Dylan, which is scheduled to air on PBS' "American Masters"on Sept. 26-27.

Which means you'll be able to watch it over two nights. Lucky you.

That we didn't get to is apparently due to concern on the part of PBS -- and likely Scorsese -- that releasing screeners to critics in the usual way would lead to bootlegging and piracy.

Maybe even civil insurrection.

Movie critics, who regularly do their jobs in the dark, will scoff at our concerns about this, but it's PBS that should probably worry, since whatever some of us remember about the Dylan bio between now and late September, it may be hard to forget that despite some glorious footage and interviews, it's an awfully long time to spend watching something that ends in 1966.

Still, we're not the only ones PBS apparently doesn't trust with a DVD. Spotted in the Zanuck Theater at Fox studios: a guy who looked an awful lot like actor Benicio del Toro.

One PBS suit said she expects that Dylan himself will never see Scorsese's film.

Maybe they were afraid he'd try to sell it on eBay?