- A version of "The Jerk" shown on cable's Turner Network Television contained alternate footage. Besides changing the name of Navin's dog to "Stupid" from "Shithead," genuine alternate footage was contained; in one previously-unseen scene, Navin is so broken-up over the loss of Marie that he "just had to spin." The carnies remove him from the ride by force, and he tries to explain to them what emotions are. The "charity" montage also differs: before the cat-juggling sequence, Navin meets a professor-type who insults him and shows him some apparently unpleasant pictures, and a Texan millionaire who cries over small cracks on the seat of his airplane; he pays both, of course. In this version there is no "Iron-Balls McGinty" sequence.
- Generally, commercial-TV prints that edit Navin's dog's name to "Stupid" and show Navin on the amusement-park ride "so broken-up that he had to spin," also include extended dialogue with Navin elaborating with Mr. Hartounian about making $1.10 an hour; these prints also have close-up camera angles to avoid showing Billy's profane T-shirt, and most of Patty's sexual-reference dialogue is cut.
- Other TV prints simply edit the theatrical release which omit Navin "spinning" at the amusement park, the Texas millionaire scene, and Navin's extra line to Mr. Hartounian at the gas station: "You'll pay me $1.10 if I work here an hour?" No conversation between Navin and the man with the "unpleasant photographs" exists in this version. Suggested sexual dialogue by Patty when he is visiting her trailer is often left intact. Navin's dog is simply named "Head" in this version. Billy's profane T-shirt is not obstructed by camera angles; the offensive word is whited-out.
- There are some differences in network airings when Navin is narrating the letters he writes back to his family. Original network airings replaced the theatrical line "Is Grandma still farting?" with "Is Grandma still burping?" The later prints all say, "Is Grandma still farting?" On edited versions of The Jerk when Grandma Johnson is reading Navin's letter they say that "My friend Patti promised me a job." This is in all network and standard cable prints. The theatrical release, premium cable channels, and DVD versions state the uncut sexual reference in the letter. A few commercial networks just edit out the line containing the sexual reference altogether.
- Original TV network airings of The Jerk had a word of dialogue changed. When Navin is working at the carnival, he tells his boss Frosty that he only took in $15. Frosty says, "Navin, you have taken in $15, and given away 50 cents worth of crud." Navin excited over the "Profit Deal" changes his sales pitch to "Step right up, folks, step right up! Take a chance and win some crud." On subsequent commercial TV airings, the word "crud" has been replaced with the word "crap." as seen in all unedited airings of the movie.
- The original theatrical and premium cable showings of The Jerk have an added scene when Mr. Hartounian offers Navin a place to stay. He gets excited about renovating Hartounian's gas-station bathroom. Hartounian says, "Navin, it's in here" and opens the door to a storage room. Most edited prints don't show the bathroom dialogue after Hartounian says he has a place he wants Narvin to see; instead the conversation picks up in the storage room with Navin saying "It's perfect! I won't have to change this at all!"
- On most edited versions of The Jerk, a small amount of sexually-suggestive dialogue is cut out when Hartounian briefly introduces Navin to his wife at the gas station before leaving him in charge for the day.
- Commercial and standard cable TV prints edit out the classic scene of Navin's "Dad" telling him the difference between "shit" and "shinola."
- On broadcast-TV and standard cable-TV showings of the movie, the sniper's dialogue is changed to remove some profanity.
- As of June 2018, The Sundance Channel is showing a mixture of the original commercial-TV airing and the theatrical version. TV outtakes of the Texas Millionaire complaining about his ripped airplane seats, Navin "so broke that he had to spin" on the carnival ride, and the elaboration with Mr Hartounian about Navin making $1.10 an hour are missing. Navin's dog is called "Stupid"; the sexual reference in Navin's letter that Grandma reads is edited; all of the sexually-suggestive dialogue with Navin and Patty is included. The word "Ass" is included in all parts of the movie, but all references to the "N-word" are deleted and the offensive word on Billy's T-shirt is whited-out.
- On many commercial-TV airings, much of Patty's sexually suggestive dialog is edited out completely.
- On many commercial-TV airings, the sniper's profanity when he's shooting at Navin is dubbed or edited.
- In censored prints, when Navin is writing back home to his family he says: "So Ma, when I told Mr. Hartounian that I would come back someday, he said, "Don't be a jerk, see the world. Me you've seen already." In the uncut R-rated version, Navin's line is: "So Ma, when I told Mr. Hartounian that I would come back someday, he said, "Don't be a putz, see the world. Me you've seen already."
- The television version contains extra scenes not available on the VHS release or elsewhere: Navin elaborating on making $1.10 an hour, and Navin telling his mother he's waiting for his skin to change color any year now.
- The scene where Mr. Hartounian hires Navin is a bit different in the TV version. Instead of showing Navin at the urinal, the entire shot of Jackie Mason is used until Navin exits the men's room. Also, Mr. Hartounian mocks Navin's response and mentions how kids today "wanna start on the top and work their way sideways," which ends in him wondering, "who'm I talkin' to?"
- The scene where Navin and Marie first meet was also changed. After Navin rescues Billy from the train ride, he tramples through a bunch of miniature houses because his cap is pulled down. When Marie gives Navin back his stuff and thanks him for saving Billy, an alternate take and different shots are used. After Navin says, "he's a real little dickens," Marie adds the line, "so are you," and a close-up is used when she kisses him.
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