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Happy 20th Anniversary to TCM
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LizzieMaine
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I've had my gripes with TCM over the years -- they show the familiar movies way too often (do we really need to see "Singin' In THe Rain" again?) and the rarities far too rarely (I've seen the 1935 musical "Sweet Music" with Rudy Vallee and Ann Dvorak exactly once in the fifteen years I've had access to TCM, and they cut off the first five minutes in that showing!). I also wish they hadn't gotten rid of the Edward Hopperesque interstitials in favor of that gloomy-hipster crap they use now.
But these are minor gripes compared to the simple fact that TCM is the only channel left that even tries to show American movies (not "films," MOVIES) of the twenties, thirties, and forties on a regular basis, and as such I hope it lives to be a hundred. I doubt it'll last the next decade in its present form -- come around and 2024 and it'll be showing zombie junk from the 80s and 90s punctuated with commmercials every five minutes -- but I'd be very happy to be wrong.
But these are minor gripes compared to the simple fact that TCM is the only channel left that even tries to show American movies (not "films," MOVIES) of the twenties, thirties, and forties on a regular basis, and as such I hope it lives to be a hundred. I doubt it'll last the next decade in its present form -- come around and 2024 and it'll be showing zombie junk from the 80s and 90s punctuated with commmercials every five minutes -- but I'd be very happy to be wrong.
Worf
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I'm not as sanguine about the prospects of TCM as you are.... Yeah... they show junk but usually on Saturday morniings and late Saturday night, but I don't think you'll be seeing "Twilight" on TCM anytime soon. But I must admit I recorded "Disco Godfather" off of there last Saturday. I lasted 10 minutes before I hit the delete button. Back on point... I think TCM will continue to thrive. I agree they do tend to "load up" on standards because you know and they know it'll bring in the faithfull. But as you say these are small quibbles. TCM is the ONLY channel that, if they told me I had to pay for it or lose it, I'd be cracking open the check book immediately.
Worf
Worf
Hercule
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Goodness, be grateful for what they do show, and commercial free at that. I've also been enjoying GetTV after I only recently discovered it among the many extra (mostly inane) channels we receive from our cable provider. Usually if I don't care for what's on I take it as a sign that I shouldn't be watching TV and should be reading a book, catching up on chores or doing something productive.
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Back in the '70s and '80s KCET Channel 28, the PBS station in L.A., used to frequently show classic silent films as well as movies such as Metropolis, usually on Saturday nights. And then they were replaced by MGM musicals, including the aforementioned Singin' in the Rain to the point where it became the Die Hard of classic movies.
And for all it's worth. The former KCET broadcast studios which was originally built by Charlie Chaplin is now owned by the Church of Scientology. :eusa_doh:
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A few years ago, Comcast decided to remove TCM from its regular package. And because they care about quality programming (their words) they placed it in a more expensive plan. So now I pay more for cable then some because there was no way I wasn't going to have TCM as a viewing option.
LizzieMaine
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Back in the '70s and '80s KCET Channel 28, the PBS station in L.A., used to frequently show classic silent films as well as movies such as Metropolis, usually on Saturday nights. And then they were replaced by MGM musicals, including the aforementioned Singin' in the Rain to the point where it became the Die Hard of classic movies.
I grew up in the days when you could come home from school, turn on the TV set at 4 o'clock, and see on any given day "The Broadway Melody of 1936" or Al Jolson in "Mammy" or Dick Powell in "Twenty Million Sweethearts" or any of dozens of other not-common '30s pictures. "Singin' In The Rain" was something that would show up as a special occasion thing on "NBC Saturday Night At The Movies" maybe once every ten years, and it was a big deal that the whole family watched together.
When I first got TCM it was like those local TV stations I used to watch -- you never knew what was going to come up, and you saw things you'd never heard of. The whole channel was run like a neighborhood theatre in the '30s that changed its program three times a week -- B pictures, potboilers, whatever they could get to feed the audience. That's my kind of a movie channel.
As soon as they started programming for the "cineaste" crowd, with all the beard-stroking "guest programmers" and cheese like that, a lot of the fun went out of it for me. I get enough of the Film As Art crowd at work, and I'd rather just sit down and watch a good movie without a lot of palaver first.
Doctor Strange
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And Ben Mankiewicz has never - not once - said anything in any of his intros or outros that I didn't already know. Admittedly, I'm very well-versed in classic film history, but still, he's being presented as an EXPERT. He strikes me as a no-talent bum trading on his famous Hollywood last name... (vs. Robert Osborne, who actually worked in the TV/film biz for decades and whose observations aren't just pulled from Wiki articles).
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I don't disagree with some of the above complaints - too many showings of the same classics, a bit too much fussiness with guests and some truly awful attempts at showing some more modern movies - but I'm with Worf in that it is the only cable channel that I would pay more for if asked. No commercials, 24 hours of movies from the 20s - 60s (mainly) and while less than I like, still some good variety and the occasional undiscovered gem (see Worf's recent posting on "Went the Day Well"). And I, too, just "discovered" GetTV, but so far, the commercials are killing me and they run the same movie four or five times in a week (but still glad to have another channel showing old movies). TCM is the first channel I click to when I turn on the TV.
Worf
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^^^ Hear Hear!!!
Worf
Worf
Worf
I'll Lock Up
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^^^^ Is that supposed to be the proverbial "Gift Horse"?
Worf
Worf
LizzieMaine
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It ain't a gift when you pay $80 a month for it.
Wow, you actually pay for your cable! How quaint.
Antje
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I'm so sad TCM is not available anymore in our cable company
Verstuurd van mijn ST18i met Tapatalk
Verstuurd van mijn ST18i met Tapatalk
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That would be a big blow if it ever happened - I am only now recovering from AMC changing its format from true old movies (commercial free) to its '70-'90s stuff today. TCM is my redoubt from the world. While I will look ahead to its schedule each week and record this or that, the most fun I have is turning it on, on a whim, and catching either a great classic or some obscure movie I never heard of that fully captures my attention.
There are low/no cost workarounds available for your unfortunate situation. Google is your friend.
Worf
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There are low/no cost workarounds available for your unfortunate situation. Google is your friend.
Arrrr matey!!!! My cable bill just topped two C's a month... I may bet turning to a life of crime soon!
Worf
A pirate? No no no.
I prefer: A corsair acting under authorization of the principality of San Tomasso.
Harp
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Debbie Drake and Garfield Goose & Company; also Dick Tracy. Frasier Thomas was a wonderful guy; and Ray Rayner
who hosted DT had been a POW in the camp where The Great Escape was launched. But Debbie was cute.
...and Mickey Mouse. Annette was my favorite mouseketeer.
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