# American Movie Classics (1983–2002) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307 "2002-05-10T16:22:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/21 "2002-05-12T14:34:12Z")
I had TCM several years ago and the best thing about it was that it showed silent movies, though not many. The only things I bother watching on AMC are the “Our Gang” shorts (though they only show the talkies and ignore the silents) and the “3 Stooge”. Most everything else has been seen hundreds of times on a variety of channels. I am close to the point of just getting rid of cable because there is increasingly nothing worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/22 "2002-05-12T14:37:49Z")
This is just the last nail in the coffin. I stopped watching AMC when they added commercial interruptions to the movies. It’s sad, there are so few areas for seeing old movies (and the question of whether the movie is a “classic” or not hasn’t bothered me, I’m happy to see old movies that are long-forgotten for good reason.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/23 "2002-05-12T16:50:07Z")
To be fair, did not AMC lose a lot of its programming to the Fox Movie Channel too? Sure Ted Turner’s a bastid, but Rupert Murdoch’s also a bastid and Murdoch doesn’t even give money to the UN. Anyways, I quit watching movies on AMC the minute I saw that they were breaking into films with commercials AND they were editing for content. I don’t waych edited movies and I don’t appreciate censors deciding that I need to be “protected” from Charlie Brewster saying “shit” in _Fright Night_. I do hope my cable company will pick up this “sister channel” but I also hope that AMC will focus on mre original programming, something they do on occasion do well (if a bit fluffily in the case of their “documentaries”). ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/24 "2002-05-12T18:53:57Z")
I loved AMC when I could first get it - count me as one woman who prefers Nick Clooney to that kid of his - but they really went downhill. I suspect they were really at the mercy of Turner et al., who snapped up the best stuff in the catalogue. Now, I _love_ TCM, but I think AMC had that fun, family “we love these movies and want to share them with you” feeling. TCM has an exciting schedule every month, and a good website and magazine. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/25 "2002-05-13T15:05:59Z")
I don’t get TMC, so this really bums me out. If I wanted to see modern movies, I’d watch a superstation or HBO. Why can’t they be happy with their niche? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/26 "2002-05-13T15:11:47Z")
Lurk, you can kiss the wonderful “AMC Film Preservation” festival good-bye. Just for the hell of it, I tried to log onto AMC’s web site to lodge a useless complaint: THEIR SITE IS GONE, with a “for sale” sign on it! Gosh, I’ll miss those '40s musicals they used to show, with Betty Grable anmd Carmen Miranda and Alice Faye and John (sigh!) Payne . . . I wonder why is it that TCM has such sucky distribution? Almost no one I know can get it, so I end up taping millions of movies for friends around the country. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/27 "2002-05-13T15:34:49Z")
I believe I even saw Sheena, Queen of the Jungle a month or so ago on AMC. I had to check the station twice to see if it was really happening. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/28 "2002-05-13T15:42:05Z")
I believe I even saw **Sheena, Queen of the Jungle** a month or so ago on AMC. I had to check the station twice to see if it was really happening. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/29 "2002-05-13T15:51:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Just for the hell of it, I tried to log onto AMC’s web site to lodge a useless complaint: THEIR SITE IS GONE, with a “for sale” sign on it! Are you sure? I just logged on to their[page](http://www.amctv.com/amc/0,3131,1,00.html), and it came up. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/30 "2002-05-13T15:59:02Z")
Oop—I logged onto something called “[Americanmovieclassics.com](http://Americanmovieclassics.com),” which was outta business. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/31 "2002-05-13T16:14:00Z")
I believe I even saw **Sheena, Queen of the Jungle** a month or so ago on AMC. I had to check the station twice to see if it was really happening. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/32 "2002-05-13T18:59:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*The move would appear to take AMC out of direct competition with AOL Time Warner Inc.'s commercial-free Turner Classic Movies. It would instead position AMC to siphon audience away from general entertainment channels such as AOL’s TBS and TNT, Viacom Inc.'s (VIA, VIAB) recently relaunched TNN, and Vivendi Universal SA’s USA cable operations. \*\* 😕 TCM already shows “modern classics” on the weekends, some of which are barely 10 years old. I fail to see how doing essentially the same thing as TCM will remove AMC from direct competition. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/33 "2002-05-13T21:22:22Z")
AMC shows stuff like Sheena as part of its “American POP” programming, which focuses on showing the fun, kitchy movies that, while they may not fit the classicist’s definition of “classics” are still noteworthy in their own fashion. They show a lot of fun 50’s sci-fi and camp-fests like “Valley of the Dolls” too (or they used to anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307/34 "2002-05-14T12:46:30Z")
I love marketing double-talk–“Reaction has been positive.” Yeah, we’re positive we hate it! I woke up this morning, turned on the telly, and they were showing “Mars Needs Women”! Is this part of their “new film mix”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-movie-classics-1983-2002/108307.md?page=1)