American Movie Classics And Turner Classic Movies......

Cafe Society
1

…need a “remake”, I think.

First AMC: They will sit on a popular flick for DAYS, and show it over and over till one becomes weary of even clicking there on the remote.

Good point: Sometimes, usually in the wee hours, they’ll show a real classic. This morning at around 3 it was “The List of Adrian Messenger”, but one does have to stay up to catch those.

TCM: Okay on the flicks, not so okay on the inbetween stuff.

If you regulary watch TCM, you’ll catch those, and they can be a little “long in the tooth”. Early this morning it was Anthony Quinn with TCM host Robert Osborne, and I didn’t think those two were ever gonna shut up! Never mind that Quinn has been pushing up daisies for a number of years now, and so have most of the others he’s done special interviews with.

Now, I realize with the films’ dates that they are limited with whom they do specials with, but I’d like to see some with stars who are still alive, instead of the constant replays of a modern actor’s take on a classic film star (Anthony Hopkins on Hepburn for instance).

Maybe it’s because I have a lot of time on my hands that I notice this, but I just think they need some “freshening” up. And I don’t mean those talks about The Essentials with Alec Baldwin et al.

Also a question: Does TCM only own the MGM catalog or do they also own others and is THAT the reason for the repeated “specials” and interviews, meaning JUST those actors who worked for MGM?

Oh, and one more thing, TCM: Please don’t do musical, musical, musical all day. Mix it up a little.
**
Good** ones lately: The Diary of Anne Frank and A Face In The Crowd.

So, in conclusion: I like both stations. Just think they could do with a “makeover”.

You?

Thanks

Q

2

Thank your lucky stars. A local OTA station co-created This TV, an excuse for MGM to burn off–many times over–the worst Elvis, Frankie & Annette, and “The Dirty Dozen” sequels. And a bunch of AIPs and Hammers, though I love Vincent Price’s “Doctor Phibes” movies.

3

So there is worse, huh?:slight_smile:

The Hammers are a bit hokey to watch now, but late Saturday night this ghoulish-looking man named Bistoink Dooley used to host them on channel 18 (Ted Turner’s first station on UHF)
and me and my bro never missed one.

Of course the cleavage was a great incentive to watch those flicks.:wink:

Sigh When I think of all the times I stopped up the toilet with my “catcher’s mitt”!:o

Thanks

Q

4

I have no issues with TCM. I adore Robert Osborne and enjoy listening to him discuss movies, even with dead people. And I like the vignettes with stars praising other stars. I am getting bored with the filler – the one that ends with the guy saying “damn fine actress”. That can go anytime.

I like TCM’s “theme” days. If they’re showing musicals, I know to skip that day. But when the theme is something/someone I like, then I know I can turn it on any time that day and sit for awhile.

AMC, on the other hand, I don’t watch movies there at all, because of the cuts and commercials. Their original programming is excellent though – Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Do you get FMC? Their movies tend to be more recent, but they don’t cut and there are no commercials during the movies.

5

Never tried that, but we had a septic field and I knew the price to pay for clogging it up, no matter the reason.

Locally, I had (depending on my age)
Some local announcer in Richmond making no special play on the Universal horrors he was hosting on Saturday afternoons (backups were horrible enough), Ghoulardi, Svengoolie, and Son of Svengoolie, all playing the same bad movies. Except Mondo Cane, which Ghoulardi seemed to broadcast every other week in 1964 but which I eventually had to download because I was too young back then. It needs SvenSurround.

Technicality: I suggested it but, as it’s idiotic, it will be turned down. These days you can’t get much airplay showing gassed shelter dogs and topless Africans.

6

Tivo is your friend.

7

Tivo costs extra. What also costs extra is a kickass internet connection that doesn’t require I remember to record a show. :wink:
ETA: I have a wife and daughter who will tell me what I missed while not watching Svengoolie. I feign interest. I mean, I love the show but it normally requires me to watch crap between the commercial breaks.

And during them.