# Heads up, Roku users: really OLD classic TV shows being added to Roku Channel

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 13, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021 "2019-07-13T15:05:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/21 "2019-08-24T12:45:14Z")

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Old film channels just added:

\*The **Alfred Hitchcock** Films channel is a collection of 14 of his films from the 1920s through the40s. He is known as the “Master of Suspense” and directed over 50 feature films over a career that lasted 6 decades. The films are organized according to the decade they were released and include these titles:  
[ul]  
[li]1940s - 4 titles - Lifeboat (1944), Notorious (1946), Rebecca (1940) and Rope( 1948)[/li][li] 1930s - 9 titles including 39 Steps (1935), Waltzes from Vienna (1934), Jamaica (1939), and Sabotage(1936)[/li][li] 1920s - Easy Virtue (1927)[/li][/ul]

\*The **Cary Grant Films** channel contains eight films from the 1930s and 40s starring one of Hollywood’s most prominent stars of the time. The following titles are available.  
[ul]  
[li]The Amazing Adventure (1936)[/li][li] Topper (1937)[/li][li] His Girl Friday (1940)[/li][li] The Philadelphia Story (1940)[/li][li] Suspicion (1941)[/li][li] Penny Serenade (1941)[/li][li] Suspicion (1941)[/li][li] Notorious (1946)[/li][/ul]

\*The **Clark Gable** Films channel contains seven films from the 1930s and 40s starring the man often referred to as “The King of Hollywood.” The following titles are currently available:  
[ul]  
[li]The Painted Desert (1931)[/li][li] Too Hot to Handle (1938)[/li][li] It happened One Night (1934)[/li][li] Call of the Wild (1936)[/li][li] San Francisco (1936)[/li][li] Command Decision (1948)[/li][li] Honky Tonk (1941)[/li][/ul]

\ ***Humphrey Bogart** Films is a cinematic anthology of films that span three decades, chronicling Bogart’s long career from the early 1930s through the 50s. The films are organized according to the decade they were released and include the following titles:  
[ul]  
[li]1930s - 7 films including Petrified Forest(1936), Black Legion (1937), and Midnight (1934)[/li][li] 1940s - 8 films including Key Largo (1948), Sahara(1943), and The Maltese Falcon (1941)[/li][li] 1950s - 3 films - The Devil(1954), Chain Lightning(1950), and Deadline USA(1952)[/li][/ul]

\***James (Jimmy) Stewart** is one of the more popular stars in film history from the early era of film. He was known for his distinctive drawl, down-to-earth persona, and authentic acting style. Stewart’s film career spanned over 55 years and included performances in 80 films. The James Stewart Films channel contains 14 films from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, including some notable titles. (Unfortunately, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) is not among them.) The channel does offer some other popular films that he made, including the following: [ul]  
[li]1930s - 6 titles that include Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Speed (1936) and Can’t Take it With You (1938)[/li][li] 1940s - 4 titles - Pot O Gold (1941), The Philadelphia Story (1949), The Stratton Story (2949) and Call Northside777 (1948)[/li][li] 1950s - 4 films - The Far Country (1954), Winchester 73 (1950), Harvey (1950) and The FBI Story (1959)[/li][/ul]

\ ***Spencer Tracy** Films offers the following nine films starring Spencer Tracy, known as one of the major stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age:  
[ul]  
[li]20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)[/li][li] Bottoms Up (1934)[/li][li] Dante’s Inferno (1935)[/li][li] Face the Sky (1933)[/li][li] Man’s Castle (1933)[/li][li] Marie Galante (1934)[/li][li] Riffraff (1936)[/li][li] San Francisco (1936)[/li][li] Test Pilot (1938)[/li][/ul]

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/22 "2019-08-24T13:17:19Z")

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I love my Roku! Thank you for posting this. Lots to check out.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/23 "2019-08-24T13:49:52Z")

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> [@davidm](#):
>
> I love my Roku! Thank you for posting this. Lots to check out.

Thanks for the note. I wasn’t 100% sure anyone was reading it. 🙂

You can subscribe here: [https://www.rokuguide.com/](https://www.rokuguide.com/)

I love my Roku, too!

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/24 "2019-08-26T02:53:58Z")

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Thanks, **ThelmaLou**!

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/25 "2019-08-26T02:56:04Z")

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You’re quite welcome! 🙂

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**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/26 "2019-08-26T16:52:02Z")

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OMG, a Cary Grant channel. I may NEVER leave the house!

BTW,Roku is wrong. But we will forgive Roku because I love Roku. Ann B. Davis was not Bob’s sister on Love That Bob. His sister (Margaret) was played by Rosemary DeCamp, and her son was played by Dwayne Hickman, later to star in Dobie Gillis.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/27 "2019-08-26T17:56:24Z")

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> [@peedin](#):
>
> OMG, a Cary Grant channel. I may NEVER leave the house!
> 
> BTW,Roku is wrong. But we will forgive Roku because I love Roku. Ann B. Davis was not Bob’s sister on Love That Bob. His sister (Margaret) was played by Rosemary DeCamp, and her son was played by Dwayne Hickman, later to star in Dobie Gillis.

EEK! You are so right! I can’t believe I didn’t catch that. _\<Hangs head in shame while simultaneously flogging self with lengths of 35 mm film\>_ Schultzy was Bob’s assistant.

Here’s a bit of Rosemary DeCamp trivia from [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0213619/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm):

> [@](#):
>
> On July 7, 1946, [Rosemary] and her husband were in their house in Beverly Hills, California, when an aircraft crashed into the roof of the house next door, and its wing cut through the roof of her house and landed in the bedroom, where she and her husband were. The plane, an experimental model called the XF-11, had experienced mechanical problems after taking off from the airport at nearby Culver City. It was piloted by Howard Hughes, and finally came to rest after crashing through the wall of the house of another of DeCamp’s neighbors and exploding. Hughes was rescued from the cockpit by a bystander and, although receiving several broken bones, burns and gashes, was not severely injured and eventually made a full recovery. He paid for the damage to the houses in the neighborhood out of his own pocket.

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**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/28 "2019-08-26T21:05:31Z")

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I just added bunches o’ channels. One is Film Noir Flix which has such great movies as White Heat, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/29 "2019-11-04T16:04:55Z")

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Roku news!

Now available on the Roku channel for free (with very short commercials), the brilliant 2003-2010 series [Cold Case](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368479/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1), not to be confused with Cold Case Files or any other show with the words “cold” or “case” in the name. (This is not a new Roku channel per se.)

> [@](#):
>
> Lilly Rush is a Philadelphia police detective working for the department’s homicide squad and being assigned “cold cases”: crimes that were committed many years before and have not been solved. Lilly must try to re-think the crime scenes and interview other people involved with the victims to find a link to solving the cases.

Detective Lilly Rush is played by Kathryn Morris, she of the _exquisite_ porcelain skin, and one of the first messy ponytails to be found on a TV cop. She’s got some great colleagues and (refreshingly) a smart and supportive boss. I’m a big one to re-watch a series many times, but after I went through this one once, I couldn’t watch it again-- they were so poignant and heart-wrenching. Enough time has elapsed that I’m going to venture in again.

If you don’t like flashbacks, then skip it, because as the re-opened investigation proceeds, we flip to the principals as they were then, when the original crime was committed, and back to now, as they help or hinder the new look at past events. The scenes set in the past have a SFX overlay (took me a while to figure that out :smack: ). Some of the cold cases are fairly recent, may be only a few years, and some are decades earlier. Inevitably the case is solved and resolved, leaving this viewer satisfied, if emotionally wrung out. Give it a look, Roku owners.

ETA: comment from an IMDB reviewer–

> [@](#):
>
> The show never ceases to amaze me and touch me in ways most television shows cannot. Somehow it seeps under your skin because you know thousands of people in the real world live with the things that go on in the episodes. Kathryn Morris gives a stellar performance each week and always has the audience rooting for her to kick some butt. The editing is unique, as well, and I think the strongest tactic the show uses is how they always wrap up the case and the episode by arresting the person as they are now, but never failing to cut to show what they would look like if they had gotten arrested when they first committed the crime.

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**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/30 "2019-11-04T19:30:07Z")

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Thank you **ThelmaLou**. I just dug out my old Roku and connected it to our TV at our ‘away’ place. This is going to be very useful information. 😃

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**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-roku-users-really-old-classic-tv-shows-being-added-to-roku-channel/837021/31 "2019-11-04T20:58:02Z")

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> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> How do they pronounce “falcon”? I’m curious about the evolution of its pronunciation.

Unrelated, but watching a few old 1930s murder mysteries, I was surprised to hear “suspect” being pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. I guessed it was because the verb form was pronounced that way and was transferred to the noun form, but it eventually drifted to the stress on the first syllable.

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