# Why the same five movies on TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496 "2008-10-11T18:56:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/1 "2008-10-11T18:56:21Z")
For the past few months or years, the same damned half-dozen or so movies would play repeatedly on TNT and the other basic cable channels, and I thought “Hmmmm, seems to be a little heavy airplay for that one–didn’t I just notice it playing a few weeks ago? Oh well,” but this is getting absurd. You know which ones I mean, PRETTY WOMAN, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, MISS CONGENIALITY, the rest of the usual suspects. Oh, yeah, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, too. Lately, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER is on the mandatory list. I mean, they’re okay movies, most of them, but it’s like they’re playing 24/7 since the dawn of time. Why is that? Do the TV stations own the rights to show these films, so it’s basically free for them, as opposed to other films they have to rent or something? What’s the deal here? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/2 "2008-10-11T19:11:55Z")
My experience defines “the past few months or years” as “since 1977,” when my parents first got cable. A Doper once commented that in his house, HBO stood for “Hey, _Beastmaster_’s on!” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/3 "2008-10-11T19:22:22Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > For the past few months or years, the same damned half-dozen or so movies would play repeatedly on TNT and the other basic cable channels, and I thought “Hmmmm, seems to be a little heavy airplay for that one–didn’t I just notice it playing a few weeks ago? Oh well,” but this is getting absurd. You know which ones I mean, PRETTY WOMAN, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, MISS CONGENIALITY, the rest of the usual suspects. Oh, yeah, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, too. Lately, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER is on the mandatory list. I think you’re overstating it just a bit. Basically, movie channels have a regular “playlist” just like radio stations, and certain movies are on it and get played on television a lot (you forgot Tremors, Conspiracy Theory and Die Hard though). They then fill out the rest of their schedule with other movies and TV shows that aren’t as commonly played. It likely comes down to two simple reasons: the program director likes those movies and/or they get relatively good ratings considering the fact that they’ve been on TV hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times. And as **KneadToKnow** jokingly mentions, the playlist gets refreshed all the time. When was the last time Beastmaster was in regular rotation on any channel? ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/4 "2008-10-11T19:39:37Z")
The Hunt for Red October. It’s always… on. I don’t know why. It’s a fine movie, but it’s always… playing. It’s eerie. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/5 "2008-10-11T21:45:04Z")
I haven’t seen it for a while, but a few years back, it seemed like Comedy Central was showing “Fletch” every freakin’ weekend. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/6 "2008-10-11T22:02:57Z")
If “Dirty Dancing” isn’t on, be worried. It’s the end of the world or something, because “Dirty Dancing” is ALWAYS on. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/7 "2008-10-11T22:07:55Z")
There’s a thread from a few days ago about which movies you’ve seen the most often. National Treasure and Drive Me Crazy are on the list not because I own the dvds but because they’re on cable so often. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/8 "2008-10-11T23:20:17Z")
It may be this. I seem to recall hearing that when a network purchases the right to broadcast a movie, they will often be forced to actually buy the right to two screenings. The first will be soon after the purchase, while the second will be kept for emergency filler time. So when two hours opens up on their schedule, that they are desperate to fill with any old crap they have lying around, inevitably they chuck in some movie that last screened only three months previously. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/9 "2008-10-12T03:42:26Z")
What’s weird is that there are movies which are more or less equivalents to the ones already mentioned, but never get the airplay. Encore, with it’s zillions of subchannels, especially seems to have a rotating list of favorites, while completely eschewing others. … As usual, my weirdly wired brain is unable to come up with any examples. … Scanning some lists at IMDB, here are a few examples (some of which I’m sure someone will point out that have played somewhere lately): _Angel Heart_, _Life of Brian_, _The Wild Bunch_, _Dog Day Afternoon_, _Raging Bull_, _American Beauty_. Others just seem victim of changing tastes (dated), or after numerous parodies can’t be taken seriously anymore, or are seen as too intellectual, or something (_The Elephant Man_, _The Pianist_, _Gandhi_, _A Clockwork Orange_). There’s a number of Paul Newman vehicles which only now after his death will see renewed airplay. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/10 "2008-10-12T04:00:14Z")
Remember when TBS used to be the “all _The Blues Brothers_, all the time” network? And that’s one of my favorite movies. HBO also played _The Beastmaster II_ a lot. And _Krull_, which is kind of the same movie. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/11 "2008-10-12T04:57:34Z")
Well, there is TBS on Demand. My guess is that TBS broadcasts repeat films like Miss Congeniality and Pretty Woman because they want to have households (think sisters visiting mom after work) to watch the movie they saw recently again so that the advertisers will have increased ratings. TNT does something similar on the weekend. For example, Lara Croft Tomb Raider (which is my favourite film and opened in theatres in the summer of 2001) was broadcast three times, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on the same weekend a few years ago. In fact, TNT promoted LCTB that way. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/12 "2008-10-12T05:14:09Z")
I know whereof you speak. For a time it seemed that half of all television broadcast time given to movies was given to “The Outlaw Josie Wales.” Now things are significantly different – it only occupies about 1/20th of all movie slots. I think some of it may have to do with vertical integration. The big movie distribution companies are owned by the same people who own TV networks and cable channels. Naturally the product they want to sell to TV stations, cable channels, etc., gets first consideration, and maybe the station HAS to run the product whether they like it or not. I really don’t know, I just know that seems a likely prospect under the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Momofgirls](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/momofgirls/32/21798_2.png) [@Momofgirls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Momofgirls)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/13 "2008-10-12T05:22:40Z")
One thing I hate is when a station runs a movie several times in a row in one evening. And it’s usually a movie that sucks. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-same-five-movies-on-tv/467496/14 "2008-10-12T05:58:32Z")
Coming up sometime this week on Sydney’s free-to-air TV… Jumanji! Again! _shudders_