The decline of TV Land, AMC, and classic TV and movies in general

[Thomas Veil]

I was just over at Amazon.com, and there's a discussion group over there that is 200 posts long, bemoaning what has happened to all the classic TV and films that used to be on TV Land, AMC and some of the other cable networks.

Would you believe the TV Land-bashing in that discussion was virtually universal? Can't say I blame people. There are so many classic TV shows that don't get aired anymore (at least not on familiar cable outlets), and what is TV Land pushing? Theatrical films and reality programming. Are you freaking kidding me??

AMC's almost as bad. Your chances of seeing "Colossus: The Forbin Project" or "Dr. Strangelove" on that network are almost as good as your chances of being hit by a meteor. They're on to newer things. And that's aside from the fact that they edit movies now and stuff them full of commercials.

I'm seriously thinking, though, of moving up one tier on my cable hookup so I can get AmericanLife. They run Mission: Impossible, Batman, Lost in Space, WKRP and others...and right there are four shows more than I currently watch on TV Land.

Hell, if I were a millionaire I'd ditch cable altogether and buy everything on DVD, uncut. But I'm only a thousandaire, so I'll take it where I can find it.

 

[Antares]

Thankfully, there is MeTV and MeTV2. These are two national broadcast channels that air nothing but classic tv shows. It's great. I don't know if cable companies carry them as well (haven't checked). But if you have a digital tv, check to see if you get them over the air. They're pretty much what TV Land used to be. They even often air old commercials (from the 50's, 60's or 70's) instead of new ones during commercial breaks. It's great!

 

[thunderclap]

Thankfully, there is MeTV and MeTV2. These are two national broadcast channels that air nothing but classic tv shows. It's great. I don't know if cable companies carry them as well (haven't checked). But if you have a digital tv, check to see if you get them over the air. They're pretty much what TV Land used to be. They even often air old commercials (from the 50's, 60's or 70's) instead of new ones during commercial breaks. It's great!

Ah ah ah... it's MeTV Too.

My only complaint with MeTV is that they edit the shows so they're a little shorter. You can tell because of the terrible "wipe" transitions they use when they cut something out.

 

[Antares]

Ah ah ah... it's MeTV Too.

Doh!

My only complaint with MeTV is that they edit the shows so they're a little shorter. You can tell because of the terrible "wipe" transitions they use when they cut something out.

Do they edit them for content or to account for the fact that commercials are longer now and the station wants to fit them in? Do they edit all shows?

 

[ra noodle]

antares

they are cutting off small pieces of the classic TV programs to fit more commercials because those people are beginning to see more and more don't like the crap of "modern" TV.....also don't forget on MeTV and MeToo: SVENGHOULIE!!!!

 

[Thomas Veil]

How about this, then? M*A*S*H was rerun in the afternoons on CBS years ago. They cut out 2-3 minutes of each episode. TV Land took those episodes and cut out another minute or so from each one.

Before I die I expect to see the day when programming and advertising achieve a 50-50 split.

 

[thunderclap]

Do they edit them for content or to account for the fact that commercials are longer now and the station wants to fit them in? Do they edit all shows?

I don't know if it's all shows but every show I've watched they have. Again, look for the bad wipe transitions... you can't miss them.

Not sure why they edit them. I assume it's so they have more commercial time for sale.

 

[LizKat]

I went in the other direction and just cancelled the cable. And had them remove their wiring from pole to my house. I do not miss live TV any more, it's been more than a year now. I download a few news podcasts, take a local daily newspaper and read a bunch of papers online.

I also download movie rentals and purchases from iTunes, and buy the occasional movie or concert DVD or download a rerun series from iTunes.

Whatever I might sometimes miss about television (dropping in on C-Span for instance) is more than offset by the very attractive absence of those infernal commercials.

The commercials (loud, offensive, pandering, sexist, stereotypical, repetitive and far too frequent) were really the last straw for me, more so than the increasingly shoddy programming content.

 

[balamw]

They run Mission: Impossible, Batman, Lost in Space, WKRP and others...and right there are four shows more than I currently watch on TV Land.

FWIW some Lost In Space and WKRP are on hulu.com, and you don't need to be a millionaire for that free service.

B

 

[leekohler]

Ah ah ah... it's MeTV Too.

Actually, since we're being picky, it's MeToo. Best thing is- both are free over digital broadcast. I love MeTV and MeToo. They're both awesome. I've seen some Twilight Zones and Outer Limits that I didn't even know existed. Good stuff.

 

[velocityg4]

On CBS.com there are a few older series. Though they have some commercials. In a typical one hour show there are 5 commercials in all ranging from 15 to 30 seconds a piece, though I am sure CBS is chomping at the bit to add more. One annoyance though, the commercials are much much louder than the show.

But at least I get Star Trek TOS with at the most 2 1/2 minutes of commercials.