voranis

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote} > Chief, > > Color me crazy but I will never understand what it so difficult about understanding the *31 Days of Oscar*. > > Each year, since the salute debuted in March of 1995 (back when the Oscars were awarded in March), TCM has always celebrated the entire history of the Academy Awards, not a truncated version only through some certain, pre-determined year or decade. > > It has always been about the entire history of the awards and the films that were nominated and won, regardless of year they were made. > > This year is no different. > > Why this comes as a surprise each year to long-time viewers of the channel is a puzzlement to say the least. It's a surprise to me. I have been watching 31 Days of Oscar on TCM for many years but I thought since TCM is for classic movies, the celebration would be for classic Oscar-winning movies. I know there are debates here in the message boards on what "classic" means and for me it doesn't necessarily mean "old," but from the posts I've seen, and I don't get to read here very often, but when I do, the posts mostly seem to represent the view that TCM should only be airing movies from older decades, so I thought since that's what most of the viewers seem to think, that was what the network thought, too. A bad assumption on my part, I guess, assuming the network's view corresponded to that of its viewers. A similar debate goes on with networks devoted to TV shows. TV Land no longer markets itself as devoted to "classic" programming as it once did--that was once in its ads, but no longer--because much of what it shows now is no longer considered "classic" by its viewers. The Retro Television Network (RTV/RTN) has taken up the mantle of showing "classic" TV. What is TCM's official position on what "classic" means? Does it consider showing more modern movies during 31 Days of Oscar an exception to what it normally shows--as it defines itself by Turner Classic Movies--or does TCM define "classic" using criteria other than how old a movie is? In other words, does TCM consider itself to be showing some non-classics during 31 Days of Oscar, or does it consider Lord of the Rings: Return of the King a classic? Liz, I am particularly interested in your answer, as well as Kyle's, since you seem to have a lot of inside info about the network.

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > OMG one of my typos again, LOL I meant *jacketed* (the foldout LP cover). Thanks for pointing that out. This is what I don't like about CD's, LP's has the best jacket covers including LaserDisc. Love the "Jurassic Park" and "Terminator 2, Judgement Day" LD jackets. > > Edited by: hamradio on Feb 19, 2011 9:18 PM almost made another one! No problem, typos happen all the time. I was just wondering if there was a musical meaning to the term "jacked"--I know it has a meaning with respect to drugs, but I thought maybe it had a musical meaning as well. I still have all my old LPs, even ones for which I have now have corresponding CDs, because I love the covers and the large liner notes. Sometimes the liner notes on the sleeves had illustrations too, that are much harder to make room for on the small liner note pages in CDs. The foldout LP covers were the best. Uh oh, you've caused me to have a 70s flashback! :-)

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > The only thing I have against the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is the running time on each. When I saw the animated version in 1978, I didn't know there was more. Got a beautifully illustrated jacked soundtrack LP of it. > > Edited by: hamradio on Feb 19, 2011 8:51 PM Did you mean a beautifully illustrated jacketed soundtrack LP, or is there something amplified about this soundtrack? I am not trying to be snide, I know "jacked" may have a meaning in music like "unplugged" and may have a meaning here, although I'm not sure what it is, and would like to find out. Interesting that you mention the soundtrack--the music is one of the things I love from the Bakshi film. The song the elves of Lorien are singing in memory of Gandalf, after he fell in Moria, was beautiful. I have the DVD and so can produce a soundtrack on CD at any time, but I bet the old LP sound really good. The first time I saw the Bakshi film was on a videodisc--NOT a laserdisc, but an old videodisc--in a viewing room at a public library in 1985 or 1986 when I was in college. You could check out videocassettes and videodiscs for free, and they had a viewing room with a videodisc projector.

> {quote:title=hlywdkjk wrote:}{quote} > *"Although the original poster may have been complaining because they don't like these types of movies, period, nothing in their post necessarily implies they are not aware that it is 31 Days of Oscar month."* - voranis > > Hi Voranis. > That's true. > But this bit of "wisdom" included by the OP - "I will also do my best to lobby my politicians to pull the plug on this folly." - does lead one to believing the OP is very ill-informed and unclear of many concepts. > > But if he/she is serious with their threat, let me give them a hand - > > *Congresswoman Michele Bachmann* > 103 Cannon HOB > Washington, DC 20515 > Phone: (202) 225-2331 > Fax: (202) 225-6475 > > Kyle In Hollywood Kyle, I love it. :-) True, the original poster doesn't seem to understand this is a privately run network. When I criticize TCM, I usually try to add that I am aware they can do whatever they want. Like, even though I wish Mr. Osborne would do commentary for more of other kinds of movies, I am aware that he may not like them and so may not want to do them. I am often just trying to figure out what his tastes are, not necessarily trying to compel him to do commentary on movies he doesn't like. The last thing we need is the government trying to control private networks. I thought people like Bachmann believed in leaving private institutions alone and were focused solely on trying to destroy PBS. (Just to be clear, I support PBS and believe it should continue to receive government funding.)

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > The only thing I have against the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is the running time on each. Yes, they are too long. Even so, they cut out much from the books. It would have been better to have broken them out into more movies, although finding good "ending points" might have been difficult. The Bakshi version managed to end at a good point from the second book with the successful battle at Helm's Deep. Another favorite author of mine, George R.R. Martin, was asked if his series A Song of Fire and Ice would ever be made into a movie. Martin answered, as I suspected was the case, that the books are too long and complex to be made into movies, and would be better done as a TV miniseries, except that the broadcast networks don't do miniseries much anymore. But HBO has taken on the project and is producing a series to air in April of this year.

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > There is a 1978 animated version of "The Lord of the Rings". Its not Oscar material but it did told the whole story in one movie. > Actually, as I said in the post just before yours, which you may have missed as you may have been typing your post while I was entering mine, Return of the King was not included in the Ralph Bakshi version, so it didn't tell the whole story. They did not have the rights to film the third book when they made it, so that was left to Rankin Bass. So the version you listed does not tell the whole story in one movie. Rankin Bass did The Hobbit and the third part of the LOTR trilogy, Return of the King. I thought the Ralph Bakshi production was far superior to the Rankin Bass productions, even though I do love a lot of the Rankin Bass productions, especially the Christmas ones. Bakshi represented hobbits more as little people the way they were characterized in the books, while Rankin Bass tried to represent them more as comical round little troll-like creatures like something out of one of their Christmas specials.

> {quote:title=fxreyman wrote:}{quote} > Where do people like you come from? > > I mean you are aware that this is 31 Days of Oscar? > > Before signing on here I am assuming you looked over the website? Maybe you watched a few films on TCM? Maybe you saw that every year TCM celebrates Oscar time with a salute to films either garnering Oscar nominations or winning Oscars? > > Or are you someone who has posted here in the past as another poster who has either been banned from posting or just decided that one user name was not enough? > > I am not trying to be mean, I just find it very difficult to understand why anyone would want to join a message board and say something like this before "looking around" at the website or watching films on the channel. Just curious. > > If I am wrong about all of this please accept my apologies. Although the original poster may have been complaining because they don't like these types of movies, period, nothing in their post necessarily implies they are not aware that it is 31 Days of Oscar month. A person could complain about this movie being shown because it may be too recent to be considered a classic. There are plenty of Oscar-winning older movies that could be shown without showing this one. And I say this as someone who likes the movie. The poster may have been asking why is this movie being shown with the implication that it is too recent to be considered a classic, all the while being fully aware that it is 31 Days of Oscar time. I don't know if that's truly the case or not with this poster, but it is a possibility.

> {quote:title=JonnyGeetar wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=traceyk65 wrote:}{quote}> > > Gigi is just plain creepy. > > > Amen, I'll take a whole forest of Orcs and hellbeasts over Chevalier doing his "ah-hah-hah" schtick any day. I'm not surprised to see Gigi on tonight; Mr. Osborne seems to adore Maurice Chevalier and Leslie Caron. For a while I thought TCM was the Leslie Caron Network. He also seems to love Gene Kelly. At least, I see movies by these three stars shown a lot more, especially during his commentary slots, than most others. I am surprised that Lord of the Rings is airing during Mr. Osborne's commentary slot. Since he doesn't seem to like action, science fiction, westerns, or fantasy (of the sword-and-sorcery variety) very much, he usually leaves these movies for Ben M. to do the commentary on. Yes, even though it's a premiere. Ben M. does do a fair number of TCM premieres, especially on Sundays. I am surprised Mr. Osborne is going to be doing commentary on it since it's not a musical, comedy, or drama. In fact, I'm surprised the TCM programmers have allowed this movie at all on their network. I like the movie a lot (although the Ralph Bakshi LOTR is still my favorite even though Return of the King was not part of the LOTR films he made), but I must agree the Peter Jackson version seems awfully recently made to be shown on TCM already.

> {quote:title=fxreyman wrote:}{quote} > As far as your not liking Baldwin and hoping he is not being groomed to replace Robert Osborne, I do not think you have anything to be worried about. I think there is plenty to be worried about. > > I myself think that their chemistry has been wonderful. They complement one another very nicely. > > I understand though that you may just not like Mr. Baldwin, but if Mr. Osborne were to retire, I do not think Mr. Baldwin would be the one chosen to take his place. > > For one thing they would need to find someone with as good a presence that Mr. Osborne currently has on television. He has a certain kind of stature amongst hosts that is very hard to attain. Avuncular, yet slightly authoritative in his command of the subject matter. Plus from what some of the guest programmers said of their meeting him in April of 2009, he is just one heck of a nice guy to be around. > You say they would need to find someone with as good a presence as Mr. Obsorne has...perhaps someone who has as great a chemistry with Mr. Osborne as you just claimed Mr. Baldwin has just a few paragraphs ago? > Some have suggested that Mr. Osborne step down or just replace him. That will not happen until he himself is ready to step down, and frankly I don't see that happening for quite sometime. > > As far as Mr. Baldwin is concerned, I do not think he would want to fly to Atlanta several times a year to tape intros and outros to the primetime lineups that TCM shows each and every night. I disagree. I think Mr. Baldwin would love to do the intros and outros. He loves to hear himself speak. > > Add to that he is a full-time actor still, appearing on television (30 Rock) and other tv and theatrical productions. Unless he really wanted to shy away from what I think is a tremendously lucrative contract with NBC and other ventures. I don't think his other activities would preclude him from taking the TCM hosting job. > > No, they would have to hire someone who is either close to retirement, late fifties or early to mid sixties and in fairly good health to replace Mr. Osborne. I don't think TCM is necessarily looking for someone in their late fifties or early sixties for host. I don't believe they have a set age requirement. Based on how much TCM is drooling over him as Essentials co-host ad nauseum, I believe they would love to have him as permanent host for the entire channel. Don't try to lull those of us who dislike Mr. Baldwin into a false sense of security. Nothing you have mentioned really and truly rules Baldwin out as a candidate, and I think the fact that TCM seems to love him as Essentials co-host means they might just love to have him as entire channel host. I think there is a real danger of that happening, although I do hope I'm wrong. If he should replace Osborne, I would probably stop watching TCM.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=stjohnrv wrote:}{quote} > > I also love this timeless film, but ca`mon we get bludgeoned with it over and over in December do we need to be assaulted again in february!!!! > > There was some channel last December that showed it about 20 times, with commercials, and sometimes in the colorized version. But that channel had exclusive rights, while some of us wanted TCM to air it. But exclusive rights in December for a holiday film costs a lot of money. > > I suggested recording some of the Christmas films when they show on TCM during the year, when the commercial channels don't want them, and then we can watch them at Christmas time in December without any commercials. I'll take one airing of the movie on TCM this December 24 over 20 airings on "some other channel" any day! I never got bludgeoned with it in Decembers past because I refused to watch it on "some other channel" with commercials and colorization...

> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote} > Actually we will be seeing this movie LIVE in December. It is an Essential for Saturday December 24th,. So not only in December but it will air on Christmas Eve. That's great! I was planning to have the recording I just made ready to watch in December if TCM didn't show it this year, but now I won't have to!

> {quote:title=ziggyelman wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=Arturo wrote:}{quote} > > *Three times!* > > > > *TV movies in 1959 (Ed Wynne as Kringle) and 1973 (Sebastian Cabot as Kringle).* > > *Then of course the feature film remake in 1994 with Richard Attenborough as Kringle.* > > > > *The original is still, and shall always be, the best.* > > > > Not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but there may have been a TV movie version done on the 20th Century Fox Hour (or whatever it was called), which aired from 1955-57. Fox did hourlong abridged versions of some of its classics, as well as original teleplays. Some of these were later made into full-length features, such as 1956's DECEPTION, made with Linda Darnell and Trevor Howard, made into a feature film as CIRCLE OF DECEPTION (1962), starring Suzy Parker. > > > > Some years ago, when the Fox Movie Channel's ratio of classic films to modern (mostly junk) films had more of the former, they aired the complete series of the newly rediscovered 20th Century Fox Hour, with Robert Wagner as host. I recorded all of the episodes on VHS, but I'll have to look for where they're stored to confirm if indeed there was a version of this yuletide classic. Don't know offhand who was in it, but maybe its the same one as mentioned with Ed Wynn. > > > > Edited by: Arturo on Feb 17, 2011 1:22 PM > You are correct! Thomas Mitchell in that TV version...wonder why they never put those shows on DVD sets??? I recorded these on VHS too when they aired on FMC. Wish FMC would show them again or release them on DVD.

> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote} > Like Fedya, I find it hard to watch Going My Way without at least a passing thought of the scandals that have beset the Catholic Church. Clearly, Going My Way is how the church wanted to see itself at the time, regardless of how this corresponded to reality. It's not a stretch to say that characters like Father Fitzgibbon would have covered up any amount of unpleasantness. > I like Going My Way. There are so few positive movies about the church because of the anti-church bias of the leftist Hollywood today. I think some of the antipathy toward this film is just plain anti-church bias. Just because the church has had scandals does not mean that the movie could not have reflected realistic positive aspects of the church. To extrapolate that because the church has had scandals means all the characters in the movie are evil or would have participated in cover-ups is a stretch. > Meet Me in St. Louis is both more grounded in reality and more successfully stylized. And Meet Me in St. Louis is not centered around the church, thus more accepted by those with an anti-church bias. Although I am a fan of Barbara Stanwyck, I prefer her more positive roles to the cynical ones like Double Indemnity. I'm glad a warm, positive, decent movie like Going My Way won the Oscar for once over the cynical film noir or the cynical modern drek put out by so many liberal directors like Woody Allen and supported by so many elitist, cynical, leftist movie fans of recent decades who, as Dr. McCoy once told Mr. Spock on Star Trek, "wouldn't know what to do with a warm, decent feeling." I like Bing Crosby's music and his positive movie roles. While I would not want to roll back the clock on some of the social progress that has been made in this country since the 40s and 50s, I am glad there was a time when a warm, positive feel-good movie could win the Oscar. Today, the only kind of movie that can win are the cynical ones: the church is corrupt, the police are corrupt, the military is corrupt, the government is corrupt. While I believe these movies are important as vanguards or watchdogs on these institutions, since these institutions are far from perfect and can have corruption that needs to be checked, I don't believe that only these types of cynical movies are worthy of Oscar. I still wish The Wizard of Oz had won Best Picture instead of Gone with the Wind, so even there I am rooting for the warm, feel-good movie over the cynical one. Yet the message from the arrogant movie elitists is clear: those of us who like a warm, feel-good movie are too simple-minded to understand that only cynical movies are sophisticated enough to have any merit.

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > Sort of like the way Larry Mondello disappeared on "Beaver". It was like he never existed. Interesting about that...Jerry Mathers was once asked why the character of Larry Mondello disappeared. He couldn't remember, so they did some checking, and found out that Rusty Stevens' father got a new job and the family had to a different part of the U.S., so Stevens could no longer be a part of the filming of Leave It to Beaver. This was back in the days before families built their entire lives around their children being stars. Today a family with a child in a recurring role on a TV show would probably sell their souls to make sure their child could continue to be on the show at any cost....

> {quote:title=MovieProfessor wrote:}{quote} > *Gettin Back to Going My Way . . .* > > I thought of mentioning what some critics at the time called, *Bing: givin it the old Going My Way" try . . .* This occurred for the 1959, musical/drama Say One For Me. Once again Bing donned a priest outfit and went around the neighborhood looking to do some good. While it wasnt such a bad film, it failed to rekindle anything of his two previous films as Father OMalley. This time, Bing as a Father Conroy was pitted right into the whole show business shenanigans of nightclub life. Bing costarred with the big headline star from her nationally celebrated divorced, Debbie Reynolds and a somewhat miscast Robert Wagner as her love interest; he was supposed to be a nighclub entertainer. A reason about why this movie didnt create much of a stir just might have something to do with the changes in public sentiment and everything else that goes with changing times. The whole idea of something innocent and entertaining had probably run its course with the movie going public and Say One For Me is today all but forgotten. Say One for Me aired just today on Fox Movie Channel.

> {quote:title=ADarnell wrote:}{quote} > I am honestly not happy about Baldwin returning. he has co-hosted long enough. I don't really enjoy his insights and I think TCM needs a new face. Osborne is wonderful....but,please...no more Baldwin. The longer he stays on, the more I worry that he is being groomed to take Osborne's place someday. I hope this is not the case. I agree. It was bad enough they kept him on for two years, something they have not done since with any other host since The Essentials began its current format. Some folks tried to justify it by pointing to the fact that they kept some cohosts for more than one year when The Essentials had a different format. This is known as a false comparison and just shows how some folks will say anything to defend anything TCM does. Now it's up to three years of Baldwin, and probably they are planning to make him permanent co-host. There definitely seems to be considerable bias towards Baldwin by TCM. There should be more variety and more even-handedness in what TCM presents to the public. I don't believe in the argument by some that they can't get other celebrities with considerable film knowledge to be co-host--I think this is just more of just saying anything to defend TCM and trying to cover up what is clearly blatant bias on the part of TCM.

> {quote:title=TheCid wrote:}{quote} > My wife and I watch This and RTV networks more than we do TCM now. Much better shows and movies. Would not want TCM to do old TV series, but having an option is good since TCM is into showing same movies over and over and over again and finding some really mediocre ones as well. > We really like Highway Patrol and ordered the DVD even though we watch the show daily. Thank goodness for DVD recorders as it comes on at 5:00 AM and is often pre-empted. > There is a website for This network for those interested in contacting them. > RTV is also good, but wish they would show Peter Gunn and MIke Hammer back to back on Sundays instead of showing McHale's Navy before Mike Hammer. > Other problem is you never reall It's interesting the differences in the RTV lineup in different areas. The 5 am airing of Highway Patrol is never preempted in our area, and in fact there are sometimes 1 or 2 additional airings of it in the daytime. When I was staying with friends in South Carolina, I did notice that their RTV station often preempted the 5 am airing of Highway Patrol. I'm glad Highway Patrol is never preempted in our area so I can record it consistently every day. I too bought the season 1 DVD set of Highway Patrol last fall, as well as the entire DVD series set of The Outer Limits, because I was enjoying them so much on THIS TV. I still watch them on THIS TV on a regular basis, anyway. Another difference is that in our area, McHale's Navy is not shown before Mike Hammer on Sundays; they show The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries before Mike Hammer. Not only is there a main THIS TV web site, they have custom web pages containing the schedules for different areas. When I clicked on the schedule from the main THIS TV site, it took me to a web page with the URL: http://.thistv.com/schedule/ with being replaced with the call sign of the local station carrying THIS TV in my area. Robbie

> {quote:title=talkietime wrote:}{quote} > THIS TV is edit-friendly as they fade to black going into and out of commercials and promos. I use a Magnavox 2080 HDD/DVD recorder (upgraded with a 160 GB hard drive in March 2009) to record from THIS. After editing out commercials and promos seven Highway Patrol episodes recorded at LP will fit on a single DVD. Each full DVD takes just 20 minutes with a 2080 when high-speed dubbing. I will be setting up a Magnavox 2160 HDD/DVD recorder (that will be upgraded to a 250 GB hard drive in the next week or so). A full DVD takes just 15 minutes with a 2160 when high-speed dubbing. > > Retro TV just went on the air in my area. I'm currently recording RTV to a Magnavox ZV450MW8 (a non-hard drive DVD recorder that doesn't provide for editing). Once the Magnavox 2160 is upgraded I'll use it to tune and record THIS, Retro TV and America One programming from an antenna. America One shows old "B" westerns and somes obscure "classic" movies--many of them from Britain. America One recordings are fairly easy to edit as they group commercials in 5 to 7 minute-long blocks every 10 minutes or so. I'm currently using a Philips 3576 HDD/DVD recorder to tune and record from America One. In my location, about five miles line-of-sight from the transmitters, a small indoor antenna or an unfolded paper clip is usually satisfactory for receiving these sub-channels. I use a Pioneer 640HS HDD/DVD recorder to record Highway Patrol from THIS and I do enjoy having plenty of black screen time at the beginning and end of each movie or show I record for editing before high-speed dubbing to DVD. TCM also does this, as does the Encore Westerns Channel, where I am currently recording Wagon Train for dubbing to DVD, and recently finished up recording the TV western Lawman. It's too bad so many networks have hardly any black screen time (some have none now) before and after shows, but I have my Pioneer 520 HDD/DVD recorder for that, which allows for frame-accurate editing before high-speed dubbing to video DVD. A full DVD takes just 10 minutes to dub at high speed with the Pioneer 640HS. I have been recording from RTV and high-speed dubbing to DVD for two years now. I really like the Darren McGavin version of Mike Hammer. Robbie

Has anyone commented about the fact that THIS is showing reruns of Elvira's Movie Macabre late on Saturday and Sunday nights? She even did a new promo for it. I just saw a movie on THIS recently called The House of Long Shadows with Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and John Carradine. I remember the TV listing described it as Desi Arnaz Jr. playing a writer who stays at this Welsh manor to write a novel but becomes concerned at the behavior of the other residents. I don't believe I would stay at a remote Welsh manor occupied by Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, etc. I would stay far away from such a place. :-) I also saw The Bat with Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price on RTV last weekend. I always enjoy seeing her in roles outside of Bewitched, no matter what the role is. I don't know what I would do without our local digital stations carrying THIS and RTV--they carry the type of classic TV that TV Land used to carry. I had stopped watching Leave It to Beaver on TV Land long before they dropped it, because I could watch it on RTV with fewer cuts and uninterrupted closing credits. And the RTV broadcast of it seems to be crisper than what TV Land was showing. I love watching Highway Patrol, The Outer Limits, and The Patty Duke Show on THIS TV, and all the afternoon medical and police shows on RTV. Robbie

> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote} > THIS really should show Mr. Ed in the afternoons when young children get home from school. The local digital station in my area shows Patty Duke and Mister Ed in the 6-7 pm block in the evening as well as in the 6-7 am block in the morning. Robbie

> {quote:title=talkietime wrote:}{quote} > I record Highway Patrol and Bat Masterson episodes from THIS, edit out the commercials and high-speed dub them to DVDs. All the widescreen movies are in the pan and scan 4x3 format with edited content--in other words "old TV versions." If one is a fan of Mr. Ed, The Patty Duke Show or Sea Hunt, THIS is the place to be. I also am high-speed dubbing my recordings of Highway Patrol from THIS to DVD. It's a great show. The first season is available commercially on DVD, but none of the other seasons has been released yet.

I also ended up buying The Outer Limits entire series set on DVD last fall because I enjoyed it so much on THIS. I still watch episodes on THIS sometimes, though, because it is so convenient. Just watched "The Invisibles" the other night. Robbie

Happy Anniversary, Fred! I've found your posts and responses very informative and helpful, all the while being very witty along the way! Your comments are very insightful and reveal a very rich knowledge of film. Robbie

> {quote:title=helenbaby wrote:}{quote} > I really don't think there's any grand conspiracy re: introducing films. The Edwards tribute was probably just shot in the last week or so, producers told Osborne which films they had rights to & chose to air, wrote a quick blurb about each film and shot it all probably in an afternoon. I've seen Osborne introduce thousands of films so I don't think he cares what genre the films belong in when he's introducing them. > > Maybe I'm the naive one and there is some grand conspiracy floating around TCM for a reason. I'm just not sure what that reason would be. Are they trying to make fools out of us? I don't know because these minute details that others pick up on just elude me. But I'm not a technical person so aspect ratios or box office performance or 16mm v. 32 mm. v 70 mm. don't mean a thing to me. > > I like watching a variety of films from all eras if the story is interesting and the performances are adequate to very good. Even if a film doesn't live up to my very low standards, I can always say that at least I gave it a chance The only time I'm ever let down is when I see something I know could have been better, but for whatever reasons, weren't. Sometimes I'll have a film on in the background and not really watching, just listening. I'm often taken aback at how bad a lot of scripts are when you aren't watching the "business" that goes along with the lines. But I digress. > > Call me an apologist, or my favorite, sycophant, but I don't expect much. I just can't buy into this conspiracy train of thought because it makes no sense to me. Can you explain to me what you think TCM is doing that will, in some way, harm the viewers through programming choices or what is or is not said on air on any given day? I never said it was harmful, nor did I call it a conspiracy. I just said that the programmers may be allowing their personal biases to affect programming decisions. That doesn't make it a conspiracy. However, fans of some genres may feel shortchanged when watching a particular network if it is always their genres that are being preempted or which get fewer intros and outros. And it does make sense to me that people may allow personal biases to affect their decisions because it happens all the time. I'm just more surprised when it happens in a business environment where, if I were making decisions, I would try to set my personal preferences aside to make decisions as even-handedly as possible, to appeal to the greatest number of customers/viewers possible. Of course, there are limits to how far one can go doing that and I imagine it is not easy trying to maintain that balance when running a large network like TCM. I am just curious to know if the programmers do consider more action-oriented films to be inferior since it would not be the first time I have heard of that mentality. I have also heard of bias the other way as well, in which some people regard action-oriented films as being superior, so this can cut both ways.

And right now FMC is showing Mother Is a Freshman with Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou). It's neat to see her over ten years before The Andy Griffith Show...