LonesomePolecat

I'm afraid my body type looks best in the 1810s.

For romance, IMHO, you can't beat Roman Holiday. They don't end up together, I know, but meanwhile it's a very satisfying emotional dance.

ROBERT OSBORNE IS MISSING In this TCM movie version of the classic children's book Miss Nelson is Missing, RO gets sick of all the complaints about his hosting and writings, so he pretends to take a long "vacation". Meanwhile he dresses up as other inferior guest hosts like Tippi Hedrin, Wynona Ryder, and Leonard Maltin. After several weeks of this masquerade, the fans finally beg him to come back. Once he knows he is appreciated for his amazing hosting talents, he magically reappears, never to leave again. But the fans never know that hidden in his closet are a series of elaborate disguises!

How I have missed The Great Roberto. Can't wait to see him back. Hey, maybe he really took a break so we'd all appreciate him more. In fact, maybe it wasn't Leonard Maltin or Wynona Ryder that we saw-- maybe it was RO in disguise as inferior hosts so that we'd be so happy when he came back that we'd never complain again like the children's book Miss Nelson is Missing, eh? Oh, this is one for 20th Century Vole...

Character? Well, this will show my age, but I was always told I looked very much like Drew Barrymore in Ever After. I found this insulting.

Long Voyage Home

Roman Holiday

Wow, this is awesome-- two amazing schedules already! Thanks for getting us going, SansFin and JamesinArlington, with such creative schedules! I'll give more detailed comments on your schedules after others have had a chance, but I love what I see. Yay!

Yes, by all means, use yourself as a guest programmer. That's our common dream, isn't it? Why not live the dream in text? I just hope you'll include the potentially amazing interview between you and RO.

Well, I enjoyed it as much as I can enjoy Henry James. He likes to leave things ambiguous so you can decide for yourself, which is sometimes LAME!!! but still cool. I thought there was some lovely cinematography and such.

Come on, Kingrat, you know you want to!

Sorry for not giving the correct credit where credit was due, but thanks for explaining that.

TCM Programming Challenge #20: In the Background "Anyone could become obsessed with the past with a background like that!" --Vertigo Welcome to the 20th Unofficial TCM Programming Challenge! (NOTE: This is my first time moderating, so I'll be cutting and pasting the rules from the last programming challenge, so thanks to the last moderator, SansFin, and all those who came before, for writing these rules. I'll be adding my own changes of course. Also, that being said, be patient with me, please!) Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a week-long schedule as if you were a TCM Programmer yourself. Although this is a contest solely run by us laymen and not by TCM itself, the TCM programmers read these schedules and steal our ideas. It's the best way I know of to request a movie on TCM. So now is your chance to show TCM what YOU want to see! 1. Challenge #20 begins at 12:01am October 1st and closes at 11:59pm Pacific time on Sunday October 30, 2011. (This way we may enjoy a free and easy Halloween!) 2. Select any week between in the calendar year between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. a. Your schedule must begin at exactly 6:00 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday and must conclude at exactly 6:00 am the next Sunday. b. Each day's programming begins at approximately 6:00 a.m. Eastern time. (This is not a strict rule - the real programmer break it themselves all the time) c. Primetime/evening begins at exactly 8:00 p.m. Eastern time every evening. d. Because evening films will have introductions and closing comments, please leave enough time for them in your schedule. e. Feature movies begin at x:00, x:15, x:30, or x:45. f. You do not have to program any shorts or ads for gaps of time less than 15 minutes in your schedule. You may if you want to and have access to this material. 3. The tradition of the programming challenge is to come up with a theme. The theme of Challenge #20 is "In the Background". This challenge has two parts (note: these two parts do not have to be scheduled consecutively: you can, for example schedule challenge 1 on Wednesday morning and challenge 2 on Friday afternoon). a. CHALLENGE #1: YOUR BACKGROUND "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you…" --The King and I We're all friends here, so we want to know more about each other. So for the first challenge, we want you to schedule at least THREE films in a row that tell us more about you. The point is, at any time in your schedule (Sunday morning, Friday night, Wednesday afternoon, or any old time), you must schedule at least THREE films in a row (minimum three, maximum enough to fill an entire morning and afternoon or an entire nighttime schedule) that tell us something about yourself, your family, your ancestors, your proud achievements, your hobbies, your dream job, your religion, what your home life is like, or anything else. If you think your life is dull, it's not dull to us. Just to get your minds going, here are some types of films I might include about myself: I'm British, French, Italian, Dutch, Welsh, and many other countries, so I might schedule movies that take place in these countries (like Il Postino for Italy, Lili for France, The Englishman that Went Up the Hill… for Wales, etc) I live here in LA, so I could schedule films that take place here like Anchors Aweigh I could schedule some films about some of my famous ancestors like Richard Henry Lee, William Bradford, or Giles Corey (like 1776, Plymouth Adventure, or The Crucible) I love musical theater and spend most of my time working in it in background capacities, so some backstage musicals would certainly show you a lot about me (especially The Band Wagon and 42nd Street that are more about the backstage workers than the stars of the show) Dad's an inner city teacher, so I could show To Sir With Love, and my sister is an artist, so I could show An American in Paris I do a lot of singing with my family, so The Sound of Music would be appropriate I could schedule movies with blind characters (like The Miracle Worker or, for comedy's sake, Murder By Death) because I was born with cataracts and am legally blind That Darn Cat and The Cat From Outer Space would fit the fact that I own cats If I felt like my life was too dull, well, I've always wanted to go to New England in the fall to see the leaves, so I could show movies like Trouble With Harry or Those Calloways that feature autumn leaves Or, what the hey, I have brown hair, so I might schedule a night of brunette beauties like myself! You get the idea. The possibilities here are endless, so be creative. Remember you can take a whole day if you want to, and can even schedule multiple schedules if you want. But wait--there's more! b. CHALLENGE #2: CELEBRATING BACKGROUND ARTISTS {font:Helvetica} "Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along." --Sunset Blvd {font} As a Stage Manager, Choreographer and Costumer, I know actors get all the attention. We have stars of the month and summer under the stars and we celebrate stars' birthdays. Then we do have the occasional celebration of directors, who also get a lot of attention. So let's celebrate those technicians and artists that never get any attention. So here's the deal: at any time in your schedule (Sunday morning, Friday night, Wednesday afternoon, or any old time), you must schedule at least THREE films in a row that feature and celebrate a background artist or technician. (Minimum: three films, maximum: a whole morning and afternoon). This could be any kind of filmmaker that is not an actor or a director: editor, writer, director of photography, choreographer, musician, a key grip, a 2nd unit director, or anyone else you want! NOTE: You can use a director or actor ONLY if you celebrate their behind-the-scenes filmmaking. You can include something they directed as well as worked on in another capacity. For example, Billy Wilder's screenplays are some of the best. and though he is a director, I could feature him as a screenwriter. Therefore I would schedule films he wrote screenplays for but didn't direct, like Midnight, Ball of Fire, and Ninotchka. But then I'd throw in The Apartment because he wrote it so well. That's okay because the schedule indicates that we're celebrating his screenwriting. (WHERE TO START: If you don't know any background artists, now is your time to appreciate the many hard workers that make a film a classic. Just as a tip, go to www.imdb.com, look up a film you love and click on "full cast and crew". Pick one of them, click on their name, and you'll discover how many of your favorites were made by the same hands!) c. OPTIONAL CHALLENGE #3: CLASSIC TV For this challenge, as an option and not a requirement, you are allowed to schedule up to a total of 2 hours of CLASSIC TV. This was inspired by TCM showing Sinatra concerts and the odd Dick Cavett Show episode. It was also inspired by watching the recent documentary on James Dean and wishing I could see all his amazing television appearances. Why not schedule those? Well now you can! What is classic TV? It could be a TV movie, a TV special, or regular episodes of a TV show. How old does it have to be for it to be a classic? Well, that's up to you, but nothing too recent, please, unless it's a recent documentary or interview that completely fits in with a lineup of classic films. Luckily for you, in this particular challenge, any classic TV, as long as it's classic, from any studio is allowed. This means you may schedule: no more than one classic TV movie no longer than 2 hours (like Mary Martin's Peter Pan), up to two episodes of a classic 1 hour series like I Spy (about 45-50min without commercials) up to four episodes of a 1/2 hour series like The Mary Tyler Moore Show (about 25min without commercials) up to 2 hours of TV Specials, (i.e. four "making-of" featurettes that last 1/2 hour each, two 1-hour specials like The Fabulous Miss Piggy Show, or one single 2-hour special like a full length opera, for instance) up to 2 hours of a TV documentary (i.e. the episode of American Masters about Carol Burnett, an A&E Biography on Clark Gable, or one episode of Ken Burns' Jazz) The requirements of this option are: It must be classic (use your judgment), or, to think of it another way, it must belong on TCM It must FIT IN with part of your schedule. You can't just throw in your favorite episodes of MASH for no reason. Schedule it like it's another movie. Here are some ideas of what you could do with these, but, of course, use your own creativity: If Buster Keaton was your SOTM (which he is on TCM in October), you could include his classic TV appearances on The Twilight Zone and Candid Camera (which are great) Instead of showing "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" for TCM Underground, you could show the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version (which is far more entertaining IMHO) For the 2nd Challenge, you could include the TV musical Evening Primrose in celebration of Stephen Sondheim In a birthday tribute to Suzanne Pleshette you would have to schedule her best of The Bob Newhart Show The classic Upstairs Downstairs episode in which the King comes to dinner could fit in with other films about special dinner guests like The Man Who Came to Dinner and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (NOTE: These do NOT have to be scheduled together. They may be scattered all over your schedule to fit your schedules needs.) 4. Premieres: you may use up to 12 films which have never been shown on TCM. They may come from any studio, country, or year. Please mark each one in your schedule as "Premiere" 5. Star of the Month: A minimum of four movies in a block on one evening will showcase your Star of the Month. (These are always on a weeknight.) The star must have a body of work large enough to allow similar blocks the other weeks in the month. (So, James Dean is out.) I recommend using someone who hasn't been used before, or at least in a long time. A list of previous Stars of the Month may be found at: http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?messageID=8482599? We appreciate the great lzcutter for creating and maintaining this list. 6. Include the regular weekly TCM features: a. Silent Sunday Nights is a silent movie which begins at approximately 12:00 a.m.(ET) Monday. b. TCM Imports is a foreign film which begins at approximately 2:00 a,m, Monday (ET) following the silent film. c. TCM Underground is a little-known or cult film which begins at approximately 2:00 a.m. (ET) Saturday. d. The Essentials is an indispensable classic movie which begins at exactly 8:00 p.m. (ET) Saturday. e. The films you choose for Silent Sunday Nights, TCM Imports, and TCM Underground do not count against the total of 12 premieres you may use. Please mark these films as Exempt or E in your schedules. 7. Movies which have previously been shown on TCM are always allowed, even if they are from an outside studio. If you are not sure if a film has been shown, go to the search bar on the TCM homepage, select the "Site" button, and enter the movie title into the search bar. These methods will never produce a false positive. However, it is possible that some movies which have actually been shown have no accompanying notes or articles, so there may be false negatives. Movies from the original Turner library are always allowed: Warner Bros (pre-1948 only): http://www.imdb.com/company/co0026840/ MGM (pre-1986): http://www.imdb.com/company/co0020206/ RKO (all): http://www.imdb.com/company/co0041421/ You will find these databases useful for finding movies from other studios. Some have been shown before, and some will count against your 12 premieres: Columbia Pictures (all) http://www.imdb.com/company/co0071509/ United Artists (after 1950): http://www.imdb.com/company/co0026841/ Samuel Goldwyn (all): http://www.imdb.com/company/co0016710/ J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0027356/ 20th Century Fox: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0000756/ Paramount Pictures: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0023400/ Universal Pictures: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0005073/ British Gaumont Pictures: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0103050/ Warner Brothers movies from 1948 and afterward and MGM movies from 1986 and afterward are also allowable as premieres if they have not been shown before. Live action Disney movies are allowed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_live_action_films (To answer your question now, yes, for this challenge, you may include Mary Poppins as one of your premieres.) Disney-created animated movies are never allowed, because Disney will not grant the rights for another network to show them. Animated movies created by other studios, but whose rights were later acquired by Disney, are allowed. EXCEPTION FOR THIS CHALLENGE: Foreign films from ANY studio are allowed to be scheduled for TCM Imports. (Remember, they don't count toward your 12 premieres). Take advantage and schedule one you've always wanted them to show. 8. If you like, you may use a 30-minute Now Playing as part of your schedule. You may also use any existing Private Screening or similar TCM-created film. For this challenge, as an option, you may also invent a 55 minute Private Screenings you would like to see. My only rule is that it MUST be someone who really could be interviewed (someone who is alive--no zombies), which includes any living actor, director, background artist, or even any Muppets you love. (After all, Kermit was a guest programmer). 9. For each film, please show the time, title, year, running time, actor(s), director(s), and studio. If the film is not from a database which is automatically allowed, please indicate either p/s for previously shown or "Premiere" if it is a premiere. For example: 7:00pm A New Leaf (1971) Elaine May & Walter Matthau, dir Elaine May, Paramount, 102min PREMIERE ----OR------ 5:45am The Band Wagon (1953) Fred Astaire & Cyd Charisse, dir Vincente Minnelli, MGM, 112min (p/s) 10. Include your programming notes as a SEPARATE POST following the schedule entry. We enjoy hearing why you selected particular themes or films, but we also like to be able to read your schedule as a whole. 11. Hints: Birthday tributes to actors, directors, and other cinematic creators are a staple of TCM schedules. Anniversaries of historical or cinematic importance are always welcome. Wikipedia is a great source for this-- simply put in the date (such as March 6) into the search box and you'll get a complete list of what happened on that day in history, including births and other significant events. 12. For technical reasons, please, no emoticons or triple exclamation points. They sometimes create problems with the website. 13. After the contest closes at midnight Pacific time on October 30 (the minute Halloween begins), the moderator (yours truly) will compile all the schedules into a voting thread and there will be a week of voting for the winner. 14. Go forth and schedule, my fellow constituents. That's your mission. Good luck, agents. This message will self-destruct in ten, nine, eight……..

Road to Morocco

*Flower*- Stan Alexander in BAMBI

oops, I forgot to leave one. sorry! (sheepish grin)

stjohnny, I have to second Alan Arkin in Wait Until Dark. Amazing performance and what a scary villain. To me the best villain is the kind that is completely and utterly unphased by what the "hero" does to stop them-- makes them creepier. Like Heath Ledger's Joker is awesome because he has no agenda other than to make people go crazy. If you get mad or cry or fight back, he's completely happy. It makes you feel powerless, which is a rare thing in a movie villain.

In the movies? Not sure. But on TV it was Jonathan Harris as Dr Smith in Lost in Space. But of course you knew that.

Hands down, my fav is Angela Lansbury as *Mrs Iselin in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE*. Especially since, as a young person, to me she's Mrs Price from Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Mrs Potts from Beauty and the Beast. Here we see how brilliantly creepy she can be.

Janet Leigh was in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE with Angela Lansbury

Kind hearts and Coronets

A Yank at Eton

Howdy Doody?

I have! I think.... I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with for my challenge. You'll see why when you find out what it is.......

Last Tango in Paris