kingrat Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 The Unofficial TCM Programming Challenge is about to turn 21! Why don't we run it from February 1, 2012 until midnight Pacific time on Sunday, March 4 for those of you who do your best work at the last minute? Between now and Feb. 1, as moderator of this edition of the challenge, I'll post information about how the challenge works and answer your questions. The complete rules and the secret theme will be posted on Feb. 1, and then your creativity kicks in! This isn't sponsored by TCM, but each contestant produces a week of TCM scheduling, beginning on Sunday at 6:00 am EST and ending exactly 7 days later at 6:00 am EST. The usual features like TCM Imports, Silent Sunday Night, TCM Underground, and the Essentials all need to be included. I'll post later in detail about which studios you can use for your films. All films previously shown on TCM are fair game. You'll also have a number of premieres you can use. Unfortunately, you may find more false negatives this time when searching the TCM database to see if a film has been previously shown. Recently when I looked to see if Joseph Losey's *Eva* had been shown, the search no longer included some Losey films I had recorded from TCM. So who's game? We love to see new contestants compete. Anyone registered on the TCM site by Dec. 1, 2011 is eligible to vote, and the winner hosts the next challenge. Special new prize for the winner: if you're at the film festival this April, I'll buy you a drink at Club TCM. Hm, do you suppose that will encourage certain people to enter the competition this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I thank you for the information, kingrat. I am looking forward to what bedevilment you have in store for us. I am much farther along now that I usually am this long before the Challenge begins because I know a movie I wish to schedule. Now I only have to think of an overall theme and themes for the days which are appropriate and themes for the evenings which are appropriate. I believe this should be easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 I look forward to your schedule, SansFin. They always take some witty and whimsical turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 As every action hero on earth is legally required to say, "I'm in." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesinArlington Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I'll be entering again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audreyforever Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I hope to be participating! But, kingrat, not to sound arrogant, if victory comes my way, and I'm at the festival in April, you'll have to get me a soda...I'm three years shy of 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 > Special new prize for the winner: if you're at the film festival this April, I'll buy you a drink at Club TCM. Hm, do you suppose that will encourage certain people to enter the competition this time? It is a very tempting offer, King...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hey, it's good to hear that some of you are ready to go again with the programming challenge! Audreyforever, a soda it will be for you should you win and get to attend the festival. If, ahem, some of the rest of you prefer something a little stronger, that can be arranged, too. Let the creativity begin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I have a question which may seem odd: I am considering using an actor for the Star of the Month who first movie credit was in the 1950s. One of the four movies I would like to schedule for that evening was made in 1990. Will any think less of a schedule which honors such a recent actor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 > Will any think less of a schedule which honors such a recent actor? Not me. I love films, actors, directors, etc from all decades and believe that some modern films are just as good as the classics. I tend to be in the minority among the greater TCM City community but I would hope that those who participate in the Challenges and in the voting would be a bit more open-minded about modern films, especially if the overall schedule being presented is worthy of consideration. And all schedules submitted to the Challenge are worthy of consideration in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 > {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote} > > Will any think less of a schedule which honors such a recent actor? > And all schedules submitted to the Challenge are worthy of consideration in my eyes. I thank you for that consideration! I am reading his biography. Much of it is: "And then I slept with ..." and he is able to insert an average 3.6 names per paragraph. It is very interesting that I never realized he had starred in so many important movies. Few of them were commercials successes so he is not a typical household name. I am also thinking of doing a take-off on his career by scheduling his movie and then following it with the movie which was virtually identical and yet gained commercial success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 > I am also thinking of doing a take-off on his career by scheduling his movie and then following it with the movie which was virtually identical and yet gained commercial success. I can't wait to see your schedule, Sansfin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 SansFin, this sounds intriguing. There will be no limitations as to time periods. There will be a number of premieres allowed, and of course if the more recent film has already been on TCM, you won't even have to use a premiere. Be creative, have fun, and you will (as always) delight us! Is anyone else already at work on a schedule? Hint: the special part of the challenge, to be announced on Feb. 1, has a connection with the time of year during which the challenge will be running (Feb. 1 - Mar. 4). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countessdelave Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Hi Kingrat, I'm looking forward to the Challenge. I've not been on the boards much in the last couple of months but I plan to submit something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I am very happy to see that you will be entering, countessdelave! I always love your schedules! I am betwixt and between on preparations for mine. I would very much like to have at the very least an inkling of an idea for a theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Welcome, countess! So glad you are going to be entering a schedule. This will be a fun challenge. I'll post the studio information today or tomorrow if that will help some of our early birds. Another useful bit of information: The other time I moderated the challenge, you had 14 premieres to play with. The schedules submitted were great. Why change a good thing? Once again you'll be able to schedule up to 14 premieres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 So glad to have so many premieres to play with. Wondered, too, for we early birds, if you might tell us if there are restrictions on which week we can pick (i.e. nothing earlier than next June or whatever). Pretty excited to see what your challenge will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 No restrictions as to time frame. Any Sunday to Saturday week from March 2012 forward will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimalac91748 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 kingrat, I'm curious and interested in this challenge and was wondering if there was someplace where I could go to view someones submission from some previous year to get a general idea of the basic structure? I wouldn't think of duplicating someone else's work, but would like to use it as a sort of "skeleton". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Challenge #19 is here: http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8525335 Challenge #20 is here: http://forums.tcm.com/message.jspa?messageID=8578658 Challenge #18 is here: http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=157954&start=60&tstart=0 There is a list of links to older Challenges in the first post which states the requirements of the Challenge. It is sad to say that TCM's reboot of the forums has rendered some of them dead and perhaps none of them still work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Aimalac, we want you in this challenge! We're all glad to help each other out here. The links provided by SansFin (thank you!) should be a good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Might someone post the link to the list of previous SOTMs? I can never find it myself, and I always like to schedule a new SOTM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 > {quote:title=LonesomePolecat wrote:}{quote} > Might someone post the link to the list of previous SOTMs? I can never find it myself, and I always like to schedule a new SOTM. It is sad to say that all the links I have to lzcutter's excellent posts for SOTMs are now dead. The list may be seen as you presented it at: http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=157954&start=60&tstart=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 LP, Since the links seem to be dead (and wouldn't it be nice if it could be a sticky that the WebAdmin could update monthly), I'll post the list when I get back to my abode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 LP, It's long but here it is: STAR OF THE MONTH: May 1994: Greta Garbo June 1994: Glenn Ford July 1994: Greer Garson Aug.1994: Edward G. Robinson Sept.1994: Barbara Stanwyck Oct.1994: Angela Lansbury Nov.1994 John Garfield Dec.1994: Best of 1994 Jan.1995: Esther Williams Feb.1995: Ronald Reagan Mar.1995: TCM Salutes the Oscars Apr.1995: Doris Day May 1995: Myrna Loy June 1995: Errol Flynn July 1995: Gene Kelly Aug.1995: Paul Muni Sept.1995: Jane Powell Oct.1995: Clark Gable Nov.1995: Barrymores Dec.1995: Best of 1995 Jan.1996: Deborah Kerr Feb.1996: Robert Young Mar.1996: 31 Days of Oscar April 1996: Irene Dunne May 1996: James Stewart June 1996: Rosalind Russell July 1996: Fred Astaire Aug.1996: Ann Sheridan Sept.1996: Van Johnson Oct.1996: Kathryn Grayson Nov.1996: Robert Mitchum Dec.1996: Best of 1996 Jan.97: Humphrey Bogart Feb.97: Eleanor Parker Mar.97: 31 Days of Oscar Apr.97: Ava Gardner May 97: George Brent June 97: June Allyson July 97: John and Walter Huston (also Director of the Month) Aug.97: Cary Grant Sept.97: Ida Lupino Oct.97: Walter Pidgeon Nov.97: Katharine Hepburn Dec.97: Best of 1997 Jan.1998: Lana Turner Feb.1998: Charlton Heston Mar.1998:31 Days of Oscar April 1998: Red Skelton May 1998: Olivia de Havilland June 1998: James Cagney July 1998: Lucille Ball August 1998: Joan Crawford Sept.1998: John Wayne Oct.1998: Cyd Charisse Nov.1998: Claude Rains Dec.1998: Best of 1998 Jan.1999: Elizabeth Taylor Feb.1999: William Powell March 1999: 31 Days of Oscar (probably) April 1999: Dennis Morgan May 1999: Bette Davis June 1999: Mickey Rooney July1999: Natalie Wood August 1999: Peter Sellers Sept.1999: Norma Shearer Oct. 1999: Gregory Peck Nov. 1999: Ginger Rogers Dec. 1999: Burt Lancaster Jan. 2000: Debbie Reynolds Feb. 2000: Robert Ryan March 2000: 31 Days of Oscars (probably) April 2000: Spencer Tracy May 2000: Alexis Smith June 2000:Wallace Beery July 2000: Judy Garland August 2000: film debuts Sept 2000: Jane Wyman October 2000: Dick Powell Nov 2000: Frank Sinatra Dec. 2000: Lauren Bacall Jan. 2001: Elvis Presley Feb.2001: Jean Hagen March 2001: 31 Days of Oscar (probably) Apr.2001: Knighted Actors May 2001: Jean Harlow June 2001: W.C. Fields July 2001: Ann Sothern Aug.2001: James Garner Sept. 2001: Robert Taylor Oct. 2001: Lana Turner Nov.2001: Glenn Ford Dec.2001: The Marx Brothers Jan. 2002: Marlene Dietrich Feb. 2002: Kirk Douglas March 2002: 31 Days of Oscar April 2002: Barbara Stanwyck May 2002: Edward G. Robinson June 2002: Greta Garbo July 2002: Sidney Poitier Aug. 2002: Joan Crawford Sept. 2002: Van Heflin Oct. 2002: Final films Nov. 2002: Shelly Winters Dec. 2002: Montgomery Clift Jan. 2003: Doris Day Feb. 2003: John Garfield Mar. 2003: 31 Days of Oscar Apr. 2003: Harold Lloyd May 2003: Olivia de Havilland June 2003: TV Actors in Films July 2003: Lee Marvin Aug. 2003: 1st Summer Under the Stars (see below) Sept. 2003: James Mason Oct. 2003: Boris Karloff Nov. 2003: Shirley MacLaine Dec. 2003: David Niven Jan. 2004: Katherine Hepburn Feb.2004: 31 Days of Oscar Mar.2004: Charles Chaplin Apr. 2004: Judy Garland May 2004: Greer Garson June 2004: Cary Grant July 2004: Stars That Died Before Their Time Aug.2004: 2nd Summer Under the Stars (see below) Sept.2004: Myrna Loy Oct. 2004: Peter Lorre Nov.2004: Clark Gable Dec. 2004: James Stewart Jan.2005: Canadian Actors Feb. 2005: 31 Days of Oscar Mar. 2005: Claudette Colbert Apr. 2005: Errol Flynn May 2005: Orson Welles June 2005: Ingrid Bergman July 2005: Audrey Hepburn Aug. 2005: 3rd Summer Under the Stars (see below) Sept.2005: Greta Garbo Oct.2005: Robert Mitchum Nov.2005: Joan Fontaine Dec. 2005: Bing Crosby Jan. 2006: Robert Montgomery Feb.2006: 31 Days of Oscar Mar.2006: Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald Apr.2006: Deborah Kerr May 2006: Bette Davis June 2006: Anthony Quinn July 2006: Elizabeth Taylor Aug.2006: 4th Summer Under the Stars (see below) Sept.2006: William Holden Oct.2006: Child Stars Nov.2006: Lucille Ball Dec. 2006: Gary Cooper Jan.2007: Jean Arthur Feb.2007: 31 Days of Oscar Mar.2007: Gene Kelly Apr.2007: Rita Hayworth May 2007: John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn June 2007: Ida Lupino July 2007: Randolph Scott Aug.2007: 5th Summer Under the Stars (see below) Sept.2007: A Star is Born (starmaking/breakthrough performances) Oct.2007: Henry Fonda Nov.2007: Guest Programmer Month Dec.2007: Irene Dunne Jan.2008: James Cagney Feb.2008: 31 Days of Oscar Mar.2008: Acting Dynasties Apr.2008: Hedy Lamarr May 2008: Frank Sinatra June 2008: Sophia Loren July 2008: Rosalind Russell Aug.2008: 6th annual Summer Under the Stars (see below) Sept.2008: Kay Francis Oct.2008: Carole Lombard Nov.2008: Charles Laughton Dec. 2008: Joseph Cotton Jan. 2009: Jack Lemmon Feb. 2009: 31 Days of Oscar Mar. 2009: Ronald Reagan April 2009: Funny Ladies and 15th Anniversary May 2009: Sean Connery June 2009: Great Directors July 2009: Stewart Granger August 2009: Summer Under the Stars Sept. 2009: Claude Rains Oct. 2009: Leslie Caron Nov. 2009: Grace Kelly Dec. 2009: Humphrey Bogart Jan. 2010: ?The Method? Feb. 2010: 31 Days of Oscar March 2010: Ginger Rogers April 2010: Robert Taylor May 2010: Donna Reed June 2010: Natalie Wood July 2010: Gregory Peck August 2010: SUTS Sept. 2010: Vivien Leigh Oct. 2010: Fredric March Nov. 2010: Ava Gardner Dec. 2010: Mickey Rooney Jan. 2011: Peter Sellers Feb. 2011: 31 Days of Oscar March 2011: Jean Harlow April 2011: Ray Milland May 2011: Esther Williams June 2011: Jean Simmons July 2011: Singing Cowboys August 2011: SUTS Sept. 2011: Kirk Douglas October 2011: Buster Keaton Nov. 2011: Battle of the Blondes Dec. 2011: William Powell January 2012: Angela Lansbury February 2012: 31 Days of Oscar From various threads word is that Karl Malden is SOTM in March. I don't know who has been confirmed for April yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts