Where did the classic movies go?

[Vision6800]

Classic movies were made in the 1930's - 1950's; with an epicenter of 1939. Why are all these 70's and 60's films being played during the weeknight 8pm est Feature Presentation; and at all?

 

Also, can you stop trying to make 70's, 80's, 90's+ films "classic". Most are not that good, the "stars" are repulsive, and they're too new to be called classic.

 

Is TCM trying to change its focus?

 

Thank you

[JamesJazGuitar]

So there are no classic movies made after 1959?

 

Yea, right.

 

While I would like TCM's programming to limit post 1968 movies to no more than 15% or so of their programing there are 'classic' movies from all eras, as well as countries other than the USA.

[Vision6800]

Fair point. Programing should be:

 

35% 1930's

35% 1940's

20% 1950's

10% all else

[FlyBackTransformer]

> Also, can you stop trying to make 70's, 80's, 90's+ films "classic". Most are not that good, the "stars" are repulsive, and they're too new to be called classic.

 

They couldn't do that! It would offend Drew Barrymore. *LOL*

[hamradio]

Define classic.

[FredCDobbs]

TCM thinks we classic movie fans have finally all died off.

 

Try YouTube for old classic movies.

 

By TCM standards now, all classic music fans have all died off too. They got old and died off 200 years ago. No need for any more Mozart or Beethoven. No more opera.

[twinkeee]

babee babes'.....we shouldn't have to turn to YouTube in order to watch classics!

 

My mo. bill is very high, just to be able to Subscribe to TCM. Not all of us are old but happen to have a passion and appreciation for 30's/40's movies and are also developing a passion for silents as well.

 

Twinkee

[FredCDobbs]

See what TCM's General Manager said in this 2003 article. He thought old-classic movie fans were all going to die off. So I guess he now thinks we're all dead:

 

*Media Report Archives | Email alerts*

*Feb. 8, 2003, 12:01 a.m. EST*

*TCM looks to younger demo - slowly*

*Network takes cautious steps toward 25-54 crowd*

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tcm-looks-to-draw-younger-viewers-slowly

[Fedya]

They're deliberately doing it to p*** off the people who whine and shriek every time a movie made after 1960 is aired.

 

And if the TCM Programmer is reading this thread, I'd like to thank him for programming these films and getting the whiners' knickers in a twist.

[FlyBackTransformer]

> They're deliberately doing it to p*** off the people who whine and shriek every time a movie made after 1960 is aired. And if the TCM Programmer is reading this thread, I'd like to thank him for programming these films and getting the whiners' knickers in a twist.

 

I think a lot of 60s and 70s films qualify as classic.

[AndyM108]

It's sad that the point has to be made so repeatedly, but "Classic" movies can come from *any* era. TCM concentrates mostly on older movies for many reasons, but thank God it doesn't limit its mission to nothing but movies from the 30's through the 50's.

 

Great movies didn't begin with the sound era, they're not restricted to the Hollywood studio system, and they didn't stop being made on New Year's Day of 1960. TCM has done a *great* job in presenting a wide range of films from the 1890's through the 2010's that otherwise we'd have to go to New York or Los Angeles or various specialized film festivals to see, and it saddens me that so many people can't seem to appreciate that, due to their own narrowcast vision.

[JamesJazGuitar]

Why the need to be so over the top? You're implying that TCM shows NO movies made before 1970!

 

80% or more of TCM's programming is devoted to old classic movies and you know it.

[FredCDobbs]

http://news.yahoo.com/cable-companies-lost-another-1-8-million-pay-234544501.html

 

It may take a while but it seems that the pay TV business is gradually going the way of dial-up Internet. Business Insider points us to the latest numbers from research firm SNL Kagan showing that cable providers lost 1.8 million pay TV subscribers in the second quarter of 2013. SNL Kagan's research is just *the latest evidence that Americans are increasingly becoming unwilling to pay money for television services when they can instead subscribe to Netflix and Hulu and watch shows over their broadband connections*.

[DownGoesFrazier]

By you r definition of "classic" movies, Many '30s films shown by TCM are not "classic" movies. So a "classic" movie may be either a quality movie or an old movie, no matter what the quality?

[JamesJazGuitar]

Did you reply to the wrong person? I don't see anything in Andy's comments (sound ones BTW), related to your reply.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Many posters, not necssarily Andy, have defined "classic" movies as high-quality movies on any era. The definition would appear to rule out "schlock" from the '30s. So TCM should not show '30s films unless they are "high-quality". I think many posters would object to that strategy.

 

Edited by: finance on Oct 17, 2013 4:50 PM

[JamesJazGuitar]

I see your point now. While I'm glad TCM shows low quality 30's "programmers" I don't define these movies as 'classic'. They are silly films lacking substance but often they are entertaining and have actors I enjoy.

[lzcutter]

> See what TCM's General Manager said in this 2003 article. He thought old-classic movie fans were all going to die off. So I guess he now thinks we're all dead:

 

Tom Karsch, the General Manager at that time, began with TCM back in the early days of the channel and was the GM during the time that some here consider the "glory years" of the channel.

 

He left TCM back in 2007 and is no longer associated with the channel.

 

However, in that interview, his point was that back in 2003, the concern was that the average TCM viewer was 55 years old or older.

 

They wanted to embrace a larger audience of classic film fans and help introduce young people to classic film so that as their older audience aged, the channel wouldn't lose audience members as that older demographic marched into their twilight years.

 

Unlike every other cable network that has been in that position from TLC to the History Channel, to A&E and all the ones in between, TCM figured out how to grow their audience without completely abandoning their core audience or their original format.

 

Today, they are in over 85 million homes and have an audience that spans different generations. According to Jeff Gregor, the current General Manager, the majority of TCM's audience is now younger than 55.

 

TCM still adheres to its original mission statement (which has been slighted updated every ten years) of showing the best of classic films from the 1920s to 1990s.

 

Staying true to their mission brought them the prestigious Peabody Award just a few years ago.

 

A&E, TLC, History, AMC and many others abandoned their original formats to chase a larger, younger demographic.

 

Luckily for all of us, TCM figured out how to expand their audience without forsaking their format.

[darkblue]

And no other movie channel offers the kind of film variety that TCM does. TCM just keeps getting better and better and it's the forward yet subtle planning that has made it so.

[willbefree25]

Vision6800, if you want a break from the ongoing drek on TCM, catch the classically classic movies today, Friday.

 

It's like the good old days, when TCM was great.

 

Enjoy!

[willbefree25]

Hey Vision6800, did you catch Drive A Crooked Road today? As someone on IMDb said, Rooney was without his usual annoying mannerisms. He was actually quite good.

 

The movie wasn't bad, but the best part was the house, 24742 Malibu Rd, Malibu, CA 90265, catch it here:

 

http://tinyurl.com/lfuov92

 

It hasn't changed a bit! As unassuming as it is, because it's on the beach it's worth $5.5 million.

 

Guess they didn't have stalkers in 1954, they used the real address in the movie.

[Sepiatone]

Define classic?

 

> clas?sic (klsk)

adj.

1.

a. Belonging to the highest rank or class.

 

b. Serving as the established model or standard: a classic example of colonial architecture.

 

c. Having lasting significance or worth; enduring.

 

2.

a. Adhering or conforming to established standards and principles: a classic piece of research.

 

b. Of a well-known type; typical: a classic mistake.

 

3. Of or characteristic of the literature, art, and culture of ancient Greece and Rome; classical.

 

4.

a. Formal, refined, and restrained in style.

 

b. Simple and harmonious; elegant: the classic cut of a suit; the classic lines of a clipper ship.

 

5. Having historical or literary associations: classic battlefields of the Civil War.

 

n.

1. An artist, author, or work generally considered to be of the highest rank or excellence, especially one of enduring significance.

 

2. A work recognized as definitive in its field.

 

3.

a. A literary work of ancient Greece or Rome.

 

b. classics The languages and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. Used with the.

 

c. One that is of the highest rank or class: The car was a classic of automotive design.

 

4. A typical or traditional example.

 

5. Informal A superior or unusual example of its kind: The reason he gave for being late was a classic.

 

6. A traditional event, especially a major sporting event that is held annually: a golf classic.

 

 

The American Heritage? Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ?2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

[AndyM108]

Many posters, not necssarily Andy, have defined "classic" movies as high-quality movies on any era. The definition would appear to rule out "schlock" from the '30s. So TCM should not show '30s films unless they are "high-quality". I think many posters would object to that strategy.

 

Just to be clear, while I'm glad that TCM shows "classic" movies from every era, I'm also glad that they show plenty of programmers from the 20's through the 50's, especially those from the pre-code era and the noir genre. IMO those two categories, especially the noirs, pretty much qualify as "classic" even when they fall short of "classic" in the ordinary sense.

 

There's also this: Part of what makes TCM so great is that the movies prior to the 60's, "classic" or not, often give us a tremendous insight into the values, mores, and language of those decades, even given the fantasy worlds that so many of those films depict. In fact I'd argue that if you immerse yourself in the movies of (say) the 30's from all the studios and with all their different marketing angles, you'd have a much better overall sense of life in that decade than you'd get from almost any history course.

 

(Well, at least we get an overall sense of life within the various white communities. Let's not take it too far.)

[twister]

I think perhaps 40-50 years from now, TCM can show films from the '70's, 80's, '90's, etc. When I watch these films, I feel like I'm watching current stuff. Classic film should be films that are way older than that.

[willbefree25]

You are 100% correct.