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Why isn't there a PREMIUM 'classic TV' channel? (1 Viewer)

Charles Ellis

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Now that TV LAND and Nick At Nite are moving away from shows of the 50s and 60s and onto stuff from the 80s and 90s, there's hardly an outlet for REAL classic shows from TV's early years.

Why not establish a premium channel that can do for classic TV what TCM has done for classic films? Wouldn't it be great to see shows from the past newly remastered, complete, with no cut footage or commercials? There are many shows from the past lying in vaults waiting for rediscovery that have been (so far) bypassed by the studios for DVD release.

The setup could be like TCM's, with a host like Robert Osborne. In this case, the new TV channel could have as hosts TV favorites like Dawn Wells, James Garner, Stefanie Powers, Jerry Mathers, June Lockhart, Lee Majors, Max Baer, Adam West, Kate Jackson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Julie Newmar and more. Get the idea? And the shows- how long has it been since we've seen shows like:

Our Miss Brooks
December Bride
M Squad
The High Chapparal
77 Sunset Strip
Peyton Place
The 6 Million Dollar Man
It Takes A Thief
Thriller
- with Boris Karloff
Julia
Car 54
The Donna Reed Show
The Farmer's Daughter
Have Gun Will Travel
Petticoat Junction
Burke's Law
The Name of the Game
Medical Center
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Burns & Allen
The Life of Riley
Family
Eight is Enough
- and so many others from the 50s-70s?

There must be someone out there in the TV world who has thought of this idea- so why not make it work?
 

Marty M

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The closest thing that is available, to my knowledge, is the American Life TV Network. Here is a link that lists the shows they now air. Until about two weeks ago they were showing China Breach. It was, unfortuneately, replaced with Rat Patrol.

http://www.goodtv.com/genres.php
 

Charles Ellis

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I already have it, and am more than peeved that they took off practically all of the classic early WB shows like The FBI and Hawaiian Eye off the schedule!
 

Jesse Skeen

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I'd pay for a "Time Warp TV" channel that showed everything EXACTLY as it originally aired the first time, including commercials and show promos, and the often bad on-air film chains the shows ran on.
 

Brian^K

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The question is whether you -- and at least (say) 10 million others -- would pay $12 per month for that...
 

Charles Ellis

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Of course! Of the major TV/movie groups, I'd think Time Warner and Viacom would be the most likely to start such a network due to their vast TV libraries.

Another thing: as a soap opera buff, I'd like to see a similar channel with classic soaps of the past. There was talk a few years ago about SoapNet launching a second channel (probably for this purpose), but nothing has happened.
 

Ockeghem

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That would be wonderful. And they could usher in the new channel with a complete showing of Peyton Place, for starters. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Chris Lockwood

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> The question is whether you -- and at least (say) 10 million others -- would pay $12 per month for that...

I think that's the reason.

If they don't think shows from the 50s are worth showing on basic cable, why would they think people would pay extra for it?

Look at HBO- how many movies do they show that are more than 20 years old?
 

Ockeghem

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Well, I would pay that *if* I could have the same amount deducted (and the channels taken away) from my package that I never watch. But I realize that that is probably not going to occur.
 

TonyD

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i might pay for a channel like this..
btw whats a "ad on air film chain"?
 

MatthewA

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But Fox Movie Channel is. One of the studios would have enough of a back catalog of TV shows to run the gamut of decades and fill a whole channel.
 

Greg_S_H

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It is on Time Warner. I have a pretty expensive package and get just about everything, but that's one of the very few channels that gets the "call to order" message when I try to tune it in.
 

Mary_P

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I also have an insanely expensive premium package on Comcast, and would have to pay an additional fee to get FMC.
 

Greg_S_H

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Just to clarify, that's hulu.com not some bizarre greeting. ;) I add this because I only heard of it a few days ago myself.

Hulu out there in TV land! :)
 

Marty M

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On our Comcast system FMC is included in a Sports and Entertainment package that costs $4 extra a month. Every channel but FMC in this package are sports channels. Since the FMC is not in HD I have been thinkng of dropping it. We also have HD Net and HD Net Movie channels but it costs $7 per month for just those two channels.
 

Dave B Ferris

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I wish I knew how suppliers like DirecTV evaluate possible channel additions.

I'm a sports fan, but with the various ESPN's, the various Fox Sports', the Big 10 Network, CBS, ABC, etc., I feel we are already close to the saturation point for college football and basketball. Yet DirecTV apparently plans to add a new channel Mountain, devoted to Mountain West Conference athletic events.

I would rather have DirecTV shore-up its news lineup by adding 'BBC World', or add the 'American Life' channel mentioned in this thread.
 

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