What a Pile of Junk (1 Viewer)

[silverking]

Well, I guess it is satisfying to be content with what we have & I agree that it is considerably more than anticipated 10 years back.However ,I do feel there are still a lot of shows out there I would like to see. Many of them are obscure & probably had no chance, even in the halcyon days when it seemed every old TV series everywhere stood a chance of appearing, nevertheless


How about these -



Maverick , Bronco, Sugarfoot,Lawman,Colt 45.,Dakotas, Alaskans, 77 Sunset Strip, Bourbon St Beat,Surfside 6, Hawaiin Eye, Roaring 20's

Sea Hunt, Man Called X, Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory,Everglades,Whirlybirds ,Boston Blackie, Dial 999,Harbor Command, I Led Three Lives,Klondike, Mackenzie's Raiders,New Adventures of Martin Kane, Mr. District Attorney,Thr Rough Riders, Waterfront.The Cheaters, The Pursuers,87th Precinct,Felony Squad, 50's Dragnet,Mike Hammer, Lone Wolf, The Lineup.Fabian of the YardColonel March of Scotland Yard, The Rebel. Yancey Derringer,The Outcasts, Tugboat Annie, Jungle Jim, Tarzan,Custer, Hondo,Tales of the Texas Rangers, Steve Donavon,Lancer, The Californians, Boots & Saddles,Union Pacific,Johnny Ringo, Broken Arrow, Four Star Theatre,Shane, Iron Horse, Gunslinger,Man Called Shenadoh,Rin-Tin-Tin,Legend of Jesse James,Nichols, Stagecoach West,Cade's County, Barbary Coast, New Adventures of Charlie Chan,Adventires in Paradise,White Hunter, African Patrol..


If more than one or two of these ever appear I will be amazed. Shame is they will probably be lost for all time.

 

[Nebiroth]

Ugh! "SyFy"


Is that as awful over in the US as it is over here?


I can remember when The Science Fiction Channel started here, it was great. They showed loads of rarities that no-one had seen for ages, like complete runs of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, that kind of stuff.


In the early days of satellite here, there were many channels like that - UK Gold was another one (they showed a complete run of Doctor Who, right from the start)


But sadly, as satellite got popular, it turned into a race to the bottom as far as content.


"SyFy" turned into a channel that churns out the cheapest of tat with no classics in sight at all. Instead we get lots of "Mockbuster" films, which are cheap copies of big films with just enough changes to avoid getting sued for copyright violations, interspaced with awful stuff that has nothing to do with Science Fiction at all (She Spies, anyone?)


I never watch it at all today.


UK Gold; Bravo; FX Channel - they all start out great but turn into endless reruns of rubbish that is little more than fillers for the ad breaks. I just don;t bother with them now.

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatthewA /forum/thread/311312/what-a-pile-of-junk#post_3811082

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

Ugh! "SyFy"


Is that as awful over in the US as it is over here?


I can remember when The Science Fiction Channel started here, it was great. They showed loads of rarities that no-one had seen for ages, like complete runs of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, that kind of stuff.


In the early days of satellite here, there were many channels like that - UK Gold was another one (they showed a complete run of Doctor Who, right from the start)


But sadly, as satellite got popular, it turned into a race to the bottom as far as content.


"SyFy" turned into a channel that churns out the cheapest of tat with no classics in sight at all. Instead we get lots of "Mockbuster" films, which are cheap copies of big films with just enough changes to avoid getting sued for copyright violations, interspaced with awful stuff that has nothing to do with Science Fiction at all (She Spies, anyone?)


I never watch it at all today.


UK Gold; Bravo; FX Channel - they all start out great but turn into endless reruns of rubbish that is little more than fillers for the ad breaks. I just don;t bother with them now.

The same can be said for the US version of Sci-Fi Channel and basic cable in general. Started out with lots of old, rare obscure stuff (I remember TNT airing several unedited runs of the Logan's Run TV series and comedy network HA! running such obscurities as When Things Were Rotten and Quark about the same time (circa 1989-1991). Somewhere about 1996-1997 is where the US Sci-Fi Channel started going south.


I think one of the big common factors in the downfall of a channel's scheduling of older 'classic' reruns is when they decide to start branching out into original programming. Once SFC started producing it's own shows, the rerun slots for older shows started dwindling, and the same story repeated itself around the dial.


Once a cable outfit starts producing original programming, they're trying that much harder to hit the 18-35 demographic (seen as the most lucrative), and they've been told that the younger crown dowsn't like older TV shows.


That's why there are so many cable stations all playing the same 5-10 year old reruns. You can't get enough of Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, Scrubs or How I Met Your Mother on cable, multiple runs on multiple channels, but look how few classic TV shows are playing on cable. They're even running Everybody Loves Raymond of TV Land, for goodness sake!

ReTV, AntennaTV, MeTV

That's all well and good for those of you who can get these, but there are many of us (myself included) living in areas that aren't served by any (let alone all three) of these networks. It's sort of like my childhood: I felt like I lived in one of the only TV markets to not have an independent TV station which is where all the cool stuff was (we didn't get an independent station until about 1986, then Fox reared its head and gobbled up its schedule).

 

[Corey3rd]

Sony right now has a deal with Antenna TV (Tribune's oldies subchannel). here's the shows they run.


http://www.antennatv.tv/shows/


Of course Sony will be pushing Dr. Oz since it's a new show. King of Queens might be older, but it still gets good numbers. Kevin James is still making money in movies along with Jerry Stiller. You can't expect Sony to push Hazel with the same vigor. Not everyone wants to sit around and watch nostalgia TV. people didn't mind watching Father Knows Best reruns in '75. But that rerun was as "new" as an episode of Seinfeld running on TBS today. Seinfeld started airing over 20 years ago. since most stations don't expect major ratings from their subchannels, the old shows make sense, but it'll be a while before the ME-TV sub channel outrates the parent signal.


far as Shout! putting out there titles, maybe there is no money for them in doing it, they'd rather get paid and not have to deal with the distribution nightmares.

Originally Posted by MatthewA




They barely know what they own. The people coming out of business school into, just to name an example, Sony, would be pushing Dr. Oz and King of Queens to the stations. They have no knowledge of the library. Titles like Hazel, Maude, Police Woman, and Diff'rent Strokes do not ring any bells to them. That's why the studios were willing to let their stuff go to Shout in the first place, the potential profit margins were not enough to satisfy their demands, so they figured they would just let a third party deal with the dinosaurs while they push the stuff that's new or recent. People who love the old shows are not going into positions where they have any say over what gets released unless they're working for an independent. The few stations who do air old shows that aren't specifically devoted to them (I recall many UPN stations airing lots of the 70s and 80s black sitcoms through the late 1990s and 2000s, and that was about it for the past decade or so) get whatever tapes are lying around.


Furthermore, a lot of them don't remaster their shows. Fox probably hasn't touched the negatives to Room 222 in decades.


And I think History Channel actually produces a lot of its programming, while PBS—a different animal altogether—needs to sell those DVDs to help fund itself.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney




The same can be said for the US version of Sci-Fi Channel and basic cable in general. Started out with lots of old, rare obscure stuff (I remember TNT airing several unedited runs of the Logan's Run TV series and comedy network HA! running such obscurities as When Things Were Rotten and Quark about the same time (circa 1989-1991). Somewhere about 1996-1997 is where the US Sci-Fi Channel started going south.

Nah, US Sci-Fi was a good mix of classics and new programs until 2000 or 2001, when Bonnie Hammer took over and started SyFying it. I mean, IIRC, She didn't even like or know about Science Fiction, yet was running a channel devoted to it.


That's not good.


Plus, 1999/2000 was when they axed long running, beloved shows like MST3K and Sliders so they could make more horrible movies and original shows that lasted a season or less.


Now, SyFy is the Wrestling channel. Oh well. Almost every other niche network in the US has become a reality show cesspool, too.


The only network I can think of where change turned out to be a good thing is AMC. Sure, there's not a single American Movie Classic aired on the network anymore, but the original shows are a fair trade. Plus, Turner Classic Movies is still out there doing what AMC used to.

 

[Jack P]

Don't forget Game Show Network which from 1994-2002 was a haven for vintage programs of the 50s through 80s that we never thought we'd see again and which slowly got rid of all the classics.

 

[JohnMor]

Originally Posted by Jack P

Don't forget Game Show Network which from 1994-2002 was a haven for vintage programs of the 50s through 80s that we never thought we'd see again and which slowly got rid of all the classics.

Don't remind me. I miss "What's My Line."

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Originally Posted by JohnMor





Don't remind me. I miss "What's My Line."

The worst part is that now, the classic game shows are relegated to before noon timeslots, and they only lease around 200 episodes of each old series left on the schedule ($25,000 Pyramid, Match Game, Card Sharks, and Dawson Family Feud), and replay that same run of episodes over and over and over and over and over and over.


$25,000 Pyramid has had the same 200 or so episodes airing in a loop since 2008.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I get RE-TV and Antenna TV and they are welcome additions to my cable programming. RE-TV shows It Takes a Thief and Run For Your Life on the weekends and Daniel Boone, Peter Gunn, Marcus Welby, Quincy, and Emergency daily. I just wish I got ME-TV as I heard it's even better.

 

[westumulka]

Originally Posted by silverking

Well, I guess it is satisfying to be content with what we have & I agree that it is considerably more than anticipated 10 years back.However ,I do feel there are still a lot of shows out there I would like to see. Many of them are obscure & probably had no chance, even in the halcyon days when it seemed every old TV series everywhere stood a chance of appearing, nevertheless


How about these -



Maverick , Bronco, Sugarfoot,Lawman,Colt 45.,Dakotas, Alaskans, 77 Sunset Strip, Bourbon St Beat,Surfside 6, Hawaiin Eye, Roaring 20's

Sea Hunt, Man Called X, Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory,Everglades,Whirlybirds ,Boston Blackie, Dial 999,Harbor Command, I Led Three Lives,Klondike, Mackenzie's Raiders,New Adventures of Martin Kane, Mr. District Attorney,Thr Rough Riders, Waterfront.The Cheaters, The Pursuers,87th Precinct,Felony Squad, 50's Dragnet,Mike Hammer, Lone Wolf, The Lineup.Fabian of the YardColonel March of Scotland Yard, The Rebel. Yancey Derringer,The Outcasts, Tugboat Annie, Jungle Jim, Tarzan,Custer, Hondo,Tales of the Texas Rangers, Steve Donavon,Lancer, The Californians, Boots & Saddles,Union Pacific,Johnny Ringo, Broken Arrow, Four Star Theatre,Shane, Iron Horse, Gunslinger,Man Called Shenadoh,Rin-Tin-Tin,Legend of Jesse James,Nichols, Stagecoach West,Cade's County, Barbary Coast, New Adventures of Charlie Chan,Adventires in Paradise,White Hunter, African Patrol..

Of that great list the only a few of those shows DO appear on cable in the US:

Maverick has been appearing every weekday on the Encore Western Channel for a few years now. Lawman has been appearing daily on that channel too since the start of this year.

Sea Hunt and Bat Masterson appear every weekday on the THIS channel


With the emergence of channels such as ME-TV and Antenna TV I'm sure some of the above shows will also turn up.

 

[BobO'Link]

Originally Posted by The Obsolete Man The only network I can think of where change turned out to be a good thing is AMC. Sure, there's not a single American Movie Classic aired on the network anymore, but the original shows are a fair trade. Plus, Turner Classic Movies is still out there doing what AMC used to.

What, in heaven's name, are you drinking/on? AMC got "better"?!??!?!! 10 minutes of a "classic" followed by 5 minutes of commercials, repeat, put more bugs on the movie, repeat... It went to "blocked" status on my remote *years* ago...


What are these "original" shows of which you speak?

At least AMC (before they were raped) gave us "WENN" which is woefully *not* on DVD...

 

[TravisR]

What are these "original" shows of which you speak?

Mad Men and Breaking Bad are both wonderful shows that have heaps of critical acclaim and multiple Emmy wins. The Killing really just started but it's also very good.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Originally Posted by TravisR

What are these "original" shows of which you speak?

Mad Men and Breaking Bad are both wonderful shows that have heaps of critical acclaim and multiple Emmy wins. The Killing really just started but it's also very good.[/QUOTE]

And let's not forget the surprise hit Walking Dead.

 

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

If "no one cared" about a "bunch of British shows" they wouldn't release them because no one would want to buy them.


Sorry but your post does come across as a throwing a bit of a strop because shows YOU don't care about personally are releasing whilst the ones YOU want are not.

I will have to Google "strop," but I agree with you, Richard.


The title of this thread is needlessly incendiary. Adding three simple letters before or after the title, IMO, would have been more accurate and welcome. However, and this is a sad statement about online forums, would have it generated as many views or responses?

 

[Frank Soyke]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo




I will have to Google "strop," but I agree with you, Richard.


The title of this thread is needlessly incendiary. Adding three simple letters before or after the title, IMO, would have been more accurate and welcome. However, and this is a sad statement about online forums, would have it generated as many views or responses?

I figured since I started this thread, I should reply to this.

Firstly, of course these are only my opinions and I didn't mean to offend anyone. If you read carefully, I state that in one my responses to this post.

Secondly, I love many British TV shows and welcome their releases. Again, no offense to anyone.

Thirdly, my root point appears to have been missed. I was simply stating that I don't understand why the powers that be see fit to release on DVD every current show (one season shows as well as long runners) that air while many true classic shows languish in their vaults. It can't be simply sales. Please don't tell me that The Cape (10 eps?) would sell better than Season 4 of Beverly Hilbillies. Point is, I love stuff like Mad Men too, but I don't understand why we need a DVD release only six months after the season ends when Untouchables Season 4 just sits there.

Lastly, when I referred to "junk," I was simply stating from a classic TV point of view, for every true classic released, there seem to be 5-10 releases that you can turn on the TV and watch right now (or watched last year or two). Incendiary though?

Incendiary though? C'mon. This is a small forum dedicated to classic TV. IMO it is pretty poor to use a strong word like incendiary referring to someone calling DVD"S junk when that word usually represents some of the true suffering and troublmaking (racism, etc) in the world today. But again, this is IMO

 

[Professor Echo]

It's incendiary to the degree that it immediately imposes your definition of junk upon anyone curious enough to open the thread, i.e. "causing or capable of of causing fire."