TCM is one of the regularly watched channels that my wife and I subscribe to. This is super upsetting if it happens...
I know that in all probability that this is the likely outcome of media moguls and their persistent attempts to reinvent and get more dollars. I just hope that you are wrong here. Thank you Ty
Unbelievable and so sad to read. TCM is an oasis in a sea of mediocrity. The other month I came across a movie directed by Ida Lupino set in a polio clinic -- an extraordinary historical document, from a great woman pioneer. Without classic TCM we will lose this and so much more.
At this year's TCM Film Festival, Zaslav worked overtime to try to reassure us that TCM would live forever and nothing would change. The smell of bullshit was as suffocating as the Quebec wildfire smoke that covered New York City a few weeks ago. We knew we were being lied to, and to be honest, he didn't even try hard to sound convincing. It's really sad. Oddly enough, Zaslav's name is being recognized by folks outside our discipline, that is, regular people who normally wouldn't care who runs a studio/network/etc. They're as mad about it as we are. You can't mess with something this popular and not expect blowback.
TCM is my go to channel for sophisticated , subtle, adult movies which are difficult to find other places.If it radically changes its programming or disappears (!) , it will be a major cultural loss.
I live in the UK where our version of TCM has never been as good as what you have in the US. However I am a massive fan of Eddie Muller and am grateful to whoever uploads his intros to you YouTube. I have discovered so many great movies via Noir Alley (many not easily available on streaming platforms). As you say, TCM is clearly filling an essential gap in the market.
The management purge at TCM is distressing. They offer a wide range of films, and the hosts are usually quite knowledgeable (although I thoroughly disagree with Ben Mankiewicz's comments regarding "Vertigo"). I especially enjoy Eddie Muller's "Noir Alley"" presentations. Have the ratings for TCM declined precipitously? Let's hope the station continues to survive and thrive.
Charles Tabesh is one of the kindest, most gentlemanly people in the film business. His firing is a heresy perpetrated by the asshole who was BU's unfortunate commencement speaker. It was Tabesh who arranged to have my documentary, For the Love of Movies: the Story of American Film Criticism, shown on TCM. Boy, he will be missed.
Majorly disappointing news. I love the old black and white films. Years ago I could watch TCM with no subscription, now we don't, sadly - our cable bill is crazy high. Same with AMC, those were the days my friend... we thought they'd never end.
I don't think history is going away... I am an amateur genealogist and it is PURE history! Don't like the doomsday clock ticking so loudly.
You don't know that they will actually ruin the program do you? I can think of one improvement I wish they would make. I hardly watch anything in real time: I record it to DVR...frequently on TCM I channel surf into something that looks really good/interesting....if it were like other cable channels they only run it once (well, a few months later, everything comes back. On channels like AMC and HBO, etc....you can easily access a list of immediate future other showings....and I can set it record one (so that I won't miss the first half or whatever)....if TCM would run a movie, with a second showing the next day, or a week later, that was listed, it would be awesome.
ON the other hand, if they stop running classic film in the manner they do, that would be awful.
I think you're reading the tea leaves correctly. Doesn't sound like revising, updating is in the works, sounds more like a funeral. What a sad story of the price we pay to feed the voracious corporate appetite to create higher profits. Remarkable how the myopia of even one top corporate executive can multiply and propagate throughout an organization and destroy a great niche product in what seems like an instant. But then again, there are two generations after us who won't even consider watching a black and white movie, no matter what. Sorry to be so downbeat, hope it's not true. Sic transit gloria Mundi.
While I only watch TCM rarely, I do watch the bug on MAX that features its films, rarities like Truffaut's SOFT SKIN, or its OZU catalog, and much more. I hope your reading of the tea leaves turns out to be incorrect.
My grandma introduced me to TMC as a child and I was filled with wonderment when I saw the glamours black and white film stars of the past. We would watch and talk about the beautiful wardrobes and she even sewed me an Audrey Hepburn dress when I was 8!
I, (as an adult now) will go over to her home and watch movies on TMC together. Shes 90 years old now and gets lonely. When I'm not available she watches it on her own. Sometimes she will call me and say put on channel 11, such and such movie is coming on, which cracks me up because I don't have cable.
I am not understating when I say that TMC strengthened our bond, gave us something to talk about, laugh and cry about throughout my entire life with her. I am so deeply sad for all the older people who love these classics and for the youth that probably won't ever see them.
Thank you for making us aware. Maybe there is something we can do?!?
TCM's problem is that it is not available on Comcast except at a higher tier and you can't subscribe to the streaming app unless your cable system already carries it. TCM needs to enter the 21st century. Some more current TCM movies are shown as a channel on HBO/Max. Most likely Max will amp up that portion if they eliminate TCM. Hopefully, the Criterion app will pick up the slack.
This is so incredibly sad. Thanks for alerting us to this this Ty - though there is probably nothing that can be done about it.
TCM is one of the regularly watched channels that my wife and I subscribe to. This is super upsetting if it happens...
I know that in all probability that this is the likely outcome of media moguls and their persistent attempts to reinvent and get more dollars. I just hope that you are wrong here. Thank you Ty
Unbelievable and so sad to read. TCM is an oasis in a sea of mediocrity. The other month I came across a movie directed by Ida Lupino set in a polio clinic -- an extraordinary historical document, from a great woman pioneer. Without classic TCM we will lose this and so much more.
At least two or three times a week iPhone films on TCM that I loved or that I missed. I don’t want it to be different! Ellen 83
At this year's TCM Film Festival, Zaslav worked overtime to try to reassure us that TCM would live forever and nothing would change. The smell of bullshit was as suffocating as the Quebec wildfire smoke that covered New York City a few weeks ago. We knew we were being lied to, and to be honest, he didn't even try hard to sound convincing. It's really sad. Oddly enough, Zaslav's name is being recognized by folks outside our discipline, that is, regular people who normally wouldn't care who runs a studio/network/etc. They're as mad about it as we are. You can't mess with something this popular and not expect blowback.
TCM is my go to channel for sophisticated , subtle, adult movies which are difficult to find other places.If it radically changes its programming or disappears (!) , it will be a major cultural loss.
I live in the UK where our version of TCM has never been as good as what you have in the US. However I am a massive fan of Eddie Muller and am grateful to whoever uploads his intros to you YouTube. I have discovered so many great movies via Noir Alley (many not easily available on streaming platforms). As you say, TCM is clearly filling an essential gap in the market.
The management purge at TCM is distressing. They offer a wide range of films, and the hosts are usually quite knowledgeable (although I thoroughly disagree with Ben Mankiewicz's comments regarding "Vertigo"). I especially enjoy Eddie Muller's "Noir Alley"" presentations. Have the ratings for TCM declined precipitously? Let's hope the station continues to survive and thrive.
Charles Tabesh is one of the kindest, most gentlemanly people in the film business. His firing is a heresy perpetrated by the asshole who was BU's unfortunate commencement speaker. It was Tabesh who arranged to have my documentary, For the Love of Movies: the Story of American Film Criticism, shown on TCM. Boy, he will be missed.
Majorly disappointing news. I love the old black and white films. Years ago I could watch TCM with no subscription, now we don't, sadly - our cable bill is crazy high. Same with AMC, those were the days my friend... we thought they'd never end.
I don't think history is going away... I am an amateur genealogist and it is PURE history! Don't like the doomsday clock ticking so loudly.
I wasn't aware of this news. It's so disappointing--we're losing our cultural history and the experts because of pure money matters.
You don't know that they will actually ruin the program do you? I can think of one improvement I wish they would make. I hardly watch anything in real time: I record it to DVR...frequently on TCM I channel surf into something that looks really good/interesting....if it were like other cable channels they only run it once (well, a few months later, everything comes back. On channels like AMC and HBO, etc....you can easily access a list of immediate future other showings....and I can set it record one (so that I won't miss the first half or whatever)....if TCM would run a movie, with a second showing the next day, or a week later, that was listed, it would be awesome.
ON the other hand, if they stop running classic film in the manner they do, that would be awful.
I think you're reading the tea leaves correctly. Doesn't sound like revising, updating is in the works, sounds more like a funeral. What a sad story of the price we pay to feed the voracious corporate appetite to create higher profits. Remarkable how the myopia of even one top corporate executive can multiply and propagate throughout an organization and destroy a great niche product in what seems like an instant. But then again, there are two generations after us who won't even consider watching a black and white movie, no matter what. Sorry to be so downbeat, hope it's not true. Sic transit gloria Mundi.
While I only watch TCM rarely, I do watch the bug on MAX that features its films, rarities like Truffaut's SOFT SKIN, or its OZU catalog, and much more. I hope your reading of the tea leaves turns out to be incorrect.
My grandma introduced me to TMC as a child and I was filled with wonderment when I saw the glamours black and white film stars of the past. We would watch and talk about the beautiful wardrobes and she even sewed me an Audrey Hepburn dress when I was 8!
I, (as an adult now) will go over to her home and watch movies on TMC together. Shes 90 years old now and gets lonely. When I'm not available she watches it on her own. Sometimes she will call me and say put on channel 11, such and such movie is coming on, which cracks me up because I don't have cable.
I am not understating when I say that TMC strengthened our bond, gave us something to talk about, laugh and cry about throughout my entire life with her. I am so deeply sad for all the older people who love these classics and for the youth that probably won't ever see them.
Thank you for making us aware. Maybe there is something we can do?!?
TCM's problem is that it is not available on Comcast except at a higher tier and you can't subscribe to the streaming app unless your cable system already carries it. TCM needs to enter the 21st century. Some more current TCM movies are shown as a channel on HBO/Max. Most likely Max will amp up that portion if they eliminate TCM. Hopefully, the Criterion app will pick up the slack.