Blog

Aug 18, 2023

TCM: Can something be valuable if it doesn't make it

RECENT REPORTS about the uncertain future of Turner Classic Movies have resulted in a flood of complaints. It has also revealed just how many people consider TCM to be more than a cable channel — they

RECENT REPORTS about the uncertain future of Turner Classic Movies have resulted in a flood of complaints. It has also revealed just how many people consider TCM to be more than a cable channel — they see it as a national treasure. It’s been well-reported that prestigious directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson have formally protested to Warner Bros. But perhaps more to the point, actor Ryan Reynolds bluntly told Warner’s corporate honchos, “Please don’t (expletive) with TCM.” That’s not just another pretty face sounding off. In addition to being a successful actor, the “Deadpool” star has exhibited remarkable business acumen, having made a fortune by buying the Mint Mobile company and by turning a lowly Welsh football team into a contender, an effort documented on the FX series “Welcome to Wrexham,” entering its second season on Sept. 12. On a mid-August Monday where the TV “highlights” might be boiled down to the season finale of “Crime Scene Kitchen” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14), viewers of a certain inclination tend to seize upon TCM’s penchant for timeless works of Hollywood and world cinema. Perhaps no film captured the “Keep Calm and Carry On” spirit of the British home front during World War II than the 1942 melodrama “Mrs. Miniver” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-G). Greer Garson, the featured actor of today’s TCM “Summer Under the Stars” festival, plays the title role, a British matriarch trying to maintain the normalcy of garden parties and rose contests against the backdrop of the Luftwaffe’s blitz and the ever-present fear of invasion by Hitler’s forces. Garson also stars, opposite Laurence Olivier, in the 1940 adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” (4 p.m., TV-PG), one of the more abbreviated versions of the Jane Austen classic, but delightful nonetheless. The peerless character actress Edna May Oliver plays Lady Catherine de Bourgh. TCM remains both beloved and unique, because unlike nearly every other cable channel, it has never really changed. In the time since TCM launched in 1994, nearly every cable outlet has evolved, or devolved, from its original mission. We all know there is little history on the History Channel; no arts or entertainment on A&E and little learning on TLC, launched as The Learning Channel. Like every television outlet, cable stations react to hit shows and the need to find and replicate them. Bravo, first launched as a sophisticated outlet for ballet and theater, seemed to have found a classy niche with James Lipton’s “Inside the Actors Studio.” But then came hit reality fare like “Queer Eye,” “Project Runway” and “Real Housewives.” No more ballet. Nearly every cable outlet has followed that pattern. So it’s not surprising that Warner’s CEO David Zaslav, a man who made his reputation with “Dr. Pimple Popper” and “My 600-Lb. Life,” might not see the value in something like TCM. Perhaps to him, Turner Classics doesn’t fit the “cable” model. But to the rest of us, and anyone who has ever cut their cord, it’s cable that is broken, not TCM. And that’s why we’re so wary of Zaslav’s promise to “fix” it. • “Solar Opposites” enters its fourth season on Hulu.

• Torres, terror and tension on “NCIS” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14). • Five couples seek therapy in a paradise setting on the new(ish) series “90 Day: The Last Resort” (9 p.m., TLC, TV-14). • A dim bulb couple (Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter) kidnap a famous quint in the 1987 comedy “Raising Arizona” (9 p.m., Starz Encore). • A missing mother inspires more than one search party on “NCIS: Hawai’i” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).

Surgery results in terrifying visions for a concert violinist (Jessica Alba) in the 2008 shocker “The Eye” (8 p.m., Cinemax).

A change of hairdressers on “The Neighborhood” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) ... “American Ninja Warrior” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) ... “Stars on Mars” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) ... Bob meddles on “Bob Hearts Abishola” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG). “The Bachelorette” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) ... “Weakest Link” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) ... “Claim to Fame” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

Due to the Writers Guild strike, all late night shows are reruns. Jimmy Fallon welcomes Chris Evans, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Toosii on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) ... Alan Cumming, Bobby Moynihan and Craig Reynolds visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).

FROM ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2023

TUNE IN TONIGHT by Kevin McDonough

TCM: CAN SOMETHING BE VALUABLE IF IT DOESN’T MAKE MONEY?

Recent reports about the uncertain future of Turner Classic Movies have resulted in a flood of complaints. It has also revealed just how many people consider TCM to be more than a cable channel — they see it as a national treasure.

It’s been well-reported that prestigious directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson have formally protested to Warner Bros. But perhaps more to the point, actor Ryan Reynolds bluntly told Warner’s corporate honchos, “Please don’t (expletive) with TCM.”

That’s not just another pretty face sounding off. In addition to being a successful actor, the “Deadpool” star has exhibited remarkable business acumen, having made a fortune by buying the Mint Mobile company and by turning a lowly Welsh football team into a contender, an effort documented on the FX series “Welcome to Wrexham,” entering its second season on Sept. 12.

On a mid-August Monday where the TV “highlights” might be boiled down to the season finale of “Crime Scene Kitchen” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14), viewers of a certain inclination tend to seize upon TCM’s penchant for timeless works of Hollywood and world cinema.

Perhaps no film captured the “Keep Calm and Carry On” spirit of the British home front during World War II than the 1942 melodrama “Mrs. Miniver” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-G). Greer Garson, the featured actor of today’s TCM “Summer Under the Stars” festival plays the title role, a British matriarch trying to maintain the normalcy of garden parties and rose contests against the backdrop of the Luftwaffe’s blitz and the ever-present fear of invasion by Hitler’s forces.

Garson also stars, opposite Laurence Olivier, in the 1940 adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” (4 p.m., TV-PG), one of the more abbreviated versions of the Jane Austen classic, but delightful nonetheless. The peerless character actress Edna May Oliver plays Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

TCM remains both beloved and unique, because unlike nearly every other cable channel, it has never really changed. In the time since TCM launched in 1994, nearly every cable outlet has evolved, or devolved, from its original mission. We all know there is little history on the History Channel; no arts or entertainment on A&E and little learning on TLC, launched as The Learning Channel.

Like every television outlet, cable stations react to hit shows and the need to find and replicate them. Bravo, first launched as a sophisticated outlet for ballet and theater, seemed to have found a classy niche with James Lipton’s “Inside the Actors Studio.” But then came hit reality fare like “Queer Eye,” “Project Runway” and “Real Housewives.” No more ballet.

Nearly every cable outlet has followed that pattern. So it’s not surprising that Warner’s CEO David Zaslav, a man who made his reputation with “Dr. Pimple Popper” and “My 600-Lb. Life,” might not see the value in something like TCM.

Perhaps to him, Turner Classics doesn’t fit the “cable” model. But to the rest of us, and anyone who has ever cut their cord, it’s cable that is broken, not TCM. And that’s why we’re so wary of Zaslav’s promise to “fix” it.

• “Solar Opposites” enters its fourth season on Hulu.

• Torres, terror and tension on “NCIS” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).

• Five couples seek therapy in a paradise setting on the new(ish) series “90 Day: The Last Resort” (9 p.m., TLC, TV-14).

• A dim bulb couple (Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter) kidnap a famous quint in the 1987 comedy “Raising Arizona” (9 p.m., Starz Encore).

• A missing mother inspires more than one search party on “NCIS: Hawai’i” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).

Surgery results in terrifying visions for a concert violinist (Jessica Alba) in the 2008 shocker “The Eye” (8 p.m., Cinemax).

A change of hairdressers on “The Neighborhood” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) ... “American Ninja Warrior” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) ... “Stars on Mars” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) ... Bob meddles on “Bob Hearts Abishola” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).

“The Bachelorette” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) ... “Weakest Link” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) ... “Claim to Fame” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

Due to the Writers Guild strike, all late night shows are reruns.

Jimmy Fallon welcomes Chris Evans, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Toosii on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) ... Alan Cumming, Bobby Moynihan and Craig Reynolds visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).

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(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Reed Jackson at [email protected])

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