Feb 22nd 2012 08:06 am What’s new is old
In case you’ve been missing it (as I have!), Turner Classic Movies is well into its annual fete, “31 Days of Oscar.” The link takes you to the official Web site, which, as you might expect, is slick and clever but frankly a little confusing—a very “retro” Web site that’s really kind of fun after you figure it out. Think of it as a game. If I understand correctly, today’s theme is “Washington, D.C.” Understandable. Happy birthday, George. We threw you a party last Monday.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
24 Responses to “What’s new is old”
Dave in MA on 22 Feb 2012 at 8:14 am #
Too bad I can’t get TCM. They’re showing two of my favorite movies today. Dr. Strangelove, and Logan’s Run.
Rickmeister on 22 Feb 2012 at 8:27 am #
Speaking of holidays, today is National Margarita Day…get into the spirit(s)!
Jeff in Ann Arbor on 22 Feb 2012 at 8:42 am #
Wish our cable company would allow à la carte subscriptions, because I would subscribe to TCM, the Weather Channel, and maybe the History Channel and ESPN (for Michigan sports). Sadly, they only comes bundled with dozens or perhaps hundreds of unwanted (by me) channels, so we subscribe only to the most basic service, which is essentially the local broadcast channels. It costs about the same as the discount they offer to TV subscribers on cable internet, or we might not even subscribe to this.
Dave in MA on 22 Feb 2012 at 9:11 am #
Ever since my local cable company started carrying TCM, it’s been a pay channel. A high monthly rate for that one channel, or a higher monthly rate for a package of premium channels. We’re already paying for “digital tier” service with most of the channels we want. In fact, that’s the only one we don’t have that I personally want out of the current cable system’s channel lineup.
The amount of TCM alone is more than what we pay for the entire package of digital tier channels. And with the premium channel package it’s even more expensive.
John in Richmond Texas on 22 Feb 2012 at 10:01 am #
Because of a crashing tree last month, we got a new roof and didn’t have Dish Network for a week.
We had already gotten some new TV’s that we put routers on and get Amazon Video On Demand and Netflix on. Now I know I spend way to much for Dish. But nothing’s changed from the earliest days of cable, – for example, you start at the bottom basic package and get TCM Oh, you want Fox Movie Channel too?, that’s the next package you have to get with a lot of other stuff you have no desire for, and you also get TLC, but then you also want the Science Channel, that’s the next package up with more stuff you don’t need. I was amazed to find the regular broadcast shows we watch on Amazon the next day, with basic over the air, we wouldn’t need that, but it would be very handy for our regular cable shows like Archer,or Psych, also on Amazon the day after airing. Dropping down to a smaller package and even paying the 2 bucks an episode on Amazon, I’d still come out way ahead AND you don’t get all the junk in the bottom of the screen and the end credits play without stuff over them, like they should
Tom in Southern Ohio on 22 Feb 2012 at 10:05 am #
Since we’re on the subject of TCM, they’re sponsoring a showing of “Casablanca” at theaters on March 21 to celebrate 70 years since it’s release. Here’s the link:
http://www.fathomevents.com/classics/event/casablanca.aspx
Cheers,
Tom
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 22 Feb 2012 at 10:12 am #
I have not watched broadcast TV in years, except for the news, sports and specials. Being from Michigan, I have set up the DVR for Tim Allen’s new show, but lately I keep forgetting, so I have not watched it for a while.
I did discover the show “Still Standing” a couple of years after it went off the air and thought that it was hilarious. We also have watched Everybody Loves Raymond and wonder aloud why we did not watch it when it aired original episodes. A few years ago, our cable went out for a day and I was sick in bed. I watched a couple of sitcoms and was so disgusted; I flipped it off and started playing music. I guess that is why I don’t give shows a chance anymore.
Hoag in MA on 22 Feb 2012 at 12:57 pm #
I Love TCM – just wish my cable carried it in HD.
Granted most movies wouldn’t get too great of an improvement based on the conditions of the originals, but every once in a while a relatively recent movie like “Cool Hand Luke” or “Dr. Strangelove” pops up and I mumble before I settle down to the standard def viewing.
Give me any Bogie movie and you’ll find me dead in front of TCM.
Sláinte
Tom in Glendora on 22 Feb 2012 at 12:58 pm #
How come, with so many channels, there seldom seems to be anything worth watching?
We do watch NASCAR and my wife is addicted to two programs. The Golden Girls (she
falls asleep to them every night) and Everybody Loves Raymond. When all else fails,
there’s the Game Show Network. Nothing like ’60s and ’70s shows where we can
laugh at how people dressed back then.
I have to admit I like Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs but not much else. My fallback is
usually How it’s Made and others of that ilk.
nick chik on 22 Feb 2012 at 1:24 pm #
If anyone has access to MeTV…it is certainly worth watching. Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Cheers, That Girl…and on and on. I discovered it while traveling and came home and found it on our own cable. Other than that I watch the Hallmark Channel…that is where Golden Girls, Frazier, Little House on the Prairie is found. And I too fall asleep to Golden Girls most nights.
Wish some channel would start showing West Wing again…that was one of my family’s favorites. I don’t like reality TV and there is not much on these days…Oh wait…I do like Harry’s Law.
sideburns on 22 Feb 2012 at 1:55 pm #
Dr. Strangelove was probably the best thing that ever happened to Slim Pickens. He played the role straight because nobody told him it was a comedy, and he was only given his part, not a complete strip. As Wikipedia puts it: He later commented, “After Dr. Strangelove the roles, the dressing rooms and the checks all started getting bigger.”
CW in 617 on 22 Feb 2012 at 2:45 pm #
@sideburns -
What I had heard was that Peter Sellers was slated to play Major Kong (giving Sellers a total of four roles in one movie) but broke his leg (not really good luck).
I don’t doubt you about Pickens not knowing it was a comedy, but after opening the onboard safe to exchange his helmet for a cowboy hat, and stradlling a bomb labeled “Nuclear Warhead – Handle with Care” without catching on is a stretch.
Yikes, I could go on and on. Not least is that this was (I think) James Earl Jones’ first screen role.
Mark in TTown on 22 Feb 2012 at 3:40 pm #
And I love Picken’s line as he finishes reading the survival kit checklist, “…a man could have hisself a pretty good weekend in Vegas with that!” This is one of the movies that I always stop and watch when I run across it, along with Peter Sellers “The Pink Panther”.
Nick Chik: I found the METV by accident on our local cable channels. It is a substation of Channel 13 in Birmingham. Almost every night at 10 I am there watching the classic Twilight Zone. And if I didn’t have to get up at 530 am to work, I would be watching The Untouchables as well.
Jim in Daphne on 22 Feb 2012 at 4:08 pm #
Some of the comments sounded like Springsteen. “57 Channels and Nothing On”. But I agree with them.
Boise Ed on 22 Feb 2012 at 5:03 pm #
“There oughta be a law” against remakes of classic shows like “The Pink Panther” or “The Avengers” — 98% of them are awful.
sideburns on 22 Feb 2012 at 5:46 pm #
What makes it even better, CW, is that when he first showed up at the studio in Britain they thought he was already getting into character because they didn’t know that cowboy gear and an Oklahoma accent that he’d picked up as a rodeo clown (He was born and raised in California.) were just normal for him. And, as he was mostly a character actor, doing heavies and sidekicks in westerns, he may well have been so focussed on doing a straight dramatic role for a change that he simply never took the time to think about what he was doing.
And, although I don’t fall asleep watching the TV, I can sympathise with Arlo because my sister does it almost every night.
Mark in TTown on 22 Feb 2012 at 6:12 pm #
That’s the one (bad) thing about old movies and tv shows. They keep coming back to show us how bad the current crop is, especially the remakes.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 22 Feb 2012 at 7:51 pm #
From yesterday: Preserved lubber grasshoppers are sold by biological supply for dissection by invertebrate zoology and entomology students. Impressive critters. There are advantages to living in northern climes.
No gardens are allowed in the townhome development I call home, but you can have plants on your patio and some have done well with those. They’d best be plants unattractive to deer. I’ve had to give up hanging bird feeders outside my window, in winter. They are always empty in the morning. After sunset the other evening, while I was standing quietly in the kitchen, a big doe slowly approached the hanging, cylindrical feeder and gently jostled it with her muzzle, eating the seeds as they fell out onto the feeder’s shallow ledge. Half fell to the ground [shallow snow at the time]. Then I shooed her away. We finally got some real snow over the last 72 hours; there’s now a foot or so, and I was late for lunch this noon because I had to wait while a snowplow cleared the drift from the driveway. There are also disadvantages to northern climes.
A good, mild alternative to other natural fertilizers is domestic rabbit manure. Over the decade or so that we kept rabbits for food, our garden was at its productive best.
I remember being taught by Fat Anna Smith in fourth grade that Jack was the nickname for James and Hal was the nickname for Henry; Prince Hal became Henry V. But she did not have jurisdiction over the parents of various Johns and Harolds. Margaret may have more nicknames than most: Meg, Madge, Peg, Peggy, Midge, Maggie. The reason W.S. Gilbert chose the name Margaret for the weird girl in “Ruddigore” is that he could have her sing, “Who am I? / Daft Madge! Crazy Meg! / Mad Margaret! / Poor Peg!”
Dennis Ewing on 22 Feb 2012 at 8:30 pm #
Cable systems are aggravating. The only way I can get the Smithsonian channel is to get a sports package. I hate watching sports and don’t understand why a channel with intelligent programming has to be bundled with something as mindless as sports. It is only offered in high def. I can’t see why so much of the bandwidth is wasted on sports instead of things like history and science.
Mark in TTown on 22 Feb 2012 at 9:01 pm #
All right Dennis, let’s vote for our least favorite waste of cable bandwidth!
Sports, shopping, music! There are my top 3. Although when I had D**h, I did enjoy the all-music channels where you could pick your genre. And compared to C*****t that satellite was a real bargain.
TruckerRon on 22 Feb 2012 at 9:58 pm #
The only alphabet network show I watch anymore is Castle. I sometimes do look in on History Channel or Discovery Channel offerings that catch my eye when I quickly scan the schedule. Everything else I like is or someday will be on DVD.
Tom (Somewhere in Georgia) on 23 Feb 2012 at 6:27 am #
We recently reverted to local channels to save money and time. I would like cable better if I could just pay for the channels I want to watch- ESPN- NFL Network- etc.
Even so, The Amazing Race is the only show I enjoy anyhow.
Dan in SWMo on 23 Feb 2012 at 4:35 pm #
For some reason, English-speaking people have long conflated some aspects of the two names James (which comes via Middle Latin Jacomus from Hebrew Iakob) and John (which derives from the totally unrelated Hebrew name Iohanan). After all, the French nursery rhyme Frère Jacques, when translated into English, made the priest’s name “Brother John” rather than “Brother James.”
Meryl A on 28 Feb 2012 at 12:58 am #
Our cable system has always carried it in an upper package. We can only get digital. We no longer have service on our living room TV because I am not paying for a 4th box. (Bedroom, office, kitchen). The service stinks. It is constantly freezing & pixalating, going out of video/audio sync and rebooting itself. One time it rebooted for 18 hours! The owner of our cable system about 8 years ago said in an interview that his goal was for everyone to pay $500 a month for cable. Like people can afford that!