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A TCM for TV

November 17, 2011

I fully support this call for a TCM for television, a channel that treats classic TV shows with the same respect Turner Classic Movies does for film.

… no one’s ever done a classic television channel the way I think it should be done. The emphasis in the past has been on nostalgia as an end in itself, where I’d rather see the “fun” side of TV integrated more closely with the “quality” side. There’s a misperception among many that television came of age as a medium the moment HBO aired the first episode of The Sopranos, and while I love that show — and mostly love what’s happened to TV in its wake — I find it short-sighted and insulting to suggest that TV producers didn’t know how to make a realistic cop show before The Shield or a smart sitcom before Arrested Development.

5 Responses

mussorgsky112 writes:

November 17, 2011 at 8:28 AM

I think that TV Land had a good model until they started bringing in modern shows, which wasn’t a bad thing but was a big departure from their “classics” and such. However, what stopped my watching of that channel was the terrible original content. Doing a special reunion or retrospective of a show is great but there is no need for “reality TV” (of any type, in my opinion) on such a station. I would love for a channel to bring back classics like the Pretender, MacGyver, and I Love Lucy while not neglecting the aforementioned Arrested Development.

TCM For TV Shows | Mah Two Cents writes:

November 17, 2011 at 2:30 PM

[...] usually link to Johanna Draper Carlson for some of the things she writes for comics, but her latest has to do with television and I fully [...]

Anthony writes:

November 17, 2011 at 11:46 PM

My classic TV viewing these days is found on MeTV (classic TV digital subchannel network, though it started as a pair of local stations here in Milwaukee and in Chicago). Ironic a free, over-the-air digital subchannel TV network outdoes cable TV channels (Nick At Nite, TV Land)… plus with MeTV, I get “Svengoolie” too!

Johanna writes:

November 18, 2011 at 7:49 AM

That sounds really neat. I don’t think I have access to any of those retro channels right now, more’s the shame.

Jim Perreault writes:

November 21, 2011 at 8:18 PM

RTV is pretty good as well. That is another digital subchannel, I believe.