When Will TCM Air Star Wars?

[Shaka Zulu]

I don't want to see anything more recent than say 30 years ago on a CLASSIC movie channel. It should be like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A movie should be at least 30 years old to be considered for addition to their roster.

But most of the movies of the 70's are nearing that mark, as are a few of the movies of the 80's (and TCM actually showed movies like Batman Returns, Dick Tracy and Colonel Redl-all from the 80's and 90's [and yes, I saw them shown on that channel.]) Granted, the last one was shown in their foreign film block the channel has (had) on Sundays, but yes, TCM's shown them (and before I forget, they've also shown 2010-broadcast on the last day of 2010!) If they can shown these films, they can also show the original Star Wars trilogy.

Like it or not, the 70's and the 80's are now the past (classic), and TCM should be showing movies from these eras.

 

[Set Harth]

But most of the movies of the 70's are nearing that mark

All movies of the 70s have already reached it.

 

[RJDiogenes]

TCM shows movies as old as the 1920s, which means, now that almost half the 80s have hit that 30-year mark, they have nearly six decades worth of films to draw on. There's nothing wrong with that except time-- the more of the recent films that they show, the less time there will be for the oldest films. Which is why it would be a good idea for them to do what other channels have done and split up.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Didn't they show The Matrix recently?

 

[Amaris]

Didn't they show The Matrix recently?

What's crazy is that The Matrix is already 15 years old.

 

[bbailey861]

There are already more than enough movie channels showing movies from the 70s onward. I'd be quite happy to have TCM stay in the period covering the beginning of film through the 60's. That's what they're best at.

 

[cylkoth]

TCM shows movies as old as the 1920s, which means, now that almost half the 80s have hit that 30-year mark, they have nearly six decades worth of films to draw on. There's nothing wrong with that except time-- the more of the recent films that they show, the less time there will be for the oldest films. Which is why it would be a good idea for them to do what other channels have done and split up.

Additionally, TCM shows mostly films from the massive Warner Bros library, which includes not only WB titles, but films they've acquired thru mergers and acquisitions, such as MGM and United Artists. Yes, there has been some non WB owned shown-Alien (20th Century Fox) comes to mind. But the overwhelming majority of what they show, comes from the corporate sibling's vault.

 

[KB24]

TCM has shown semi-recent Oscar winners during its 31 Days of Oscar month such as Return of the King. If there is a theme or warrant for a modern classic, they do air them on occasion.

I however, am glad that they stick to their monicker and show silents thru 70s with some 80s unargables now and again. So many channels have drifted and have meaningless names that don't match their programming. A lot of channels like Discovery or History brands show the same programs over dozens of channels because they all have no niche station value and all the properties are largely the same.

I hope TCM stays true to itself and its audience for as long as possible. Several over the air retro television channels are bringing back a lot of classic programming as well and are gaining in popularity. I used to think that web content was going to supplement television, back when things like Homicide Second Shift were in their infancy in the late 90s. However now it seems that regular televisions channels may condense into old catalog placeholders.

TCM has a role to fill and does it well. As others say, now it seems a lot of premium channels or on demand show more movies from the past 30 years. I can't remember the last time I specifically sat down to see a brand new movie premiere on HBO and the like. They have numerous channels as well that are supposed to theme and really only the Encore stations stick to their channel divisions- and they are adding more classic elements like TCM.

Whew that was long! I guess that is what happens when I don't post for awhile!

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ You're right, the Encore stations are very good at staying on theme, too. And they are also commercial free.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

It's time to focus on the 1970's and 80's (as well as the 90's soon after the others.) How many Busby Berkeley movies does one need to see anyway?

You have AMC for that, where they cannot stop showing the collective works of John Hughes, Stallone, Ralph Macchio, Goodfellas and innumerable mobster-in-tacky-70s-clothing copy+paste films influenced by Goodfellas. That, and the awful Jaws sequels.

 

[KB24]

IFC is now owned by AMC and shows the same batch of movies as well. Why can't TCM just stay old and then we maintain a core of new channels for recent classics? I like that.

I think Warner had a Roku channel for their properties but it never really took off.

 

[Klaus]

Charter jut did some realignment and I have a channel called Retroplex, a spinoff of Movieplex, which shows only older movies, w/o commercials and I think uncut. And the Fox Movie Channel has begun showing older movies in the morning with an "FXM Retro" sprite in the corner. They are also commercial-free and uncut. So if there are an increasing number of these kinds of channels, I think that other studios obviously think TCM's business model appears safe.