Why doesn't TV show more classic movies?

Follow @empiremagazine

Forum Home

Register for Free!

Log In

Moderator Tickets

FAQ

Users Online

Why doesn't TV show more classic movies?

Logged in as: Guest

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Film Forums] >> Movie Musings >> Why doesn't TV show more classic movies?

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 5:55:06 PM

Professor Dent

Posts: 31
Joined: 22/1/2013

This will sound a bit jumpers for goalposts, but I seem to remember that growing up in the 1970s and early 80s, there was a far greater variety of classic films on the box. Really, just about any film that was ever made would make it.

We had seasons of Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, shorts such as Tom & Jerry. But also classic MGM musicals, a season of Hitchcock films, Tarzan, film noir and so on.

Of course, we do have classic movies on telly now - but they're always the same. Casablanca, Black Narcissus, Great Expectations, Calamity Jane, Bond, About a Boy... It seems like it's the same films being shown over and over again, on a loop. There's no variety.

Is this because it costs too much? Couldn't the Big Five channels (formerly terrestrial) join forces to buy up better films? You'd think, for instance, they could show Olivier's Richard III this weekend in light of recent events, but you can probably forget it.

Of course, you can get them on Netflix or Lovefilm. But there is a generation who simply don't know about these movies, so won't know where to look or rather what to look for. In any event, it's much nicer to settle down and watch a movie knowing that others are doing the same, it's a communal experience. Wouldn't it be an idea for Netflix to sponsor the showings of films, to encourage folk to broaden their movie interests?

As it is, I'd imagine your flatmate has a wider range of movies on offer than TV does these days. It can't be because Sky has bought them all up, surely, because Sky Classics doesn't frankly offer anything that special or obscure either.

Post #: 1

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 6:37:36 PM

sanchia

Posts: 16704
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Norwich

I remember those days (I have especially fond memories of the good old Harold Lloyd show they used to show regularly with his films in bite size chunks). Saturdays in particular always had classic films on BBC 2. I tend to think there is a disturbing trend of the "I don't watch black and white films" brigade which from personal experience of talking to people appears to be in the ascendency. It used to be a rare thing that someone would say that but I know at least four people at work who are of that opinion now and the children of friends virtually all like that.

< Message edited by sanchia -- 7/2/2013 6:41:53 PM >

_____________________________

Nothing to see here.

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 2

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 7:31:03 PM

Cloud Cuckoo

Posts: 394
Joined: 7/2/2013
From: Mind your own

If you have freeview then Film4 screens lots of old films during the day, and not just the better known 'classics'. Channel 4 often shows some oldies of an afternoon too.

However I realise the whole having to work for a living thing hampers our appreciation of such things somewhat...

----------

_____________________________

In Thom we trust.

(in reply to sanchia)

Post #: 3

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 7:44:33 PM

Dark Knight

Posts: 1715
Joined: 2/10/2005
From: Sedgley

In the cloudiest reaches of my mind, I seem to remember BBC2 showing loads of Sci-Fi films on a Wednesday night at 6pm - This Island Earth, Invaders From Mars, When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds, It Came From Outer Space, Robinson Crusoe On Mars - to name but a few. This fed my love of sci-fi as a young kid totally in love with Star Wars. It also helped that my father liked science-fiction so we used to sit there together watching these wonderful nostalgia pieces (even if though I didn't know it at the time)

In fact, BBC2 Wednesday evening 6pm seemed to be Sci-Fi time - Star Trek on its endless re-runs and also Star Trek - The Next Generation, before Sky nicked it.

Good Times......

_____________________________

"I'm too tense to speak!" - Borstal

(in reply to Cloud Cuckoo)

Post #: 4

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 8:24:58 PM

Professor Dent

Posts: 31
Joined: 22/1/2013

Dark Knight's avatar gives a hint of how things used to be, of course the animated Batman does get shown now, as does The Saint, but they're bumped away on BBC4 or ITV4 so it all gets watered down somewhat. Still, they are there. Back in the day we had Sgt Bilko, the Dick van Dyke Show, the Munsters (vintage version), all great stuff and it frontloaded the TV's evening with entertainment and promise.

Now you turn on the telly when you get home, and it's a cookery show or suchlike. Instead you think, okay, what has Lovefilm sent out, or shall I work my way through that box set?

It just seems like bad thinking by the powers that be. Likewise, they have something like Mad Men and debut it on BBC4, then when the show it on BBC2 it's on too late and they follow that series with a much later series on BBC2, losing all the viewers they've built up. Madness, I tell you!

Sure, they do have classic films in the afternoon, but it does seem to me there are very few surprises, it's the same old same old. When the Christmas classics are wheeled out, it's more of the same: Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain, Casablanca.... jeez. It's like some kind of torture - and I like those movies.

I wonder if it really just costs so much to show other films, because after all, they do still show b+w films, inc the above such as Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and so on. I mean, when was Hue and Cry last on telly? Or Laughter in Paradise (also Sim)?

(in reply to Dark Knight)

Post #: 5

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 9:02:40 PM

DancingClown

Posts: 3562
Joined: 8/1/2006
From: The Lot

quote:

ORIGINAL: Professor Dent

I wonder if it really just costs so much to show other films, because after all, they do still show b+w films, inc the above such as Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and so on. I mean, when was Hue and Cry last on telly? Or Laughter in Paradise (also Sim)?

Do we really need to see them again?

_____________________________

Astronomic Tune Boy

'The town knew darkness, and darkness was enough.'

"Storm just bleeewwww me away..."

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 6

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 9:21:53 PM

sanchia

Posts: 16704
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Norwich

quote:

ORIGINAL: DancingClown

quote:

ORIGINAL: Professor Dent

I wonder if it really just costs so much to show other films, because after all, they do still show b+w films, inc the above such as Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and so on. I mean, when was Hue and Cry last on telly? Or Laughter in Paradise (also Sim)?

Do we really need to see them again?

I Refuse to believe you are Cynical in denying the Labour of Love Hugh and Cry put into their songs.

_____________________________

Nothing to see here.

(in reply to DancingClown)

Post #: 7

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 10:46:23 PM

directorscut

Posts: 9856
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Professor Dent

Sure, they do have classic films in the afternoon, but it does seem to me there are very few surprises, it's the same old same old. When the Christmas classics are wheeled out, it's more of the same: Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain, Casablanca.... jeez. It's like some kind of torture - and I like those movies.

And who would want to watch them on TV now that they are beautifully presented on glorious Blu-ray?

I think schools need to get more involved with proactively expanding kid's appreciation of films otherwise classic films with become an ever-increasing niche. Grab them while they're young, as I always say.

There really should be a required viewing list for primary schools - and not of stuffy old films - but vibrant films that enhance the children's lives. I fail to see how a class of five-six years olds couldn't be enraptured by Chaplin's The Kid, for example.

We got shown some awful dreck in our school. I can't recall the amount of times I had to suffer through the animated version of The Lord of the Rings. It must have been the only tape the school had.

_____________________________

Member of the TMNT 1000 Club.

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 8

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 7/2/2013 11:38:07 PM

Cloud Cuckoo

Posts: 394
Joined: 7/2/2013
From: Mind your own

quote:

ORIGINAL: directorscut

I think schools need to get more involved with proactively expanding kid's appreciation of films otherwise classic films with become an ever-increasing niche. Grab them while they're young, as I always say.

There really should be a required viewing list for primary schools - and not of stuffy old films - but vibrant films that enhance the children's lives. I fail to see how a class of five-six years olds couldn't be enraptured by Chaplin's The Kid, for example.

That's a good idea, I would subscribe to that.

quote:

We got shown some awful dreck in our school. I can't recall the amount of times I had to suffer through the animated version of The Lord of the Rings. It must have been the only tape the school had.

Snap. I remember our teachers merrily playing us a very obviously pirated copy (the kind where you can see people passing the screen on the way to the toilet) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I forget why, must have been end of term!

It used to always make me laugh the way they would completely ignore the 'Not to be shown in schools or prisons' warning at the start of videos! Though why that warning was there is beyond me...

_____________________________

In Thom we trust.

(in reply to directorscut)

Post #: 9

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 8:41:43 AM

NCC1701A

Posts: 3797
Joined: 12/3/2011
From: Space Dock

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dark Knight

In the cloudiest reaches of my mind, I seem to remember BBC2 showing loads of Sci-Fi films on a Wednesday night at 6pm - This Island Earth, Invaders From Mars, When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds, It Came From Outer Space, Robinson Crusoe On Mars - to name but a few. This fed my love of sci-fi as a young kid totally in love with Star Wars. It also helped that my father liked science-fiction so we used to sit there together watching these wonderful nostalgia pieces (even if though I didn't know it at the time)

In fact, BBC2 Wednesday evening 6pm seemed to be Sci-Fi time - Star Trek on its endless re-runs and also Star Trek - The Next Generation, before Sky nicked it.

Good Times......

Agree I use to watch them as well.

_____________________________

Sheriff Hank Keough: We're saved! The museum in New York just sent us some additional backup.

Lake Placid - 1999

(in reply to Dark Knight)

Post #: 10

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 12:27:29 PM

Professor Dent

Posts: 31
Joined: 22/1/2013

Hue and Cry would be apt at the moment it's 'so cold, so cold'....

I think it's better to let kids pick up on the likes of Laurel and Hardy just by showing them, not spoonfeeding them. Agreed, I used to have notions of having a Fri afternoon kids' telly with The 39 Steps, the Hitch version, but I don't think they'd bite, and ditto Chaplin films too. But this stuff should be out there, being shown, esp over the summer holidays.

There's a treasure trove of stuff on lovefilm but like I say, you have to know about it.

It's incredible - at a time when TV faces competition like never before from websites, gaming, so much free pop music and so on, it is surely at its least diverse and intriguing.

(in reply to NCC1701A)

Post #: 11

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 12:49:06 PM

great_badir

Posts: 4172
Joined: 6/10/2005
From: A breaking rope bridge in the middle of the jungle

quote:

ORIGINAL: Professor Dent
It's incredible - at a time when TV faces competition like never before from websites, gaming, so much free pop music and so on, it is surely at its least diverse and intriguing.

But this is the problem - with the best will in the world, and giving average Joe Public a lot more credit than is perhaps due, there are now so many other ways people can see stuff. These days there's (as you say) LoveFilm and the like, YouTube, any number of websites streaming all sorts of stuff now in the public domain, cheapo DVDs etc etc etc. None of this existed back when BBC2 had Moviedrome, seasons of Carry On... and horror films, and channel 4 routinely showed all the weird stuff whilst ITV had all the mainstream stuff annoyingly badly edited AND split around the news (something they do to this day, the bastards). So TV these days provides different stuff - reality TV shows, gameshows, freak-show documentaries etc etc.

As others have said, old classics (and not so) ARE still given an airing on several of the Freeview channels, but there's no distinct pattern or "season" as there was before.

It's just changed, is all.

_____________________________

FAVE FILMS
BO BOMBS

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 12

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 12:50:10 PM

Dannybohy

Posts: 944
Joined: 7/1/2009

I imagine its to do with Netflix ,Lovefilm etc buying the rights to screen most of the old stuff?.
You can watch all the old He-man, She-Ra, Trap door, shoe people lol! all on Lovefilm! He-man is still awesome!! really great watching my 6yr old get excited when Prince Adam transforms into He- Man!! brilliant!. Both my kids laugh like nutters when they watch Tom and Jerry too!

on another note, I could safely say I couldnt care less about 99% of all standard TV broadcasting! I hardly watch any TV except skynews! I watch everything online, catch up tv etc, streaming movies all streaming online

< Message edited by Dannybohy -- 8/2/2013 12:52:55 PM >

_____________________________

�If you hate Nolan I pity you'
-Anonymous Nolan fan

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 13

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 1:30:38 PM

Professor Dent

Posts: 31
Joined: 22/1/2013

Well, that's it, I just don't know if anyone or who has bought the rights to all these quirky, interesting flicks.

Sure, sometimes you get an obsure old Western from the 50s on telly, it's two stars and it's rubbish, just filler. Never would I have imagined it would be given the time of day in 2013, as a teen I thought, wow, they could have a classic movie on every day of the week! And in a way they do, it's just always the same classic film, from a limited pool. It's getting like American telly.

I remember when you might settle down to an old obscure classic at 11.30pm Fri night, The Wicker Man or Get Carter, and it would be a revelation. Now those two do get shown a fair bit today, but you know what I mean. Seeking it out yourself isn't quite the same. I find it hard to believe folk would choose cookery shows or DIY over classic entertaining movies, or brill sitcoms, I mean those shows got made simply cos they were cheaper than quality dramas. How much cheaper are they than some classic quality movie from the 60s?

(in reply to Dannybohy)

Post #: 14

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 2:28:59 PM

AxlReznor

Posts: 1095
Joined: 2/12/2010
From: Great Britain

I think there's plenty of classics being shown on TV. Filmfour's one of my favourite channels because of the variety of films they show. My main problem is that classic and foreign language films all seem to be shown when I'm either at work, or in bed (I have no way to record things that are shown on TV).

One of my favourite days last year was over Christmas when BBC2 showed The 39 Steps, Notorious and another early Hitchcock film (I forgot which one) back-to-back.

< Message edited by AxlReznor -- 8/2/2013 2:32:09 PM >

_____________________________

"It's amazing how many supposed 'plot holes' turn out to now be plot holes if you'd just pay attention", Me

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 15

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 6:39:15 PM

Whistler

Posts: 2276
Joined: 22/11/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: Professor Dent

Of course, you can get them on Netflix or Lovefilm. But there is a generation who simply don't know about these movies, so won't know where to look or rather what to look for. In any event, it's much nicer to settle down and watch a movie knowing that others are doing the same, it's a communal experience. Wouldn't it be an idea for Netflix to sponsor the showings of films, to encourage folk to broaden their movie interests?

This. I don't actually watch TV anymore 'cause I can't be bothered with most of the faff and I don't have a license, but I always loved that feeling of settling down in the sitting room at a specific time and switching on Film4 or whatever, knowing that thousands of others around the country were doing the same. It was a bit like going to the cinema, but in the comfort of your own home.

_____________________________

"And my straw reaches acrooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake. I...drink...your...milkshake!"

Read my film reviews at Frame by Frame
Fast & Furious 6, Mud & more

(in reply to Professor Dent)

Post #: 16

RE: Why doesn't TV show more classic movies? - 8/2/2013 6:50:57 PM

sanchia

Posts: 16704
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Norwich

Remember the good old days of Moviedrome on BBC 2? I was introduced to many obscure classics through there.

_____________________________

Nothing to see here.

(in reply to Whistler)

Post #: 17