Current Events > happy 30th birthday to turner classic movies !!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

on this date in 1994, turner classic movies debuted with a showing of gone with the wind. they'll be showing it again tonight at 8pm.

all of today's intros on the channel feature the original host, robert osborne, who passed away a few years ago. they're also showing all of their old promotional materials and bumpers throughout the day (and month) from before their rebrand.

also airing today are the breaking point, an american in paris, mr skeffington, cyrando de bergerac, the wind, and diabolique.

first intro on the channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4iPLnAvI6I&ab_channel=24fpsfan

new bumper about the development of the channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU_RLMrmDGc&ab_channel=TurnerClassicMovies

you all have turner classic movies to thank for me having such incredible taste in cinema, so plz wish them a happy birthday itt <3

Rebrand?

Mega_Mana posted...

Rebrand?

yeah they went from old timey logos and jazz to... pastel/neon colors and beats. a sans serif logo. i remember a bumper they debuted not longer after the rebrand featuring a zoomer couple cuddling on the couch while watching the goodbye girl. as if zoomer couples are watching tcm together. this is a scenario that has never happened, mega_mana. this was back in late '21 btw.

https://twitter.com/tcm/status/1433089395503022095

Here's to 30 and hopefully more!

But with David Zaslav in charge who knows....

That was a hell of an introduction from Robert Osbourne. You know, the way that he always appeared on the set, as if he never left it, I always imagined his introduction going something like this:

"Hi, I'm Robert Osbourne. I haven't seen my family in three years. They keep me locked up in this room and force me to show some of the best films ever made! Please, if you're not too busy, call the police. I would like to go home."

Don't watch it that often, but it's nice to have around. FWIW, they showed Gaslight about 4 months ago.

It bears mentioning that George Cukor was fired from Gone With the Wind for being gay. Clark Gable refused to work with a homosexual and had the director fired. George Cukor continued to coach Vivian Leigh without financial compensation.

Also, on the subject of no one remaining untouched by the film experience, a 14-year-old Spike Lee became interested in filmmaking as a social medium when he was the only Black student at a screening of the film and his teacher went on about what a great movie it was without ever addressing the film's racism.

KFHEWUI posted...

Here's to 30 and hopefully more!

But with David Zaslav in charge who knows....

Yeah I fear TCM isn't long for the world with Zaslav. I think he already tried to do some shit but got pushback from several big directors.

FortuneCookie posted...

It bears mentioning that George Cukor was fired from Gone With the Wind for being gay. Clark Gable refused to work with a homosexual and had the director fired. George Cukor continued to coach Vivian Leigh without financial compensation.

isnt this possibly apocryphal

david o selznick went through like five directors on that thing since he was a megalomaniac and directors didn't wanna deal with him (or vice versa)

I honestly always thought AMC was better at this game than TMC was. And that's just standalone on them picking out old movies to reshow on tv.

Goat channel. Loved the Silent film features on Sundays. RIP Robert Osbourne

masticatingman posted...

I honestly always thought AMC was better at this game than TMC was. And that's just standalone on them picking out old movies to reshow on tv.

i am too young to remember amc as a movie channel. except that i saw the good the bad and the ugly on there... with commercials... which made it like four hours. maybe the first time i watched a pre 70s movie except for some old disney stuff and wizard of oz. had four stars on the broadcast info tho so i was like fuck it lets do this. blew my mind. decided to track down the other old four star movies and dvr them which was of course mostly all over tcm. plus some of sundance and ifc channels when they were also commercial free.

PeteyParker posted...

Yeah I fear TCM isn't long for the world with Zaslav. I think he already tried to do some shit but got pushback from several big directors.

they just got a 'turner classic movies tour' at the wb studio lot. tcm's film festival is happening this week. they're still doing their cruise and wine club. they just started two for one, a new double feature program they are doing with scorsese, spielberg, pta, spike, rian, and so forth all summer. it's fine. not a big deal. they even rehired several people who got laid off a year ago since the backlash was so severe.