# R.I.P. TVLand (channel not going away)



## SayWhat?

'Twas good to know ya' Started off great. Terrific show lineup for many years made you one of the best cable/sat channels available.


But then came a host of problems, not the least of which was a fashion/beauty/talent/amateur competition or two. Then there was the inundation of shows from the 90s. Adding so-called 'original' programming didn't help although the shows did give most of TV's out-of-work and over-the-hill sitcom actors another job.

The nail in your coffin though is the addition of CSI, a show I've never watched and will never watch. Despite the fact that you still run a few 70s shows like Good Times, Sanford and All in the Family, you have clearly abandoned the pretense of being a classic TV venue.

All that's left now is a name change. Just don't hire the group that came up with the new name for the SciFi Channel.


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## fluffybear

When TVLand first went on the air, I watched it more than any other channel but after a few years, it went from being my favorite channel to one I would occasionally (mostly for the marathons) to a channel I can not even tell you when I turned it on last (must have been about the time someone at TVLand decided to label "Roseanne" a classic. 
I like CSI (especially those before William Peterson left) but how many channels need to air it?


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## Nick

So, what else is new? :shrug:


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## spartanstew

Never watched it.


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## dirtyblueshirt

The inundation of 90's TV shows is somewhat expected... after all, the 90's are now starting to be 20 years ago... Perhaps they could focus on a certain decade each day... that would cover 5 days, and then mix it up on the weekends. Just my two cents, though. CSI and original series? As much as I like Betty White, they need to go...


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## B Newt

spartanstew said:


> Never watched it.


Ditto


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## SayWhat?

Nick said:


> BTW, if TVLand isn't going off the air, then your thread title is misleading.


Made ya' look, made ya' look!! :sure:


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## Mark Holtz

Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


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## sigma1914

Mark Holtz said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


Hulu.


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## dirtyblueshirt

"Mark Holtz" said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


Real quick side note: why do you have a QRCode for GasBuddy on your icon?


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## juan ellitinez

Mark Holtz said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


netflix (without commercials)


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## SayWhat?

Mark Holtz said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


RTN if any of your local stations carry it as a sub-channel.


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## max1

I think, you can watch Dragnet etc, on AOL tv if they are still doing that. I agree I haven't watched TV Land in a long time. In fact,tv in general is getting bad except for a few shows on History and Discover i could live with out it but I have to have my Cubbies during the summer. Have a great week. Max.


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## James Long

I wonder if TVLand has lost contracts to RTV, This, AntennaTV (and any other OTA networks carrying old TV shows)? With the startup of so many competitors it is hard to say that there isn't a market for what TVLand should be showing (instead of modern/first run programming).


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## SayWhat?

See, that's my point. Obviously the market is there. Even Reelz and Hallmark are getting into the act with shows like "Cheers", "Who's The Boss" and most recently "Empty Nest".

I'm not sure why WGN dropped their Retro Sunday nights unless it had something to do with the launch of Antenna TV.


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## TheRatPatrol

The only thing I watch on TV Land is Hot In Cleveland. And thats tough to watch in SD.


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## FTA Michael

It's my First Rule of TV Programming: Every channel, no matter what its original niche, evolves to become like every other channel. See The Nashville Network, SciFi, American Movie Classics, MTV, VH1, TV Land, the Weather Channel (!) and on and on. The Chess Channel may launch with nothing but endgames and fianchettos, but by the end of year five, it's going to be running sitcoms and reality shows.

Notable exception: Turner Classic Movies. I love you, TCM!


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## hdtvfan0001

It would seem that TVLand is like any other channel....it has to keep things moving or get stale and go away.

After all....how many times can folks really watch reruns of Gilligan's Island?


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## Stuart Sweet

Wellll..... TV Land, and before that Nick at Nite used to show a lot of 50s TV shows. Then they abandoned those for 60s TV shows. And so on and so forth, it's just a predictable progression. I have to say, it's not surprising either because there are so many other venues for classic TV.


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## mike1977

fluffybear said:


> When TVLand first went on the air, I watched it more than any other channel but after a few years, it went from being my favorite channel to one I would occasionally (mostly for the marathons) to a channel I can not even tell you when I turned it on last (must have been about the time someone at TVLand decided to label "Roseanne" a classic.
> I like CSI (especially those before William Peterson left) but how many channels need to air it?


Yeah, for me it was The Scifi Channel (from Friday Prime to wrestling on Friday nights now). I hate how niche channels lost their way.


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## James Long

Stuart Sweet said:


> Wellll..... TV Land, and before that Nick at Nite used to show a lot of 50s TV shows. Then they abandoned those for 60s TV shows. And so on and so forth, it's just a predictable progression.


They are progressing faster than the age of the programming they carry. They have moved from 40-50 year old TV to 20-30 year old TV to 0-10 year old TV. They are no longer "classic TV" programmers.

New TV about Old TV would be acceptable ... New TV in the style of Old TV marginal. But new TV that cannot be distinguished from programs on other channels? I suppose that explains the huge bug in the corner ... it is the only way to know what channel you're watching.

And while the purveyors of Old TV have lost the path the new networks have not been made available nationwide. If you are fortunate enough to be in a city with OTA Old TV and you have a good enough antenna you may have a couple more choices. Otherwise the new channels mean paying money to new programmers while still paying the old programmers for content they are no longer providing. It takes some courage for a carrier to drop a channel that is no longer performing the function it originally did - such as fuse or G4.

Even The Weather Channel was on the verge of losing 14 million subscribers last year because they had lost their way and were programming anything to do with weather (including feature films about weather or with some weather subplot such as a villain with a weather control machine) instead of forecasts and documentaries about weather. A line had to be drawn.

Is it time for a line to be drawn with TVLand? Get back to the purpose or be gone? Or is the repurposed TVLand still worthy of carriage? Genre level programming would be nice.


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## APB101

What used to make TV Land special, when it debuted in April 1996, were past series one could not find easily in syndication or other cable programmers' lineups. The channel sold out. Maybe it was a Viacom thing. But TV Land is garbage. One can find most of its scheduled programming on DVD.


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## Glen_D

Stuart Sweet said:


> Wellll..... TV Land, and before that Nick at Nite used to show a lot of 50s TV shows. Then they abandoned those for 60s TV shows. And so on and so forth, it's just a predictable progression. I have to say, it's not surprising either because there are so many other venues for classic TV.


If you include DVD releases, and streaming services like Netflix and HULU, then yes, I would agree there are other venues for classic TV that didn't exist when TV Land was launched. But Cable/satellite networks are virtually devoid of classic TV shows today.

Networks like RTV, Antenna TV, and Me TV are now available in many markets via digital subchannels or LP OTA, and could be a boon to classic TV fans, since most of those shows aren't screened on other channels, and a few haven't even been released on DVD or streaming services. But as James points out, those networks aren't available in all markets:


James Long said:


> And while the purveyors of Old TV have lost the path the new networks have not been made available nationwide. If you are fortunate enough to be in a city with OTA Old TV and you have a good enough antenna you may have a couple more choices.


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## Mark Holtz

Hmmmm..... let me check some series....
Angel - On TNT
Babylon 5 - Not being shown
Buffy, The Vampire Slayer - On Oxygen, Chiller, Logo
Star Trek (Classic) - Not being shown
Star Trek: Next Generation - On my local Fox station at 1:30 AM, BBC America, WGN, CWe
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Not being shown
Star Trek: Voyager - Not being shown
Star Trek: Enterprise - On SciFi
The X Files - On BBC America
Of course, why watch them on the cable channels when I have them on DVD?


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## SayWhat?

Then there's The Hub that's showing "Doogie Howser, MD", "Family Ties", "Happy Days" and "The Wonder Years".

Whoever is running what used to be TVLand has clearly misjudged the market.


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## Drucifer

It had _Mannix_ for awhile which I watched. There been nothing for a long while now.


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## Hoosier205

CSI? Horrible, horrible show. CSI personnel who moonlight as SWAT. Idiotic.


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## Jon Ellis

The digital subchannel "Me TV" seems to have the best prospects of becoming the "new" TV Land, if they can convince station programmers to carry it instead of RTV (Retro TV) or Antenna TV. Me TV has most of the classic TV hits, including Perry Mason, I Love Lucy, Dick Van ****, and the Twilight Zone. Most of the shows are from the late `50s and `60s, like the original Nick at Nite and TV Land. But they've only picked up a few affiliates since their national launch several months back...they simply came into the game too late.

RTV has pretty wide distribution, but they've filled up the schedule with mostly low-budget, forgotten programming, which limits ratings potential. Who really wants to watch The A-Team five nights a week and doesn't have it on DVD already? (A few of the shows - Daytime and Cold Case Files - aren't "Retro" at all and they run hours of infomercials overnight.)

Antenna TV is getting pretty good distribution on co-owned Tribune/Local TV stations, but its 70s-80s intensive format isn't going to satisfy those who are missing classic 50s-60s programming.

Of course, this is a satellite discussion forum, and since these are digital subchannels (except for a few full-power affiliates), they're not going to be on satellite anytime soon! (Since they're affiliated from market-to-market, the chances of a national feed are slim because it would upset the affiliates.)


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## 4HiMarks

I hardly pay attention to what channel a show is on anymore. I also almost never watch anything live. I just fire up the DVR and select whatever it is I want to watch. Sometimes I catch myself wondering, for example, Hmm, wonder why we haven't had any new episodes of (insert show here) lately - oh yeah, it's a CBS Show and we're in the middle of March Madness.


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## lwilli201

They probably have shown all the early years stuff already so they have a choice of starting over or showing newer stuff. It would be great if they would get some of the shows that are not currently on 2-3 other channels. They could get all the Star Trek series that are not on another channel. I would like to watch Deep Space 9 and Voyager again since I have not watched them since they were first run.


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## jadebox

Although I think "Hot In Cleveland" fits the TVLand brand since it features many actors from the classic TV shows, much of the other programming on TVLand has nothing to classic television.

MTV started the trend. They haven't televised anything to do with music in years. Now, the "History" channel is full of shows on UFOs, "Biography" is playing "Murder She Wrote," "SciFi" has been replaced with "Siffy" and doesn't show anything worth watching, "BBC America" is playing "Star Trek," etc.

We need to go back to using just a number to label each "channel!"

-- Roger


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## Paul Secic

SayWhat? said:


> 'Twas good to know ya' Started off great. Terrific show lineup for many years made you one of the best cable/sat channels available.
> 
> But then came a host of problems, not the least of which was a fashion/beauty/talent/amateur competition or two. Then there was the inundation of shows from the 90s. Adding so-called 'original' programming didn't help although the shows did give most of TV's out-of-work and over-the-hill sitcom actors another job.
> 
> The nail in your coffin though is the addition of CSI, a show I've never watched and will never watch. Despite the fact that you still run a few 70s shows like Good Times, Sanford and All in the Family, you have clearly abandoned the pretense of being a classic TV venue.
> 
> All that's left now is a name change. Just don't hire the group that came up with the new name for the SciFi Channel.


I stopped watching TVLAND years. Just go to YouTube where they have some early 50's TV shows hidden.


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## Paul Secic

Mark Holtz said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


YouTube has some original Dragnet from the 50's.


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## Michael P

dirtyblueshirt said:


> The inundation of 90's TV shows is somewhat expected... after all, the 90's are now starting to be 20 years ago... Perhaps they could focus on a certain decade each day... that would cover 5 days, and then mix it up on the weekends. Just my two cents, though. CSI and original series? As much as I like Betty White, they need to go...


TV Land should have tried this: A classic prime-time network lineup from the past. I.E. CBS Tuesdays from the fall of 1964 for example. Run every program in the time slot it originally ran, for best results include the commercials that actually ran.

Shows like "To Tell The Truth" followed by "Here's Lucy", "Petticoat Junction" etc. (I'm guessing on what actually ran back then but it had to include one of the classic CBS prime-time game shows like "I've Got a Secret" or "What's My Line?" followed by what ever incarnation of Lucy was on, and then what ever Hooterville based program was on. I have no idea what was on at 10 PM, I had to go to bed before then.


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## Michael P

jadebox said:


> Although I think "Hot In Cleveland" fits the TVLand brand since it features many actors from the classic TV shows, much of the other programming on TVLand has nothing to classic television.
> 
> MTV started the trend. They haven't televised anything to do with music in years. Now, the "History" channel is full of shows on UFOs, "Biography" is playing "Murder She Wrote," "SciFi" has been replaced with "Siffy" and doesn't show anything worth watching, "BBC America" is playing "Star Trek," etc.
> 
> We need to go back to using just a number to label each "channel!"
> 
> -- Roger


What's up with Star Trek on BBCA anyway? What's British about ST? That belongs on SYFY.


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## MysteryMan

Perhaps the fact that Patrick Stewart is British has something to do with it.


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## jblaze50

Everytime I press the guide , it usually goes like this,

Bravo : Real Housewives of Wherever
Lifetime : New Adventures of old Christine (how many years did this run, its on everwhere)
MTV : Jersey Shore
E! : The Kardashian Channel
Ect..........

This is the truth many channels run the same shows daily in these "mini-marathons". That the problem with TV. You would think with the advent of DVR's that a channel wouldn't have show a new episode say on Monday , and then show it the rest of the week. But all channels are now doing these mini-marathons of shows daily. TVLand does the same thing with all of their shows classics or not . Even Antenna TV episodes are shown back to back . I guess this is what people want , to sit in front of the TV and watch the same show over and over....... I just watch sports now because I can never find anything I like , because if its on now and I don't like it ,it will be on for the next six hours............


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## SayWhat?

And the retro parade continues with "Fame" appearing on Ovation.

Yup, TVLand, y'all screwed up but good.


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## mashandhogan

Don't Make fun of Trek!!!!! It is on BBCA, as mentioned by someone, to show Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart). Another topic: TV Land needs to show the Original Trek!!!


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## ThomasM

Mark Holtz said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


Dragnet, Adam-12 = Retro TV

Emergency = ME-TV

Good luck if you get either via DirecTV...


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## tampa8




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## Paul Secic

ThomasM said:


> Dragnet, Adam-12 = Retro TV
> 
> Emergency = ME-TV
> 
> Good luck if you get either via DirecTV...


About 20 years ago TVLAND ran Murphy Brown for a week. Then it wasn't on again. Whoever runs TVLAND must not care or something.


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## TheRatPatrol

A lot of the shows you guys mentioned are available on DVD and Netflix.


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## jadebox

mashandhogan said:


> Don't Make fun of Trek!!!!! It is on BBCA, as mentioned by someone, to show Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart).


That's a very tenuous connection - an English actor playing a French captain. By the same logic they could justify showing the new Battlestar Galactica because the actor who played Lee Adama is British.

It's just gotten to the point that many of the cable channels don't seem to have any concern about sticking to the theme of the channel. It used to be that if you liked classic TV show, you could leave the TV on TV Land, or if you liked SciFi you could leave your TV tuned to SciFi. Now, that's not true.

-- Roger


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## James Long

The Weather Channel playing "The Avengers" movie because the bad guy had a weather changing machine is the biggest stretch that comes to mind. At least "The Perfect Storm" was about natural weather.

I suppose we should be happy that they didn't stage an American Idol ripoff using their on screen personalities as contestants. Anything to improve the ratings.


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## SayWhat?

> That's a very tenuous connection - an English actor playing a French captain.


OK, so why is "The X-Files" on BBCA?



> About 20 years ago TVLAND ran Murphy Brown for a week. Then it wasn't on again.


Over the last few weeks Hallmark was running "Empty Nest", but I don't see it in the schedule for the next week or so.


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## lwilli201

Anyone notice Firefly is now on the Science Channel?


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## Nick

lwilli201 said:


> Anyone notice Firefly is now on the Science Channel?


Yes...quite a while back, actually.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=190210&highlight=firefly


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## hdtvfan0001

Nick said:


> Yes...quite a while back, actually.
> 
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=190210&highlight=firefly


I'm glad you posted that this morning....

...otherwise....

...your post would have been Nick at Night.


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## Nick

hdtvfan0001 said:


> I'm glad you posted that this morning....
> 
> ...otherwise....
> 
> ...your post would have been Nick at Night.


Well, I was for the last three nights and I may be again tonight...but I doubt it.  Add me to your favorites and stay tuned. See you down at _Spanky's Marshside_!


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## fluffybear

ThomasM said:


> Dragnet, Adam-12 = Retro TV
> 
> Emergency = ME-TV
> 
> Good luck if you get either via DirecTV...


Emergency is on Retro TV as well.


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## Jon Ellis

TheRatPatrol said:


> A lot of the shows you guys mentioned are available on DVD and Netflix.


Of course they are, but I think the fact that we're all here perusing a forum about live TV proves that there is still interest in getting shows from a TV channel rather than a DVD or the web! There are plenty of shows available on DVD that are also on live TV.


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## Nick

Jon Ellis said:


> Of course they are, but I think the fact that we're all here perusing a forum about live TV proves that there is still interest in getting shows from a TV channel rather than a DVD or the web! There are plenty of shows available on DVD that are also on live TV.


Why we are even talking about TVLand as "live" tv is curious to me. First, watching decades-old reruns is not exactly "live" tv. Secondly, TVLand has strayed far from its charter, such that there is little retro content of interest to me.

If I want to watch retro, I fire up the Roku and go to the net where I can select the exact programs I want to watch at the time I want to watch.


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## ejjames

My favorite was the classic commercials they would show during breaks. But, alas, those too got pushed out.

Now it's much easier to hop over to youtube to watch a classic set of ads from any decade you choose.


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## paulman182

I very much dislike the way niche channels have gotten away from their original purposes but I don't waste time trying to figure out how they justify a particular show.

They don't have to justify their decisions. They just show whatever they want.


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## markfp

James Long said:


> I wonder if TVLand has lost contracts to RTV, This, AntennaTV (and any other OTA networks carrying old TV shows)? With the startup of so many competitors it is hard to say that there isn't a market for what TVLand should be showing (instead of modern/first run programming).


I think it's just the reverse, those "start-up" channels got a break on the price of those shows because TVLand dropped them and nobody else wanted to play them. If TVLand really had wanted them, all it had to do was renew it's contracts with the shows' distributors.

The problem is those channels have minuscule audiences (so small they don't even show up in the ratings) and even smaller programming budgets when compared to TVLand and are carried in far fewer TV markets so they really can't be considered much competition.


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## James Long

The OTA networks are growing ... and they get the benefit of reselling the same content over and over on a per market basis instead of trying to convince cable/satellite to carry them for one check. An OTA retro channel could easily be making more money off of the syndication of their channel in various markets than a similar cable/satellite channel.


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## rnbmusicfan

As much as I dislike TV Land, I will be recording the TV Land Awards that air this weekend. I think there is a 'Cosby Show', 'Family Ties', 'Facts of Life', 'Welcome Back Kotter' reunion.


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## Paul Secic

rnbmusicfan said:


> As much as I dislike TV Land, I will be recording the TV Land Awards that air this weekend. I think there is a 'Cosby Show', 'Family Ties', 'Facts of Life', 'Welcome Back Kotter' reunion.


The Cosby Show and Family Ties are on RTN as well.


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## fluffybear

Paul Secic said:


> The Cosby Show and Family Ties are on RTN as well.




I do not believe either show is actually carried by RTN (they may be carried by your local affiliate through a separate distribution agreement) . RTN does carry the "The Bill Cosby Show" (1969-1971) which is far different from "The Cosby Show".

Family Ties on the other hand is currently airing on THE HUB


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## Michael P

markfp said:


> I think it's just the reverse, those "start-up" channels got a break on the price of those shows because TVLand dropped them and nobody else wanted to play them. If TVLand really had wanted them, all it had to do was renew it's contracts with the shows' distributors.
> 
> The problem is those channels have minuscule audiences (so small they don't even show up in the ratings) and even smaller programming budgets when compared to TVLand and are carried in far fewer TV markets so they really can't be considered much competition.


Those channels you call "start-up" are connected to the production companies that originally made the programs they air today. I believe MGM is on two of these channels "THIS TV" and "MeTV".


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## jadebox

jadebox said:


> That's a very tenuous connection - an English actor playing a French captain. By the same logic they [BBC America] could justify showing the new Battlestar Galactica because the actor who played Lee Adama is British.


And, just a few days after I posted that .....

"BBC America Acquires 'Battlestar Galactica'":

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bbc-america-acquires-battlestar-galactica-181153



-- Roger


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## Rob1956

As mentioned before ME-TV is an option. We've had it here in Chicago for a while over channel 26, it's recently gone national. You might want to check your local OTA channels for Antenna TV. We have it here in Chicago over WGN's channel 9.2, if might fit some of your needs.


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## gomezma1

I have not seen anymore Ed Sullivan Show showings since when TV Land first started. Does D carry RTN, have never heard of this channel till now.


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## gomezma1

I found it and it is channel 15.1 here in San Antonio. Looked at schedule and it listed some old shows like daniel boone, marcus welby, airwolf, leave it to beaver. fat albert. I think different areas of country have diffrent programming.


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## Paul Secic

gomezma1 said:


> I have not seen anymore Ed Sullivan Show showings since when TV Land first started. Does D carry RTN, have never heard of this channel till now.


The Ed Sullivan Show was never on TVLAND or any other channel that i know of.


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## Glen_D

gomezma1 said:


> I found it and it is channel 15.1 here in San Antonio. Looked at schedule and it listed some old shows like daniel boone, marcus welby, airwolf, leave it to beaver. fat albert. I think different areas of country have diffrent programming.


You can't actually get that channel _in_ San Antonio, can you? I know I sure can't. That channel is shown as a LP station in Kerrville, TX. It isn't listed among the San Antonio DMA stations.


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## gomezma1

Ed Sullivan was on TVLand when they first started. It was only a half hour show. This was back in 96.
I have not tried to view the RTN channel yet.


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## SayWhat?

OK, so they picked up Dick Van ****. Are they responding to the maze of retro channels popping up?


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## fluffybear

SayWhat? said:


> OK, so they picked up Dick Van ****. Are they responding to the maze of retro channels popping up?


I suspect it has more to do with the 50th anniversary of the show and the fact that Paul Brownstein is more or less giving the show away. Paul is offering the show to anyone who wants it on a straight barter basis.


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## runner861

Would it be possible to go to the original prints of these shows and remaster them in their original aspect ratio? Wasn't that done with Hogan's Heroes? The show was broadcast on HDNet, I believe, and the aspect ratio was wider than 4x3 but narrower than 16x9. If so, some of these old shows could enjoy new life, and viewing them in their OAR and in HD would actually be better than viewing them when they were originally broadcast. I believe that this is possible only for shows shot on film, not on videotape.


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## fluffybear

runner861 said:


> Would it be possible to go to the original prints of these shows and remaster them in their original aspect ratio? Wasn't that done with Hogan's Heroes? The show was broadcast on HDNet, I believe, and the aspect ratio was wider than 4x3 but narrower than 16x9. If so, some of these old shows could enjoy new life, and viewing them in their OAR and in HD would actually be better than viewing them when they were originally broadcast. I believe that this is possible only for shows shot on film, not on videotape.


I do not know enough about the process but the major difference I see between the two is the Dick Van **** was in Black and White while Hogan's Heroes was not (except for the pilot episode). To add to that, I have never seen the 'Pilot' episode of Hogan's Heroes air on HDNet?


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## runner861

fluffybear said:


> I do not know enough about the process but the major difference I see between the two is the Dick Van **** was in Black and White while Hogan's Heroes was not (except for the pilot episode). To add to that, I have never seen the 'Pilot' episode of Hogan's Heroes air on HDNet?


I don't know much about the process either, but I would be interested in hearing from someone who does. I'm not sure overall what type of film was used on Hogan's Heroes, or Dick Van ****, or any other shows of that era. And I think for those shows shot on videotape there is nothing that can be improved there. I believe that videotape became popular for shooting shows in the later seventies and eighties and into the nineties, but for the golden era of the fifties, sixties, and early seventies, I believe that most shows were shot on film. As I said, I don't know much about the process or the costs, but I believe that if original prints exist then showing those shows in OAR and HD would be great. Who knows, showing a show in its original OAR we may even see an occasional light or crew member or something that was never intended to be shown. Wouldn't that be fun!


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## Glen_D

runner861 said:


> I don't know much about the process either, but I would be interested in hearing from someone who does. I'm not sure overall what type of film was used on Hogan's Heroes, or Dick Van ****, or any other shows of that era. And I think for those shows shot on videotape there is nothing that can be improved there. I believe that videotape became popular for shooting shows in the later seventies and eighties and into the nineties, but for the golden era of the fifties, sixties, and early seventies, I believe that most shows were shot on film. As I said, I don't know much about the process or the costs, but I believe that if original prints exist then showing those shows in OAR and HD would be great. Who knows, showing a show in its original OAR we may even see an occasional light or crew member or something that was never intended to be shown. Wouldn't that be fun!


I have a number of 1960s & 1970s TV series in my DVD collection. Although they are all in their original broadcast TV 4:3 aspect ratio, I've noticed particularly on those advertised as "Digitally Remastered", the image quality is quite impressive - to my eyes, anyway - when played on my BD player, and viewed on my HDTV.

I would call it near-HD quality. Certainly looks better that I ever remember those series looking when they were originally broadcast, and viewed on the typical TV sets of that era.


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## AntAltMike

It is a crying shame that Dick Van **** was shot in black and white, because that show is, in my opinion (and in the opinion of many others) the beginning of the modern, ensemble cast comedy where the star is a little smarter than the people around him and facilitates and reacts to them. Unfortunately, a lot of younger people just won't ever watch a black and white TV show, so it will not be as appreciated by later generations as it should be.


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## runner861

Glen_D said:


> I have a number of 1960s & 1970s TV series in my DVD collection. Although they are all in their original broadcast TV 4:3 aspect ratio, I've noticed particularly on those advertised as "Digitally Remastered", the image quality is quite impressive - to my eyes, anyway - when played on my BD player, and viewed on my HDTV.
> 
> I would call it near-HD quality. Certainly looks better that I ever remember those series looking when they were originally broadcast, and viewed on the typical TV sets of that era.


I have a number of shows from that era on DVD, and I have noticed the same thing, even though the DVDs that I have are at a native resolution of 480i. When I play them through the BluRay and HDMI cable onto the HDTV, they look much better than they ever have before. I would love to see these shows originally shot on film digitally remastered and recorded as a true BluRay in OAR.


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## runner861

AntAltMike said:


> It is a crying shame that Dick Van **** was shot in black and white, because that show is, in my opinion (and in the opinion of many others) the beginning of the modern, esnsemble cast comedy where the star is a little smarter than the people around him and facilitates and reacts to them. Unfortunately, a lot of younger people just won't ever watch a black and white TV show, so it will not be as appreciated by later generations as it should be.


Was Dick Van **** recorded on film or on videotape? That is true about color vs. black and white. Black and white has a much harder time in syndication and in dvd sales. But I do not like the artificial colorization process that has been used on some movies and TV shows.


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## fluffybear

runner861 said:


> Was Dick Van **** recorded on film or on videotape? That is true about color vs. black and white. Black and white has a much harder time in syndication and in dvd sales. But I do not like the artificial colorization process that has been used on some movies and TV shows.


Film

I saw a story once which said that Carl Reiner had considered taking the show to color after the 2nd season but the additional cost of $7,000 an episode stopped him.


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## john262

I'm lucky enough to get MeTv on satellite since it is carried on one of my area's full powered local stations, KSCG (in the Salt Lake City local market.) My only complaint about it is that KSCG preempts perhaps about one third of MeTv programming for informercials.


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## kristen5412

yeah...whats new????


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## max1

I cant remember the last time i watched tv land. Only thing i might watch now is King and Queens or Married with Children. I can live without it. I am thankful that I have Me-tv and really like it that's where a lot of the older shows are going. I wish i would have Antenna tv though.


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## Mets82

I skimmed this post but I dont think anybody mentioned that the fact that they show wayyyy to many commericals and the off the clock programming. They also edit out scenes and jump all over the place. They have shows jump from Viacom station to Viacom station. Examples include Married with Children and The King of Queens. They've bounced from Comedy Central to Spike TV to TV Land.

I think the whole idea of classic tv being a thing of the past is total bs. If they wanted to show classic programming they would. The executives and pretty much most of the tv executives, now a days, are just obsessed with reality tv.


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## Paul Secic

Mets82 said:


> I skimmed this post but I dont think anybody mentioned that the fact that they show wayyyy to many commericals and the off the clock programming. They also edit out scenes and jump all over the place. They have shows jump from Viacom station to Viacom station. Examples include Married with Children and The King of Queens. They've bounced from Comedy Central to Spike TV to TV Land.
> 
> I think the whole idea of classic tv being a thing of the past is total bs. If they wanted to show classic programming they would. The executives and pretty much most of the tv executives, now a days, are just obsessed with reality tv.


There's always HULU and ThisTV & RTV in some areas.


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## facerw

Since we now have RTV, Me-TV and AntennaTV, TVLand has become irrelevant to me and as such has been removed from my recieiver. TV land was good in the beginning but has now become part of a greater problem in TV today.


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## runner861

What I would like is a station that only shows classic tv, publishes it schedule, and shows the shows in order. We have RTV and Me-TV, but the schedule is not on Dish in my market. I would also like it if the stations would digitally remaster the shows from the original prints, for those shows shot on film. Then a high-definition image in the OAR can be shown. It would be classic tv, like the original broadcast, but better. As I understand it, some of the older shows were shot on 35mm film, or possibly 70 mm film. If I am not mistaken, UniversalTV is showing Charlie's Angels this way, and I think that Hogan's Heroes and Flipper were shown this way on Voom a while back.


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## SayWhat?

I always though it would be a kick to for a channel to run primetime schedules as they were originally shown. Pick a network, a season and a day of the week (ie. ABC, 1973, Wednesday) and run it intact.

Every evening's line-up would be different recalling a different network, season and day.

In some cases they could even run the original commercials like TVLand did with their Retromercials for a while. Coke, Pepsi, Kraft and many other companies that sponsored shows back then are still around, so the ads could still be 'current' so to speak.


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## PrinceLH

Yes, it really sucks, that TVLand has gotten so off track. I miss seeing allot of those 60's and 70's shows, that they used to air. Now we're stuck with 90's crap that I could do without. In our small market, in Upper New York State, we have none of those oldies stations, like MeTV, AntennaTV, THIS or RTV. I sometimes can get MeTV, out of market, over-the-air, when the tropo is right, but it's not consistent, especially in the winter months. I've decided to put up a C Band dish and grab the signals there. I've already told Directv that I would be interested in these networks, but they are not interested, at this time.


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## Chihuahua

ThomasM said:


> Dragnet, Adam-12 = Retro TV
> 
> Emergency = ME-TV
> 
> Good luck if you get either via DirecTV...


Or Dish Network.


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## PrinceLH

I don't know why they can't add one of the oldies stations to Directv. They can add allot of frill programming, but there is a market for this kind of programming.


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## Sea bass

SayWhat? said:


> I always though it would be a kick to for a channel to run primetime schedules as they were originally shown. Pick a network, a season and a day of the week (ie. ABC, 1973, Wednesday) and run it intact.
> 
> Every evening's line-up would be different recalling a different network, season and day.
> 
> In some cases they could even run the original commercials like TVLand did with their Retromercials for a while. Coke, Pepsi, Kraft and many other companies that sponsored shows back then are still around, so the ads could still be 'current' so to speak.


WGN America ran NBC's Thursday night line-up from the 80's a while back. Cosby, Family Ties...etc. It was intact and pretty cool


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## Dude111

TV Land has become garbage and its sad....

CSI???????? -- Thats news to me that CSI is a classic!



Mark Holtz said:


> Where can I watch Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency?


Me TV,Retro Television network


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## Drucifer

Dude111 said:


> TV Land has become garbage and its sad....
> 
> CSI???????? -- Thats news to me that CSI is a classic!
> 
> Me TV,Retro Television network


Not to DirecTV What You Might Like.


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## PrinceLH

Drucifer said:


> Not to DirecTV What You Might Like.


I've been after Directv about these oldies stations, everytime I call in. I've also went after the local over-the-air channels, telling them the benefits of an additional revenue stream, if they added one of MeTV, AntennaTV and RTV. Still no response. More people need to speak up.


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