Bring back Car 54 where are you

I remember when there was music on MTV, history on The History Channel, educational shows on The Learning Channel, highbrow culture on the Arts and Entertainment Channel, instructional cooking shows on the Food Network, and news on CNN.

/off my lawn

Given the shows they could pull from and play, what was the point of putting together the new shows they have now? I've given both of them a chance on a couple of occassions, but can't sit through more than a few minutes before I get so damned bored that reality TV starts to look good.

zerkalo: Bring back Car 54 where are you

I'm looking for a mini-marathon of "When Things Were Rotten" followed by the original "Police Squad! (in Color)".

/my lawn
//you may come onto it
///then I will turn on the sprinklers

"As time progresses and a network matures, there are still only 24 hours in a day," Jaci Cohen, Executive Vice President of TV Land's programming, tells EW.

Damn, that's some Yogi Berra-level WTF, right there.

You can never have enough "Green Acres".

/it's not dopey, it's surreal

Yes TV Land has a lot of crap now and has for years, but to their credit they do still have a lot of great classic shows too. They're not as bad as some once good channels. The History Channel for example, or as it is now known The Pawn Stars channel.

Doesn't matter to me though, I buy classic series on DVD and rip them to a hard drive (or whatever method of obtaining them is required) and watch them on my WD TV player. No commercials, no crap, my schedule.

Happy Hours: If they replaced original programming with Bob Newhart, WKRP and Taxi they'd be just about perfect.

Let's not forget some Dick van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, and maybe a little Gilligan's Island.

Happy Hours: If they replaced original programming with Bob Newhart, WKRP and Taxi they'd be just about perfect.

Recently I had a discussion with my wife about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I said, "It's like seeing Louie Depalma from Taxi retired and on Meth." She replied that she's never seen Taxi.

I had a sad.
Needless to say, I've begun searching for divorce lawyers.
TV Land could've saved my marriage, if they cared.

But those fans shouldn't hold their breath. "As time progresses and a network matures, there are still only 24 hours in a day," Jaci Cohen, Executive Vice President of TV Land's programming, tells EW. "We're never able to give everybody what they want, and that's why shows come and go on our schedule."

You goddamned retard executive. What do you think the point of cable niche programming is?!? You give a niche what they want, and quit trying to do what every other idiot running a cable channel is doing. Lay off the ghost hunting, drug intervening, wardrobe designing monster researching pawn shop operators, and WE'LL GO BACK TO YOUR FARKING CHANNELS.

TV Land does air some classic sitcoms - but only in blocks of several hours (ex. Sanford and Son for two hours or The Nanny for three). The remainder of the time, the network rounds out Cleveland and Retired with reality shows like High School Reunion, She's Got the Look, and The Cougar. "Our schedule is still 60 to 70 percent classic TV," Cohen says. "We're in the business of participating in the current conversation, as well."

NO - YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETELY NOT IN THE CURRENT CONVERSATION, BECAUSE CABLE NOW SUCKS ASS, AND YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!


Jaci Cohen may be part of the new Triumverate, along with Bonnie Hammer and Nancy Dubuc. Three television executives that can make the world a better place by being thrown down a mine shaft.

I'd be happy if they stopped running farking Everybody Loves Raymond.

UNC_Samurai: But those fans shouldn't hold their breath. "As time progresses and a network matures, there are still only 24 hours in a day," Jaci Cohen, Executive Vice President of TV Land's programming, tells EW. "We're never able to give everybody what they want, and that's why shows come and go on our schedule."

You goddamned retard executive. What do you think the point of cable niche programming is?!? You give a niche what they want, and quit trying to do what every other idiot running a cable channel is doing. Lay off the ghost hunting, drug intervening, wardrobe designing monster researching pawn shop operators, and WE'LL GO BACK TO YOUR FARKING CHANNELS.

TV Land does air some classic sitcoms - but only in blocks of several hours (ex. Sanford and Son for two hours or The Nanny for three). The remainder of the time, the network rounds out Cleveland and Retired with reality shows like High School Reunion, She's Got the Look, and The Cougar. "Our schedule is still 60 to 70 percent classic TV," Cohen says. "We're in the business of participating in the current conversation, as well."

NO - YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETELY NOT IN THE CURRENT CONVERSATION, BECAUSE CABLE NOW SUCKS ASS, AND YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!


Jaci Cohen may be part of the new Triumverate, along with Bonnie Hammer and Nancy Dubuc. Three television executives that can make the world a better place by being thrown down a mine shaft.

That "60 to 70%" argument can be applied to any of these channels that have strayed away from their initial versions. Think about it, there's still sci fi on SySy (hell, there was a Star Trek marathon on there yesterday) there's still pure cooking shows on Food Network and history on History. Problem is, there's much,much less of it now than before. And the channels add little tweaks that, at first impression, sure as hell don't seem like they belong. Unfortunatly, no one sticks to the initial programming 100% anymore and that sucks. Some, like MTV, just sh*tcanned the whole structure and went off in a totally new direction, while others are still kinda dabbling. Now, I'm as irritated at wrestling on SyFy as anyone. Let alone how annoying the name 'SyFy' is, but they have not compleatly gone the way of MTV or even A&E as yet.
So really, it shouldn't be anything surprising that TV Lane is going down the same road, the real crappy part to all this is that many of the programs we don't think belong on a particular channel are often the highest rated program on that particular channel. Crud.

Antenna TV started broadcasting a month or so ago. They run Married With Children, Three's Company and All In the Family. Friday nights are set aside for Three Stooges and Benny Hill marathons. I'm not complaining.

UNC_Samurai NO - YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETELY NOT IN THE CURRENT CONVERSATION, BECAUSE CABLE NOW SUCKS ASS, AND YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

How much of it is that the market for old sitcoms is gone? Sadly, even a network of reruns has to turn a profit, and how profitable are shows like The Munsters or Taxi? Do younger generations care about such programming? Those shows are far from relevant, except as cultural markers. They can be enjoyed, but by those underexposed to modern media (young kids, for instance), those specifically interested in them (fans, people exploring different cultural expressions), or by those who grew up with them. And those groups are unsustainable, niche, and dwindling, in that order.

It would be incredible if they made most of those lost shows public domain. Imagine having a video podcast of Old Time Television programs. They already have podcasts devoted to Old Time Radio, this would be the next step. Even if they reserved the ones that still generate licensed merchandise sales, like I Love Lucy, there are probably hundreds of hours of television that can be shown free.

/now, imagine all the hours of that television that are lost

hailin: I think niche networks should stick to their niche. Spin off another network for your original programming. I liked MTV when I was younger (and they played music videos). Then they brought out their crap reality shows, but MTV2 had videos, so I was happy. Then eventually MTV2 and MTV3 became just re-runs of the crappy reality shows.

As much as I like Pawn Stars...on the history channel? I mean most their pawned stuff does have historical value, but come on. Cartoon Network now have a few shows that are live-action with no cartoons at all in them. Seriously...wth?

At least Comedy Central still plays comedy. *knocks on wood*

FirstNationalBastard: Ah, Network Decay, you cruel biatch.

Just a decade ago, TV Land and Nick at Nite were the "home of classic television".

Now, just the same old shows you can see everywhere else, mostly from the 1990s and 2000s, and some Ow, My Balls reality programming sprinkled in, because Niche programming doesn't sell to the 18-35 demographic the way the same homogenized crap every other network airs does.

But, hey, many markets have digital subchannels like MeTV, Antenna TV, and RTN, which show the old shows Nick at Nite and TV Land dropped so they could show reality shows and stupid shiat. Plus, there's DVD and the Internet.

So fark 'em.

Interestingly enough, this shift in behavior from niche programming to the superstation model will probably be the end for cable. Network TV is pretty much dead, but it's hard to see justifying high cable/satellite fees if all you're going to get is 500 variations on TBS.

The article tries to justify it by noting higher ratings, but that really isn't the point. For a pay service, cable is falling down a lot in the last ten years. No longer uncensored, rife with commercials, and now it's homogenized. It might work for some people, but given the economy I'm not surprised viewership is down. If you can watch whatever whenever, why bother shelling out over $100 per month to get someone else's playlist?

It's a shame about TVLand, but they lost their way years ago when they started cutting down the stuff they aired as 'classics.' Now it's 'whatever.' Such is life, but who cares at this point? They're just another channel that lost its way and now is shiat.

"TV Land's first original scripted sitcom, Hot in Cleveland (which has just been renewed for a third season), nabbed SAG recognition in January with a nomination for the cast and a win for Betty White, along with the highest ratings in the network's 15-year history. Capitalizing on their new hit, TV Land debuted their second original comedy, Retired at 35, earlier this year."

I'm sure the nice people at TV Land would be happy to take a pay cut so you can watch reruns of mediocre shows. Or maybe you won't even watch them. That's the big secret of these complaints. If all these people watched the classic shows in the first place, TV Land wouldn't bother with original programming.

FirstNationalBastard: Ah, Network Decay, you cruel biatch.... Plus, there's DVD and the Internet.

So fark 'em.

It's almost like...they put old TV shows on DVD so you can purchase or rent them. In addition, since all of these series aren't being aired anymore, you can obtain THE ENTIRE SERIES and watch any episode at leisure.

Oh wait, the majority of people biatching are technologically-disinclined old folks. Well, that figures.

FirstNationalBastard: But, hey, many markets have digital subchannels like MeTV, Antenna TV, and RTN, which show the old shows Nick at Nite and TV Land dropped so they could show reality shows and stupid shiat.

I absolutely loved RTN. I say it in the past tense because the New York area affiliate who used to carry them dropped them in favor of airing infomercials 24/7. I understand RTN is on some local Manhattan channel that can only be picked up by area antennas -- now I can't pick it up. But at least I have my Magnum PI DVDs, seasons 1-8. :)

I'd like to see some really older, classic stuff. One of the other stations (TCM or something) was airing Dick Cavett for a while, which was very cool.

What's My Line was another one.

IMDWalrus: I'd be happy if they stopped running farking Everybody Loves Raymond.

See, now you're just spoilin' for a fight.

Antenna TV Baby, I gave up on TV land years ago. I sent them numerious complaints and they never responded not to one of them. Pretty soon they will be the infomercial network!

Texas Gabe IMDWalrus: I'd be happy if they stopped running farking Everybody Loves Raymond.

See, now you're just spoilin' for a fight.

How about a reduction in 3-hour blocks of Everybody Loves Raymond, George Lopez, and The Nanny? Instead, one-hour blocks, but also include Adams Family, Green Acres, and WKRP? If they reduced blocks, they could have more variety. Save the marathons for something special, a la Twilight Zone marathons on New Year's Day?

Hell, have every day of the week with a different theme. Mondays are 50s sitcoms, Tuesdays 60s, etc. Saturday all day can be dramas.

/can I has Bonnie Hammer's job nao?

I wish TV Land took more of a TCM approach to their programming where they just stuck to what they stand for: classic television. Sure original programming is still okay but just as long as it relates to the aim of the channel. Like having a sort of behind-the-scenes kind of show focusing on the programming or maybe an interview with a former television star, or something like that.

Also, with the magic of Netflix Instant, you can also enjoy some old school TV shows. In fact I've been watching The Dick Van Dyke show on it (all seasons are on Netflix Instant).

/I dunno about you guys but I just don't get why they'd show TV shows that are in syndication already on other channels. I mean if I wanted to see that show, I'd go to another station, not the station that is advertising classic television.

Hot in Cleveland is hilarious if you're from Ohio or have ever been to Cleveland

Yeah... Well how about Cartoon Network airing a live sports award show and a "Jackass for Tweens" show?

PLAY SOME F/CKIN' CLASSIC CARTOONS, ASSHOLES!

I cannot understand how multiple regional 'oldies' radio stations have zero problems with playing the same ~300 songs, day after day, for decades .. yet, the same doesn't seem to be possible with a cable network.

/at least Boomerang seems to still 'get it'
//for now

Skyfrog: Doesn't matter to me though, I buy classic series on DVD and rip them to a hard drive (or whatever method of obtaining them is required) and watch them on my WD TV player. No commercials, no crap, my schedule.

So much this. Best thing that's ever happened to me and TV/movies; I very rarely watch regular TV anymore. With Netflix and other means, I get what I need, throw it on the WDTV and I'm good to go. Started with the original and then upgraded last month to the 1TB internal HD version, networked to my PC with two more hard drives connected there.

I can see why people are upset that these networks get away from the niche programming that they started out with and I sympathize, but there's lots of options to help you get around that (well, get around most of it ... there's lots of classic TV on DVD, but somehow they still won't put a few sheckels into releasing a show like WKRP correctly)