dave94

Robert Wilonsky, a local writer in Dallas was the host of a trailer show for awhile. He also ended up doing some Siskel and Ebert (actually Ebert and Roeper by then).

Decker

There is NOTHING stupid about Chopped!

milo bloom

We cut the cord nearly 14 years ago, so it's not really an issue for us, but I'm still annoyed at the music channels for changing. MTV was the first offender, and when they added a couple TV shows it was a nice break, but then there was VH1 only playing music, so everybody thought that was fine, but I guess VH1 started drifting too.

Cartoon Network was awesome at first, they were constantly playing classic cartoons which we loved, but then they started making their own and that was okay, but then they shunted all the classics to Boomerang, which was on another cable tier. Then there was the SciFi channel adding wrestling and that was about when we cut the cord.

It's been mentioned in other threads, but this is where Youtube has come into it's own. Yeah, there's a lot of shit (like people that make videos of their family then get rid of a kid for being too autistic), but there's also a lot of niche channels that really go in-depth into a subject.and it's better than TV. I can almost guarantee you whatever your hobby is, there's somebody making fun, informative videos about them.

Josh-da-man

I suppose Chopped might be instructive if I ever find myself having to crust a ribeye steak with Fruit Loops, and make a sauce out of gummy bears, radishes, and squid ink.

tonyc3742

I agree, MTV is the quintessential example.
For me, though, it's mostly VH1 Classic.
It's been a very long time since I watched MTV. I'm from the 120 Minutes/Headbangers Ball era. It went through multiple evolutions to get where it is now (although I did like the show "Awkward").
But discovering VH1C about 15 years ago, that played a lot of the stuff that I missed from MTV - that was great. Until it wasn't. Up until a couple years ago I still used to record Metal Mayhem.
Looks like now VH1C is MTVC, and according to the website, MTV (or MTVC, can't tell) it's like 18hours a day of Ridiculousness. Just pull the plug already.
I'm sure the music industry and the music video industry/youtube/vimeo/etc in part that helped that shift.
I just detest reality shows in general and that's mostly what's on (I know, they're cheap and you can always find someone who wants to be famous.)

AMC was another disappointment, as was SciFi. I miss Remember WENN.

Ironically, though, since I've cancelled satellite and gone to Hulu in my third wave of cord cutting, I watch a lot more "network" TV than I used to (I am including the "middleware" networks like Freeform in there.) (And there will not be a fourth wave - I'm never going back. I had cut once, then a few years later got suckered by a deal for a year; then cancelled that; then when I got married had to wear down my wife's default attachment to satellite to cut it again.)

Jason

I wonder if Turner Classic Movies had anything to do with AMC moving from classic films to what they are today. At least AMC is more than recent cinematic drek. They've done a lot of quality original programming, even if they do run too many commercials.

JeffTheAlpaca

These water cooler shows like Miss America, Tiger King, etc should be on cable and not streaming.

mwbmis

As I recall they had to change things up after Turner acquired the MGM library.

Paff

But at least Family Feud is a GAME SHOW.

Some of the other networks people have been citing don't even resemble what their name is. How are reruns of That 70s Show and Three and a Half Men related to Independent Film?

Rex Fenestrarum

Uhhhhh.. Turner bought MGM's library on March 25, 1986. AMC's 2002 format change had nothing to do with it.

mwbmis

TCM didn't launch until 1994 and then TBS merged with Time Warner in 1996. I just remember AMC having access to fewer movies being an issue. I could be wrong.

DWilson

From Wikipedia:

On September 30, 2002, AMC underwent a significant rebranding, changing its format from a classic movie channel, broadening to a more general focus on movies from all eras – as well as shortening its name to just the "AMC" abbreviation, and introducing a new logo (a rectangular outline with a lowercase and uppercase "aMC" text). Kate McEnroe, then-president of Rainbow Media, cited lack of subsidies from cable providers as the reason for the addition of advertising, and cited ad agencies who insist on programming relevant to their products' consumers as the reason for the shift to recent movies instead of just classics. At the time of the format switchover, the company also attempted to launch a spin-off digital cable channel, AMC's Hollywood Classics, which would have required viewers to pay an extra fee to receive the channel. This commercial-free channel would have aired black-and-white classics from the 1930s through the 1950s that American Movie Classics had been airing up until its format changeover; however, the new channel never debuted.

Red Hood

Part of that rebranding including releasing a lot of those classic movies on DVD sets with the new logo. For example

clckworang

I actually think about this every now and then. It's crazy how much some channels have changed. Even when TCM first launched, it wasn't available in my area. That mid-90s time was when I first really started getting into film. I would bust out that month's TV listing guide and search for all the movies I was interested in watching and create a recording schedule for my VCR. I saw The Hustler for the first time on AMC. I think they aired it back to back, once in full screen and again letterboxed. And commercial free, of course! I watched many classics there.

I also used to watch a ton of Bravo and A&E during this time. Bravo showed Twin Peaks. They also had Inside the Actor's Studio before it became a parody, but I also remember catching other random shows on there, like Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. A&E used to make a lot of literary adaptations, like Tom Jones and Horatio Hornblower. I loved Biography back then as well. That's where I first managed to watch all of Northern Exposure as well.

IFC is another tragedy. Wow, they played some cool stuff back in the day. Don't get me wrong, there were some indie stinkers, too, but at least it stuck to its guns.

I'd say pretty much all of these channels had major impacts in shaping my education on film and many other things. TCM has really stepped up and sort of fills many of those niches. It's only one channel, though.

DWilson

And there was a point where TCM didn't air movies that were made past a certain year (mid-70s, maybe, -I forget) , and the channel was mostly family-friendly. Now they show movies from a broader range of years, and include un-edited R-Rated and NC-17 films (though usually in the wee small hours) as well "TCM Underground" films that are often very explicit.

Red Dog

GSN is terrible now.

But I've been watching a lot of Buzzr during the day - and it's not even cable. They've got a lot of my favorites from the 70s/80s. Unfortunately no TPiR.

mikehunt

For stuff like that check out Create. It's a pbs subchannel over the air, and here is on cable too. Decent number of cooking shows
https://createtv.com/

uteotw

Spike.

JeffTheAlpaca

Would G4 count?

I think they disbanded or changed into a completely new channel.

Too bad they ended early and never got a HD feed of that network.

JeffTheAlpaca

Sundance airs repeats of the Andy Griffith Show

Sonny Corinthos

I used to love the old Boomerang. They show classic cartoons from the golden age like most of the old Hanna-Barbera library plus Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo. I also miss Sprout. When my daughter was small we used to watch the live morning show and the Good Night show in the evenings.

PhantomStranger

The old Boomerang niche was turned into a streaming service. For $4.99 a month or whatever, you get access to the entire Hanna-Barbera library and others.

brayzie

There’s better examples but MTV sticks out the most for me. I remember the channel as a little kid and it seemed so edgy and rebellious. By the time of my late teens it was Carson Daily and a lot of reality shows. Once in a while they would show a music video I actually liked but for the most part the channel seemed lame.

E Unit

Ugh, another one I really can't stand is Chopped. And anything with any douchy looking bleached host with the name Fieri or Guy.

My favorite was Taskeshi's Castle. Such awesome stuff, and with Beat Taskshi as a samurai host!



And let's not forget co-host Guy LeDouche!