Why embattled Turner Classic Movies matters now more than ever
It's no wonder that Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson are fighting for TCM, an inspirational gateway to film history
Film Features Turner Classic Movies
If media mogul Ted Turner’s misbegotten plan to colorize beloved black-and-white movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age was a cinematic sin, his creation of Turner Classic Movies, that rich repository of historic films great and small, atoned for it a thousand times over.
This week, just a day or so after my wife and I were lamenting the sudden disappearance of the TCM “hub” of classic film content on the recently revised streaming service Max, news broke of a shocking, widespread culling of the executive ranks at TCM, part of the increasingly draconian and seemingly injudicious cost-cutting measures at TCM’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery under its bottom-line centric leader David Zaslav.
The implications were so jarring that fabled filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson—directors whose knowledge of, and reverence for, the century-plus history of the movies has inspired and informed their own work and the work of countless others—rallied together to stage an intervention, calling a meeting with Zaslav to ascertain his ultimate intentions.
They, like me, want their TCM. We all should.
Connecting movie lovers with films and stars
Ted Turner was a master of many game-changing innovations with lasting repercussions across the cable television landscape, from 24/7 news networks to superstations. But one of his most significant and enduring contributions to the culture has to be TCM, conceived as a vehicle to package and present the many cinematic treasures—from all-time classics to forgotten gems to time-capsule curiosities—from the vast film library he’d retained after selling MGM. That well grew ever deeper and richer when he added vintage film content from Warner Bros. and the various libraries under its umbrella, along with additional licensed movies from an even broader array of studios.
Since its launch in 1994, TCM has served as a vehicle to reconnect movie lovers with films, performers, filmmakers, even entire genres that might have otherwise, save for a few towering achievements, receded from memory, as well as to introduce new generations to the cinematic pleasures of past eras of film.
The channel quickly evolved into something far more profound than just diverting nostalgia; TCM emerged as the televised equivalent of a vibrant, vital, smartly curated museum of motion pictures, where both dedicated and casual viewers could easily discover films and performances that still pack a wallop. They could also view history through the lens of the era in which the films were made; discover distinctive genres like Westerns, film noir, and screwball comedy that once reigned supreme, much as superhero cinema dominates today; explore early performances from today’s big stars; spot the visual stylings of past filmmakers that have been borrowed by today’s vanguard; be reminded of how cyclical the issues we struggle with can be over time; and simply fall in love with the sheer inventiveness of Hollywood’s best and brightest.
That TCM has remained a modestly profitable endeavor over three decades is a testament to the potency of our shared cinematic past. And if TCM is a museum, the channel’s various hosts are its docents, bringing the history behind the films to life and giving context to their place in the culture. The late, legendary Robert Osbourne was the prototype. His insider ties to Hollywood’s storied past gave that history a beating heart. Today, the hosting styles range from half-professorial, half-movie geek, like Ben Mankiewicz, to uber-passionate genre obsessive, like film noir specialist Eddie Muller, to socially enlightened authority on female directors, like Alicia Malone. All of it serves to enhance the movie magic on display before and after a film unspools; much of this behind-the-scenes exploration proves as inspiring as the movies themselves.
A source of inspiration and influence
Cinema history constantly and profoundly pays it forward with tremendous dividends: Spielberg and George Lucas displayed their abiding affection for cliffhanging movie serials with Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola elevated the lurid gangster films of their youths with gravitas and deeply felt characters in Goodfellas and The Godfather. Anderson and Quentin Tarantino found high-art expression in cheaply made, oft-dismissed film forms with Pulp Fiction and Boogie Nights. Many of the films that influenced those directors can be found on TCM, which speaks to the channel’s higher purpose; to inspire future generations of filmmakers and to bring virtual film studies coursework directly to the masses.
According to Spielberg, Scorsese, and Anderson, their conversations with Zaslav offered a considerable ray of hope for TCM’s future of showcasing cinema’s past. “Our primary aim is to ensure that TCM’s programming is untouched and protected,” the filmmakers said in a joint statement. “We are heartened and encouraged by the conversations we’ve had thus far, and we are committed to working together to ensure the continuation of this cultural touchstone that we all treasure.”
It’s said constantly that in the modern world of streaming content is king. And in that respect, Turner Classic Movies is a glittering array of jewels deserving to be ever on public display. Or to put it in more classical cinematic terms, it’s the stuff dreams are made of.
26 Comments
It’s being reported that the staff of about 90 people who work for TCM got cut down to 20. So, not good!
I can’t see how they continue the Film Festival with that kind of skeleton crew. Which is a shame. It was a lot of fun. The old VFW hall they turned into a theater is cool, if you’re ever in the neighborhood.
Oh good lord! Its a massacre.
Why they have never made this it’s own platform is a mystery. I’d sign up immediately. TCM + Criterion and I’d never need another service.
They used to stream TCM content through Warner Archive. WA and Criterion then jointly ran streaming service Filmstruck, which got killed and Criterion is now going it alone.
There really does need to be a dedicated TCM streaming service separate from the cable network.
There’s a Roku app called Retro Reels that’s pretty nice, just not nearly as nice as TCM is.
I never had filmstruck because my BIL was torrenting like mad when he lived with us, and my wife is an ex Barnes and Noble employee, so we have the first couple hundred Criterions on disc. She would just buy them in order and stack her employee discount with the big sale. But as soon as it went stand alone I subscribed out of loyalty. i’d do the same for Warner Archives/ TCM in a heartbeat.
I only discovered Filmstruck the week they killed it. That was too good to last.
There’s still a good number of Criterion-licensed selections on the TCM section, thanks to leftover deals for FilmStruck.
We’re all clear that TCM movies are available to stream on the Max (HBO) streaming service, right? Not seeing it mentioned here, wasn’t sure if that’s because it’s obvious. (I know the “hub” is gone, but the movies are all still there as far as I can tell.)
I think? I haven’t really checked. But the only reason I have HBO is because AT&T. I wouldn’t pay for it. TCM though I would.
Amen! I couldn’t agree more. The best thing I’ve ever read on this site
Zaslav made his money turning the Discovery family of channels into reality show garbage, he killed original programming on HLN…
That meeting with Spielberg and company gave Zaslav an inspiration!Starting this fall, Saving the Classics pits ten contestants in a reality show where they have to save the final print of a classic film from an industrial shredder. The first episode will feature the destruction of Citizen Kane, just to prove that Zaslav isn’t screwing around. Every episode ends on a cliffhanger: will the movie be saved? Dude is already drooling over all the tax writeoffs he’s gonna get.
Ironically, there’s a story that the original negative of Citizen Kane actually was (mistakenly) sent to a reclamation plant and scrapped for silver: https://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2021/02/28/citizen-kane-camera-negative/
“my wife and I were lamenting the sudden disappearance of the TCM “hub” of classic film content on the recently revised streaming service Max”
But it’s still there.
A couple of things. I just checked Max and it still has the TCM hub. Also, TCM does have a dedicated streaming service call watch TCM.
I really miss the TCM Underground block they used to air late Friday nights/early Saturday mornings. I saw a lot of great movies I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Of course, I saw some I never want to see again, but the good far outweighed the bad.
They can take Noir Alley and Eddie Mueller from my cold dead hands!!!
Ew, movies in black in white. Do these even have anything to do with Marvel?
There’s reason to be cautiously optimistic: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/turner-classic-movies-overseen-michael-de-luca-pamela-abdy-1235653600/
I had this naive dream that streaming would make every old movie available to any one anywhere. I just did not understand how movie royalties worked or the greed of those that own the rights to old movies. It is so hard to work out a legal way to have streaming available for any movie over 50 years old? I know there is a lot to it but one would think that a movie watched is better than one sitting unwatched for revenue.
It’s a weird combination of greed and the assumption that nobody wants the old stuff so it’s not worth it to them to push it over the newer content. So all these streaming services are pushing material from the last 5 years and you have to dig deep to find anything beyond that.Like I’m a fan of 50s sci-fi and the like, Universal has a great catalog of movies like this, Paramount, Columbia, etc., and like 80% of that is not online or only for rent/purchase. My Peacock subscription is not enough for me to be able to cue up Tarantula on a whim, apparently.
Copyright lasts 95 years from publication in the US, so we’re presumably going to see a lot of classic films enter the public domain soon.
Someone remind Zaslav that these are fully depreciated asset. There’s nothing to write off, so you might was well keep the thing going.
It was a source of good when cable television was a thing. I am fine with it dying in 2023.
For me, the biggest problem with TCM is Comcast.(which could probably be said of several things….)I don’t remember exactly when, but some years ago Comcast moved TCM from an expanded basic package into some sports(?) bundle or something — I can’t even find it now, but TCM was clearly the outlier in that group of channels, and was likely being used as enticement to get people to subscribe to an otherwise unpopular bundle for $9.99/month or whatever.It probably worked for some folks, but I couldn’t see paying even more on top of an already expensive cable bill, so I regretfully shrugged and moved on from TCM.