The Hallmark Channel

[JeffM]

What I find offensive about Hallmark is that only a third-party intervention prevented them from destroying all the original master negatives of the classic Laurel and Hardy films, and they did in fact destroy most of the negative library of Filmation Associates, the Saturday-morning-cartoon studio; simply because they weren't making enough money off them fast enough in the short run.

I worked for Hallmark (in one of their non-entertainment divisions) for 12 years before they fired my entire department and offshored our jobs to India. Only the Mickey Mouse Factory has a goodie-two-shoes, ooey-gooey public image at such odds with their real personality. Hallmark gets a lot of mileage out of being "a family-owned business." Big deal, so's the Mafia.

 

[TheBigA]

Who do you propose should own master negatives of historic stuff?

 

[joebtsflk1]

Odd. Hallmark's home town of Kansas City has a lot of old abandoned underground limestone mines that are used for storage. The original negatives of "The Wizard of Oz"and "Gone With The Wind" are stored there. http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-ap-news-guide-kansas-citys-network-of-underground-caves-2015-9

Dick Clark would never have destroyed Filmation negatives. He may have been ruthless in his own right, but at least he would have shown Hallmark execs no mercy had he been running that operation. No one thought there was much value in the old Beechnut Show kinnies from the late 50s, but I'm sure he made some nice coin from Time-Life licensing out clips from those shows. If the storage is cheap, and the articles are unique, it pays to be a pack-rat.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" episodes are also in a mine, in this case a salt mine. That's after many of them were lost because the videotapes were resued.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Who do you propose should own master negatives of historic stuff?

Someone should. It's the Republicans who tend to not worry about such things, while the Democrats want our history preserved. Still, I confess to being a moderate liberal and if it can't be done any other way, I would ask the government, probably the federal government in this case, to demand such a thing be done. Just for historical value.

 

[frankberry]

Vchimp,

Please do not turn this subject into a political issue.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[anotherguyTN]

A lot of Carson's Tonight Shows that were lost were from the years in New York when the show was owned by NBC and were trashed along with other live and taped shows on NBC from that period. When Carson gained ownership of the show he started preserving them.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Vchimp,

Please do not turn this subject into a political issue.

Thanks,
Frank

I was afraid people might point out that my saying government should do such and such would show that I was a liberal. I tend to anticipate what people will either say or ask and maybe I shouldn't.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I tend to anticipate what people will either say or ask and maybe I shouldn't.

I tend to anticipate that much of what you post is "angry old man" rhetoric, and maybe you shouldn't post as much as you do.

That said, with the exception of some discussions regarding FCC policies and the like, Frank is correct to point out that politics have no place here.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I tend to anticipate that much of what you post is "angry old man" rhetoric, and maybe you shouldn't post as much as you do.

That said, with the exception of some discussions regarding FCC policies and the like, Frank is correct to point out that politics have no place here.

Also NPR and politically oriented talk radio.

Okay, enough of that.

And I have cut down on what I say here.

Does someone have copies of the Filmation cartoons? I think I watched some of those in the 70s.