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Channels We Need

R

RicoGregg

Every so often TV, even cable, gets stale, and as a result, either new programming policies set in, or new channels are developed. Recent happenings include the upcoming change of Court TV to True TV, and the beginning of Logo, the gay & lesbian channel. Here are a few of my ideas to help TV re-invent itself, programming wise:

As already mentioned in another thread, an all black & white channel that would show old classic TV shows like Life of Riley, Dobie Gillis, Trials of O'Brien, and such. Maybe some good film noir and semi-classic black and white films. Maybe a few new shows filmed in black & white might be good.

A classic news channel. Would show tapes, films, and kinescopes of live coverage from past decades such as the JFK assassination, the Cuban Missle Crisis, the first Moon landing, the SLA shootout in Los Angeles, presidential elections, the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake (San Francisco area), and such.

An all-documentary channel. IFM & Sundance are both in the ballpark, but no cigar. It would be great to see things like "Harvest of Shame" with Edward R. Murrow again, or the Nuremburg Trials, or the excellent documentary about the Army - McCarthy hearings. It would also be great for music docs like "Don't Look Back", with Bob Dylan, or "The Last Dance", with The Band. Discovery - New York Times and the Military Channel come the closest, but they always edit to fit in a designated time block. I'd want the docs to run in full, unedited, as they were originally filmed. I think it might work very well.

Do others have ideas?

TV suits, the world is waiting.
 
I've always wanted someone to develop the "Hoodlum Channel". Various LIVE cameras with microphones will be installed in the worst crime ridden areas of the country. Compton, Harlem, Detroit etc.... Then we can watch all the drug deals and shootings take place. I think it would be interesting to watch. Think of it as a raw version of COPS.
 
Some of Rico's suggestions are ideas that the cable industry has dropped.

Nick at Nite used to be a home for B&W television. Later the Nostalgia Channel (now ALN) showed these shows.

A&E used to show kinescopes of extended news coverage. Now they mostly have dumped the documentaries and Biography.

It seems like the same thing in cable as happens in radio. Programming that attracts older demos is expendable.

The arrival of on-demand programming has already started. In a few years we will all be our own programmers.
 
A classic news channel. Would show tapes, films, and kinescopes of live coverage from past decades such as the JFK assassination, the Cuban Missle Crisis, the first Moon landing, the SLA shootout in Los Angeles, presidential elections, the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake (San Francisco area), and such.
Every once in a while, stuff of that nature pops up on C-SPAN.
 
RicoGregg said:
An all-documentary channel. IFM & Sundance are both in the ballpark, but no cigar. It would be great to see things like "Harvest of Shame" with Edward R. Murrow again, or the Nuremburg Trials, or the excellent documentary about the Army - McCarthy hearings. It would also be great for music docs like "Don't Look Back", with Bob Dylan, or "The Last Dance", with The Band. Discovery - New York Times and the Military Channel come the closest, but they always edit to fit in a designated time block. I'd want the docs to run in full, unedited, as they were originally filmed. I think it might work very well.
Click to expand...

There is a documentary channel - called just that, "The Documentary Channel". http://www.documentarychannel.com

Doesn't have much distribution yet though. It's on Dish Network ch. 197 and the DT-2 subchannels of PBS stations in Denver, Nashville, and NYC.

There are some interesting things on there. Last night they were running "Being Caribou". They also had an Australian film about an Iraqi-Australian coming home to Sawara. It's a non-commercial operation so they do run the docs uninterrupted - I've never seen them anywhere else so I'm not sure they're unedited but would be very surprised.
 
Skynet74 said:
I've always wanted someone to develop the "Hoodlum Channel". Various LIVE cameras with microphones will be installed in the worst crime ridden areas of the country. Compton, Harlem, Detroit etc.... Then we can watch all the drug deals and shootings take place. I think it would be interesting to watch. Think of it as a raw version of COPS.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this is a joke or not, but I'd watch that.
 
RicoGregg said:
A classic news channel. Would show tapes, films, and kinescopes of live coverage from past decades such as the JFK assassination, the Cuban Missle Crisis, the first Moon landing, the SLA shootout in Los Angeles, presidential elections, the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake (San Francisco area), and such.
Click to expand...

Actually, I really like that idea. I think that is a great idea in fact.

Let's take two ideas here, the Classic News Channel (CNC) and the Channel dedicated to B&W TV shows. The CNC would run from 8AM until 6PM, so that schools can show the channel during History class. And the channel dedicated to B&W TV Shows will run from 6PM until 8AM for people at home.

How about a channel that is dedicated to all weather all the time...never mind, would never work. (I'm joking...yes, I know there are at least 2 different channels now decided to weather)
 
KTU_Fan said:
Skynet74 said:
I've always wanted someone to develop the "Hoodlum Channel". Various LIVE cameras with microphones will be installed in the worst crime ridden areas of the country. Compton, Harlem, Detroit etc.... Then we can watch all the drug deals and shootings take place. I think it would be interesting to watch. Think of it as a raw version of COPS.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this is a joke or not, but I'd watch that.
Click to expand...


Not a joke at all. I'm very serious. I have discussed such a channel with one of my friends for two years. We both agreed that it is something we would definitely like to see.
 
RicoGregg said:
Do others have ideas?
Click to expand...

I'd like a sports channel showing the scores of all college and local high school games, not just the Top 25 of Division I over and over. ESPN never shows Division II and III scores, except for maybe the national title game. Their ticker at the bottom is getting annoying, too, with the added summaries of what happened in every game. If they just reported the scores, they could fit a lot more in.

notalkallstatic said:
How about a channel that is dedicated to all weather all the time...never mind, would never work. (I'm joking...yes, I know there are at least 2 different channels now decided to weather)
Click to expand...

Only problem is, you can't always get the weather, rather some documentary about someone who survived a tornado several years ago.
 
If you combined the "classic" news footage and "black and white" television shows
it might work, but you still have to broadcast in color, especially if you wanted to
do "reunion" shows or a special focusing in events in television history as told by
those who were a part of it.
I think a good name for this would be "TimeLine", my slogan "Television That
You Remember"
 
How about a channel that would mimick the networks, but with classic programming?

For example of a broadcast day:

7a - 9a: "Good Morning America"
9a - 11a: "Today Show"
11a - 12p: "The Price Is Right"
12p - 2p: "CBS Early Show" or whatever it was back in the day.
2p - 3p: "Dallas"
3p - 4p: "Dynasty"
4p - 5p: "Donahue"
5p - 530p: "CBS Evening News"
530p - 6p: "ABC World News Tonight"
6p - 630p: "NBC Nightly News"
630p - 7p: I'm stuck here. I had something in mind, but forgot what it was.

That would be the dayside every day. Each day, since most of the programs are news based, would be date specific. Example: Since today is June 6, 2008, "Today" would be June 6, 1968, "GMA" would be June 6,1984. I'd split the years up so they wouldn't have the same stories, but they'd be stuff that happened "on this day".

Primetime would be themed. Say, you'd have a "Trauma Mondays" with "Trapper John, MD", "St Elsewhere" and classic "ER" episodes from 8p-11p, then repeating again for the West Coast feed, since that's what the old school East Coast feed used to do. There could be a sitcom night with shows like "Taxi" and "Happy Days", an action night with "Fall Guy" and "A-Team", a cop night with shows like "Hill Stree Blues" "Magnum P.I" and "Miami Vice", then Friday could be the News Mag night, with classic "Dateline", "20/20", "Primetime Live" and "60 Minutes". And, yes, the shows would air in episodic order pertaining to the season the channel was airing.

There's my two cents.
 
"TimeLine" would consist of this schedule, if the programs are available...

Weekdays(Monday-Friday)(All Times Eastern & Pacific)
6am-7am Father Knows Best
7am-8am Dennis The Menace
8am-9am My Three Sons(Black & White Version)
9am-10am The Beverly Hillbillies(Black & White Version)
10am-11am My Little Margie
11am-Noon The Honeymooners
Noon-1pm Burke's Law
1pm-2pm The Untouchables
2pm-3pm Peter Gunn
3pm-4pm Perry Mason
4pm-5pm Captain Kangaroo(Black & White Version)
5pm-6pm Classic TV for Kids(Consisting of Local Kids Shows from
the 1960's)
6pm-7pm This Day In History
7pm-11pm TimeLine Prime Time(Featuring Documentaries, Rare
Television Programs, Movies and More)
11pm-3am TimeLine Late Night
3am-6am Paid Programs

Saturdays & Sundays
6am-7am Maverick
7am-8am Have Gun, Will Travel
8am-9am The Rifleman
9am-10am Rawhide
10am-11am Marshall Dillon
11am-Noon Cheyenne
Noon-1pm Bronco
1pm-2pm Ben Casey
2pm-3pm Dr. Kildare
3pm-4pm 77 Sunset Strip
4pm-5pm Hawaiian Eye
5pm-6pm Highway Patrol
6pm-7pm Dragnet(Black & White Version)
7pm-8pm This Day In History
8pm-11pm TimeLine Prime Time
11pm-2am TimeLine Late Night

This schedule might work, any other suggestions?
 
FloydB said:
11a - 12p: "The Price Is Right"
Click to expand...

Great idea, but CBS would not allow it. (Since you have programming that aired on multiple networks, I am assuming that CBS wouldn't own this network.) Either CBS and/or Fremantle Media won't even let GSN air reruns of The Price is Right. They don't want it to compete with the first-run episodes that air on CBS - especially now that Bob Barker has retired.
 
I thought about that, even maybe with a little time shift (10a - 11a, so it doesn't compete in the same time slot, but would lead in well as a warm-up [yeah, I know channel surfing is involved in that one, but wouldn't the real fans of TPIR do it?]). I'm sure they'll eventually cave to some of the older shows.... when the money's right. Or, if the writers strike continues on, then they'll definitely welcome the revenue.
 
justthenumbers said:
FloydB said:
11a - 12p: "The Price Is Right"
Click to expand...

Great idea, but CBS would not allow it. (Since you have programming that aired on multiple networks, I am assuming that CBS wouldn't own this network.) Either CBS and/or Fremantle Media won't even let GSN air reruns of The Price is Right. They don't want it to compete with the first-run episodes that air on CBS - especially now that Bob Barker has retired.
Click to expand...


Just replace "The Price Is Right" with episodes of "Match Game" and "Tattletales".

Problem solved. :)
 
How about classic TV channels by decade a la XM? There could be a 50s channel that would show stuff like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, etc. There could be a 60s channel that would show stuff like Gilligan's Island, The Andy Griffith Show, Beverly Hillbillies Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc. There could be a 70s channel that could show stuff like The Waltons and other shows from that decade. There could be an 80s channel that would show stuff like Alf, Out of This World (with the half girl/half alien who could stop time by pressing the tips of her index fingers together), Small Wonder (with Vicki the Robot), Saved by the Bell, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, etc. There could even be a 90s channel, for shows like Sister, Sister, Boy Meets World, The Parent 'Hood, Home Improvement, etc.
 
Mastaclocksetta said:
How about classic TV channels by decade a la XM? There could be a 50s channel that would show stuff like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, etc. There could be a 60s channel that would show stuff like Gilligan's Island, The Andy Griffith Show, Beverly Hillbillies Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc. There could be a 70s channel that could show stuff like The Waltons and other shows from that decade. There could be an 80s channel that would show stuff like Alf, Out of This World (with the half girl/half alien who could stop time by pressing the tips of her index fingers together), Small Wonder (with Vicki the Robot), Saved by the Bell, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, etc. There could even be a 90s channel, for shows like Sister, Sister, Boy Meets World, The Parent 'Hood, Home Improvement, etc.
Click to expand...

Great idea.

Maybe even recreate network nights from the era:
CBS Monday 1952
CBS Saturday 1973
NBC Thursday 1985
 
What if there was a short-lived TV series channel?

Yes, yes, yes, I know that was tried to some extent with Trio but I'm talking about a channel that would solely be devoted to airing short-lived television series, be they based on popular movies (Delta House, A League Of Their Own, Timecop) or not (The Hat Squad, The Flash, Homefront). There are hundreds if not thousands of series that are gathering dust in studio vaults so why not let them air once again? The channel could even air pilots that never went to series, like the pilot for Fargo, based on The Coen Brothers 1996 film, with Edie Falco in Frances McDormand's Academy Award-winning role.

Now what to call this channel? Retro TV? The Vault? New View TV?
 
I've had the same thought about classic TV networks for each decade. My thought was to have multiple TV Land channels (Before they started getting worse) for each decade, although I would have combined the 50's and 60's together since there could be fewer shows from the 50's that are still available. In other posts some people have brought up the idea of just a second TV Land network with the dividing line being a set year like 1975. I've begun to think that might be a better idea since it would more likely for two classic TV networks to make it on rather than the five it would take to cover each decade up to the 90's.

One other thing about this idea: As it stands now I'd want someone like RTN to be the one running it, NOT TV Land! ::)
 
The thing is you can't sell the time on the old shows. Even if you could get say $100 for a spot on "I Married Joan," you could get $105 for a spot on "Full House," so the network says "go with the most."

You see it isn't enough anymore to make a profit, you have to make the MOST profit. If you break goals but could've broken them by more companies consider you a failure.

I miss the old shows and well some day they'll be in public domain and we can download them free, of course we won't be alive LOL
 
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