TV Guide Question

[Mike Sheridan]

Forgive me if this has been asked here before but I thought this would be a good place to ask....

TV Guide used have actual local listings from the TV stations. We used to pick it up at the store often times as I was growing up. I haven't seen it for a long time but every time I pick one up now it's just national listings. I guess with all the cable and satellite channels it's just too much. Is there an edition with the local listings in it?

 

[Stanislav]

Forgive me if this has been asked here before but I thought this would be a good place to ask....

TV Guide used have actual local listings from the TV stations. We used to pick it up at the store often times as I was growing up. I haven't seen it for a long time but every time I pick one up now it's just national listings. I guess with all the cable and satellite channels it's just too much. Is there an edition with the local listings in it?

Nope -- TVG switched to its current format a few years ago. If you want local listings, your only alternatives are your local newspaper, cable/satellite system on-air program guides, or websites like titantv.com and others. My own 80-year old mother is a perfect example of the sort of people left in the lurch by this setup. The paper's TV magazine keeps cramming more listings into fewer pages (trying, like all print newspapers, to save money), so the listings are in a ridiculously tiny font and crammed into a crowded grid that is just a blur to her eyes. (Even I go cross-eyed trying to read it.) The cable's on-screen listings aren't much better -- she still can't read the tiny print well at all, and it also scrolls upward so she can't focus on any one line long enough to make sense of it. And to her, a computer is about as alien a device as a time machine. Fortunately, I live with her as a full-time caretaker, so I am able to keep her abreast of when her favorite shows are on, and suggest other programs that I think may be of interest.

 

[Davros2006]

Somewhat related to print listings, The Newfoundland Herald, which began as a weekly newspaper in the '40s, has been printing TV listings for many many years (and they still publish it weekly, but in a magazine format since switching over). In recent years, however, almost anyone who makes the cover has a connection (directly or indirectly) to whatever CJON (NTV) airs (both the Herald and CJON (and radio station CHOZ - OZFM) are owned by the same company operated by Stirling (under the name Newfoundland Broadcasting Company). However, in years past, there would be some CBC people that made the cover. (Yes, the St. John's TV market is quite odd in that there's only two English-language stations, only one is CBC and the other is neither primary CTV nor Global nor anything else; it's weird, but that's for another thread.)

 

[therealjm12]

TV Guide Online still has excellent local listings and it's not hard to access or use. I have found that their listings are still on target while the other services are wrong. I, like many others, cancelled my subscription after they dropped the local listings but am very satisfied with the on line service and it doesn't cost me anything.

 

[jal41]

Somewhat related to print listings, The Newfoundland Herald, which began as a weekly newspaper in the '40s, has been printing TV listings for many many years (and they still publish it weekly, but in a magazine format since switching over). In recent years, however, almost anyone who makes the cover has a connection (directly or indirectly) to whatever CJON (NTV) airs (both the Herald and CJON (and radio station CHOZ - OZFM) are owned by the same company operated by Stirling (under the name Newfoundland Broadcasting Company). However, in years past, there would be some CBC people that made the cover. (Yes, the St. John's TV market is quite odd in that there's only two English-language stations, only one is CBC and the other is neither primary CTV nor Global nor anything else; it's weird, but that's for another thread.)

Same co-ownership situation here in Atlanta (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ABC affiliate WSB-TV, along with WSB-AM/WSB-FM/WSRV/WBTS/WALR-FM are both owned by Cox), but the AJC never hardly features any ABC stars on the cover. WSB-TV's listings are first in the grids...but that is because of their Channel 2 dial position. The newspaper never works with TV or radio, but the TV and radio do work some with each other.

As for the elderly that cannot operate complicated electronics...this is a big problem. There is technology to print customized listings cheaply. Someone could make money off of such a service (that would be listings only - no entertainment features or other fluff - although there probably will have to be ads to help pay for the cost).

 

[azumanga]

Same co-ownership situation here in Atlanta (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ABC affiliate WSB-TV, along with WSB-AM/WSB-FM/WSRV/WBTS/WALR-FM are both owned by Cox),... The newspaper never works with TV or radio, but the TV and radio do work some with each other.

Though Channel 2 does sponsor the AJC's weather page.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Thanks folks I knew I'd find the answer here. My hope was the old TV Guide still existed as a separate edition that I hadn't seen. Going by the one I picked up, even the articles were not as good.

Much like broadcasting, it seems like let's cheapen the product and lower the quality so we can enhance our bottom line.

By the way I'm old enough to remember when there were not only TV listings but radio listings in the paper!

 

[Tim L]

We've talked about this before, but the "Old" TV Guide had articles on all aspects of TV . There were "fluff" articles to be sure, but there There were also articles on ratings, News fairness, Indepth features on actors and shows. There were times one could read TV Guide from cover to cover and feel like you learned something..

Re: Newspaper radio listings..I believe the Canton (Ohio) Repository stopped radio listings in July 1960..The Akron Beacon Journal carried them into 1964..

 

[Stanislav]

We've talked about this before, but the "Old" TV Guide had articles on all aspects of TV . There were "fluff" articles to be sure, but there There were also articles on ratings, News fairness, Indepth features on actors and shows. There were times one could read TV Guide from cover to cover and feel like you learned something..

I like, in retrospect, to read the twin "TV Teletype" pages (is that what they were called? My old TVGs are in storage at the moment) -- the yellow pages, one for L.A. and one for New York, where they would have items about proposed upcoming shows, deals, rumors, etc. It's fun to see how many of those projects (a LOT) never came to fruition, and to imagine how some of them would have turned out if they had come to pass.

I also always liked Cleveland Amory's reviews -- boy, there wasn't much on TV that he liked, was there? He was, like me, a curmudgeon, and minced no words if he thought a show was silly, vapid, or insulting to his intelligence. (And face it -- a LOT of shows back in the day fit that description. Come to think of it, most of them STILL do...)

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Quote from: Tim L on Today at 08:06:06 am
We've talked about this before, but the "Old" TV Guide had articles on all aspects of TV . There were "fluff" articles to be sure, but there There were also articles on ratings, News fairness, Indepth features on actors and shows. There were times one could read TV Guide from cover to cover and feel like you learned something..


I like, in retrospect, to read the twin "TV Teletype" pages (is that what they were called? My old TVGs are in storage at the moment) -- the yellow pages, one for L.A. and one for New York, where they would have items about proposed upcoming shows, deals, rumors, etc. It's fun to see how many of those projects (a LOT) never came to fruition, and to imagine how some of them would have turned out if they had come to pass.

I also always liked Cleveland Amory's reviews -- boy, there wasn't much on TV that he liked, was there? He was, like me, a curmudgeon, and minced no words if he thought a show was silly, vapid, or insulting to his intelligence. (And face it -- a LOT of shows back in the day fit that description. Come to think of it, most of them STILL do...)

Sumpin's up with the quote tags, but hey...

True on all of that...I also miss the local listings. There's one that has stuck in my mind for years. It was a listing for a movie called "The Treasure Of Pancho Villa", and the description of the movie simply read, "Everybody's after it".

 

[Stanislav]

True on all of that...I also miss the local listings. There's one that has stuck in my mind for years. It was a listing for a movie called "The Treasure Of Pancho Villa", and the description of the movie simply read, "Everybody's after it".

There was a time when the movie listings would also include a curt, sometimes cute or catty one-line review of the movie. Like "Average sci-fi yarn, but with pretty girls."

 

[wbhist]

I also always liked Cleveland Amory's reviews -- boy, there wasn't much on TV that he liked, was there? He was, like me, a curmudgeon, and minced no words if he thought a show was silly, vapid, or insulting to his intelligence. (And face it -- a LOT of shows back in the day fit that description. Come to think of it, most of them STILL do...)

I.I.N.M., from what I've read in The Worst TV Shows Ever, one program Mr. Amory didn't like in particular was the short-lived 1965-66 Burl Ives sitcom O.K. Crackerby! - a series Mr. Amory himself co-created, along with playwright Abe Burrows.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

But don't get Cleveland Amory confused with the Cleveland armory,
as the Today Show did once upon a time long ago.

 

[wbhist]

But don't get Cleveland Amory confused with the Cleveland armory, as the Today Show did once upon a time long ago.

Don't worry, I grew up with Mr. Amory's acerbic (and sometimes acidic) reviews in TVG. It's the younger generation I worry about.

 

[bpatrick]

Those of you who were alive in the '60s:
think about shows you never missed then,
now ask yourself how many you would watch
today. You might see that Cleveland Amory
was usually on-target. I, for one, read his
reviews; being a kid I didn't always agree, but
to read them now brings a different reaction.

I think TV Guide went to the dogs when Rupert
Murdoch bought it. In the Annenberg days, not
only was it realistically critical of the medium, but
it always seemed to come up with little tidbits that
were interesting but not general knowledge (I still
talk about Don Morrow and his pet deer, and that
article appeared in 1961!). Murdoch always seemed
to use the magazine to promote Fox shows.

The last straw was when they cut the listings, showing
only 5-11 PM weekdays, and 9 AM-11 PM weekends, with
everything else in grids. I did enjoy the merging of various
editions (Eastern Virginia/Central Virginia, Orlando/Northern
Florida, Southern Alabama/Gulf Coast, for example) toward
the end; I wish they'd brought back Carolina-Tennessee.

Another thing: TV Guide priced itself out of reach: $2.99 was
too much when the information was being scaled back. And
what with their on-line and cable sites, TitanTV, etc., plus
the internet sites for individual stations (which almost always
include that station's schedule), there just wasn't any further
need for the digest-size book.

In the '60s and '70s getting TV Guide was the highlight of my week,
and my dad used to bring back local editions from different cities
where he worked. By the '80s I couldn't have cared less.

 

[LKellerIII]

I agree with bpatrick's sentiments regarding TV Guide. A couple of memories sparked by the mention of Cleveland Amory (I too liked his writing and reviews). Mr. Amory was an early animal rights activist and founded the Fund for Animals.

I vaguely remember seeing OK Crackerby!, which was cancelled after half a season. I looked it up, and learned that one of the co-stars was a young Brooke Adams, who I always thought was lovely and talented. Crackerby must have been one of her first gigs. She had a few high profile screen roles (notably the critical favorite Days of Heaven in 1978 with Richard Gere). For some reason, though, her career never really took off.

She's married to Tony Shaloub, which explains her recent guest appearances on Monk.

 

[gr8oldies]

Curious how TVG produced all those local editions, keeping all that data straight before computers

 

[mleach]

After Armory who was the TV critic for TV Guide? I am pretty sure his name was Robert but I don't remember at all his last name.

Other than TV Guide the only other TV critic on a national level I can remember back then ( talking the 70s and early 80s ) was Rex Winston from the Weekly World News ( yes THAT Weekly World News ). However even back then before those "Batboy" stories it was pretty much known in biz ( and by everyone else ) that the Weekly World News was fiction and that included those who did columns in that rag like Ed Anger, Dotti Pemrose "Dear Dotti"..and yes Rex Winston so unlike Armory and Robert "whats-hs-name", Winston's opinions were a joke like claiming that "Thicke of the Night" was "quality television" or that "We Got It Made" would run for 20 years.

As I can remember Rex Winston's joke opinons ( and his column ) came to an end rather suddenly thanks to his so-called reviews of American Bandstand and the Showtime cable network. Dick Clark wasn't happy what Winston ( or whoever the guy was who wrote the column ) said about AB and for Showtime, they claimed the channel was airing hardcore porn later at night ( of course that never was true ). I am pretty sure Clark sued them ( isn't Dick Clark "sue" happy?). Showtime...I am pretty sure part of that settlement was that Weekly World News would never mention the name of that channel ever again, and I am pretty sure that "rule" stayed in place all the way until the Weekly World News stopped publishing last year.

 

[Tim L]

In the '60s and '70s getting TV Guide was the highlight of my week,
and my dad used to bring back local editions from different cities
where he worked. By the '80s I couldn't have cared less.

My sentiments exactly..I started reading TV Guide in 1965 when I was 7-8 years old..I devoured the weekly listings so that my family called me "The Walking TV Guide"..I could tell you what was on at any given time on any local station in my area. (Was'nt that hard with only 3 of them..LOL). I also would collect TV Guides in various travels around Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia etc..or people would bring them back for me..Only wish I had kept at least some of the Cleveland Edition TV Guides..from the 60's and 70's..

 

[wbhist]

After Armory who was the TV critic for TV Guide? I am pretty sure his name was Robert but I don't remember at all his last name.

Robert MacKenzie. With his caricature by Al Hirschfeld.