Retro TV Channels: ”The Good Old Days of Television”

[bmoore4026]

6 hours ago, auntjess said:

Complain on their Facebook page.  It's worked for me with U-verse, and other things. 

Now there's an idea

[auntjess]

Me TV is showing Rhoda now.
I watched 2 episodes, and I see in the next few episodes she and Joe get married.
I remembered, I thought, lots of single Rhoda and Carlton your doorman, and thought her wedding was a long-time coming, maybe in her last season.
 

[Cobb Salad]

Yes,  they married her and Joe after a few episodes in then discovered they didn't know how to write a show with Rhoda being married.

The wedding episode was funny, though. 

[Mumbles]

I thought Rhoda as a series was so depressing. She married a guy who I thought was kind of a jerk even before he divorced her. Then she has to move back in with her sister. And I think by the last season or so they even had other roommates? Rhoda was such an awesome character on MTM, it was a shame they ruined her as a funny, independent woman on her own.

[Cobb Salad]

I watched Rhoda during its original run for about the first season or two then I stopped watching it - I don't remember if it was due to lack of interest or something else.  Anyway, thinking about it now, I think Rhoda as a character would have been better served if they kept her on with Mary Tyler Moore then during the last season of that show (which they decided to end while they were still on top) have a story arc for her with going to NY, living happily ever after and so on, but you know, if a network sees a popular character that looks good for a spinoff, they'll do that instead, ruining everything.  

[auntjess]

I remember the wedding, because I was working that night, and we went into the editor's office to watch it on his TV.
I have no memory of a married Rhoda.  Maybe I just quit watching.

[Mumbles]

The best part of the wedding was the dinner before. Phyllis was peak Phyllis. Come to think of it, Phyllis screwed up picking up Rhoda, so the wedding was peak Phyllis too.

[Jaded]

MeTV started showing Remington Steele in the mornings at 9am ct. I wanted to watch until I tuned in for the first episode only to realize after googling that they were starting with the first episode of the 2nd season. What prompted me to go searching in the first place was the fact that the first episode they showed seemed to be put together to well and the characters were already getting along so I knew something was up.

With these channels starting their summer schedules my daily viewing has gotten screwed up. I miss Hunter not being shown during the week on H&I. The Incredible Hulk took it's place in the daily lineup.

Edited June 9, 2017 by Jaded

[msrachelj]

sorry i am too lazy to read all the pages to see if the question is answered there.

i have direct tv. one of my local channels always has commercials for metv. but i don't have metv on my line up. i even emailed metv once a while back and never got a reply. for television watching i only have direct tv. i don't have netflix or any other thing at all that has to be done online. i don't have cable , i am in the country and we are the few that technology has left behind. why would a local channel advertise to watch metv on, whatever channel it is, when i don't get metv? how DO i get in? I want it desperately!!

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, msrachelj said:

sorry i am too lazy to read all the pages to see if the question is answered there.

i have direct tv. one of my local channels always has commercials for metv. but i don't have metv on my line up. i even emailed metv once a while back and never got a reply. for television watching i only have direct tv. i don't have netflix or any other thing at all that has to be done online. i don't have cable , i am in the country and we are the few that technology has left behind. why would a local channel advertise to watch metv on, whatever channel it is, when i don't get metv? how DO i get in? I want it desperately!!

Go here: http://www.metv.com/wheretowatch
and put in your zip code.

[msrachelj]

thanks.

it's on time warner cable. don't get it , can't get if i wanted to. they won't go out into the "country"..

and then it also says "over the air" and i have no idea what that means.

[auntjess]

It's one of those decimal point channels I think.
It shows up as 32 on my uverse, but I think it's really 31.something.
Maybe someone here can help, or google.

Google "how to get metv with antenna" and check the answers.

Edited June 13, 2017 by auntjess

[Jaded]

7 hours ago, msrachelj said:

sorry i am too lazy to read all the pages to see if the question is answered there.

i have direct tv. one of my local channels always has commercials for metv. but i don't have metv on my line up. i even emailed metv once a while back and never got a reply. for television watching i only have direct tv. i don't have netflix or any other thing at all that has to be done online. i don't have cable , i am in the country and we are the few that technology has left behind. why would a local channel advertise to watch metv on, whatever channel it is, when i don't get metv? how DO i get in? I want it desperately!!

It's probably a subchannel (with a decimal point/sister channel) to your local channel that shows the commercials. DirecTV (now owned by AT&T), AT&T's Uverse  and Dish Network don't carry subchannels usually they say those channels take up too much space. I lost the CW channel I had through Uverse which was from a city in a state over and they won't put the local CW channel in it's place because it's a subchannel. If they added some of them they might keep more customers that they need $$$ from.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

…and then it also says "over the air" and i have no idea what that means.

That means if you just hook up an antenna with no cable or dish fee. But if you're more than, say, 45 miles from a broadcasting city, you probably can't get it.
I use a Mohu Leaf. I think you can buy it online and return it if it doesn't work. Walmart had an antenna "key," which is almost as good, and might be worth trying. You would just unscrew the cable from the TV for your Direct TV (if it uses a cable) and screw in the antenna. I am 30+ miles from the city, so I need to put my Mohu Leaf antenna in a window facing the city. 
Then you should be able to scan for channels using your TV remote. The antenna should have instructions. It's a lot easier than I'm making it sound. LOL.
If it works for you, you could get a cable splitter so yo could watch antenna stations when your favorite oldies are on, and then switch back to Direct TV for cable shows. If you have a cheap subscription without hi-def major network stations, you will be pleasantly surprised to see them in hi-def with the free, over-the-air service via the antenna.
The splitter is really simple. It's just like adding one of those plugs to an outlet so you can plug in more than 2 lights or electronic gadgets. I use a splitter so I can record shows I get from my antenna to my VCR/DVD recorder; that is a little more complicated.

[msrachelj]

this sucks. i'm out of luck. right now i could use some laughs from those old retro shows.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

this sucks. i'm out of luck. right now i could use some laughs from those old retro shows.

What's your zip code?

There are quite a few on YouTube, like Barney Miller.

[auntjess]

There are also episodes of the Garry Moore show on youtube, some with Carol Burnett.  (Google may try to show you gary moore youtube, but click the garry option.)
 

[msrachelj]

like i said, internet viewing is not good for me.

watching shows on the internet, youtube or whatever websites,  eats up my data and when i go over they slow me down to a crawl. there must not be many of us out there are screwed by the cable company because hardly anyone believes or understands how backwards we are in the boonies.

[Jaded]

I have U-Verse and enjoyed watching the FamilyNet channel because they aired some shows other retro stations didn't. I was looking at the listings guide online and didn't see the channel listed which struck me as weird. So I was googling the channel and found out they were owned by RFD-TV which is a channel about lot of country living related stuff. Apparently as of July 1st 2017 FamilyNet is now The Cowboy Channel the excuse for the change is too much competition from the other retro networks. 

[auntjess]

I have U-verse, but haven't come across the Cowboy Channel.  They always change their names, so I somethimes just search for a program.
I love that there's one called the Fido Channel, which airs a show called "At the End of My Leash."

[Jaded]

6 hours ago, auntjess said:

I have U-verse, but haven't come across the Cowboy Channel.  They always change their names, so I somethimes just search for a program.
I love that there's one called the Fido Channel, which airs a show called "At the End of My Leash."

FamilyNet (Now TCC) was 566 in the religious channel mix because that's what it originally was a few years ago before RFD purchased them. Also in that mix is FETV on 578 which airs COZI TV programming. Those channels probably don't get as many eyeballs watching due to the other ones they are grouped with.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 7/1/2017 at 4:55 PM, Jaded said:

Apparently as of July 1st 2017 FamilyNet is now The Cowboy Channel the excuse for the change is too much competition from the other retro networks. 

That is a bummer, plus we don't get it here in NYC on Spectrum.  I wish we did, I'd love to be able to see more rodeo aside from anything else.

[roseha]

Happy to see that MeTV has now added the classic ODD COUPLE with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman on weekdays at 6:30 pm.  Perfect time for it - when I first came to New York back in the 1970s, WPIX Channel 11 used to run the show 3 times every week night, and it was my go to TV for dinner time.   Some things never change!

By the way, the local MeTV affiliate, New Jersey's WJLP, has finally stopped broadcasting in stretched format, so I can watch Perry Mason in a normal ratio - thanks WJLP!  I have noticed, though, when I see the first minute of MATLOCK that follows Perry, the image looks terrible - I suspect that MATLOCK was filmed on videotape and that's why the picture is so poor.

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, roseha said:

By the way, the local MeTV affiliate, New Jersey's WJLP, has finally stopped broadcasting in stretched format,

Thank all the gods yes!  Now if only New Jersey's WLIW , the PBS channel 21, would do the same.

[Jaded]

I wish the MeTV affiliate here would stop broadcasting in the stretched format. They are the only channel I get that white line at the top the screen going on while trying to watch some shows. The Matlock episodes that air on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries look better then the ones that air on MeTV as do the older Columbo episodes/movies.

[opus]

On 7/30/2017 at 9:36 PM, roseha said:

Happy to see that MeTV has now added the classic ODD COUPLE with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman on weekdays at 6:30 pm.  Perfect time for it - when I first came to New York back in the 1970s, WPIX Channel 11 used to run the show 3 times every week night, and it was my go to TV for dinner time.   Some things never change!

By the way, the local MeTV affiliate, New Jersey's WJLP, has finally stopped broadcasting in stretched format, so I can watch Perry Mason in a normal ratio - thanks WJLP!  I have noticed, though, when I see the first minute of MATLOCK that follows Perry, the image looks terrible - I suspect that MATLOCK was filmed on videotape and that's why the picture is so poor.

Odd Couple off to once a week , 11:30 pm Sundays. Hawaii 5-0 takes over 6pm daily starting Aug.21. New schedule if the link works:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-p9OTsjmYVcek04SVhrYkpCV28/view

[Jaded]

I just started watching Ironside on MeTV at 2am ct and see it's going to be replaced by Cannon on that new schedule. I've never seen full episodes of that so there's that. I'm enjoying Ironside though. I see they are removing Remington Steele too for now. It just started this Summer. I wonder if ratings were poor after they started off with the first episode of the 2nd season and skipping the 1st entirely?

[Maverick]

Remington Steele didn't do well in the ratings the first time it was on MeTV and was pulled shortly after it's first cycle.   I was surprised they brought it back.    Glad to finally see the original H50 back it's on at a not great time.   TJ Hooker is an interesting choice; haven't seen that one in forever.  Not much love for Facts of Life,, making it's debut in a 6 am spot.  Seems like a couple of different channels having been airing that lately, but they all have the same package of limited episodes.  Unless they're airing the full series, noting interesting there.  I see they're replacing Mayberry RFD with Gomer Pyle for stations that can't show TAGS.  Not exactly an upgrade there.   

[Jaded]

Why can't some stations show TAGS? Is it because of some local stations already airing it?

Remington Steele would be a good show to air on H&I. I'd love it if it took the place of Hercules or Xena. I agree that they could cut down on the episodes of the Star Trek shows too. I wonder if all the Star Trek versions are still pulling good ratings for them and that's why they haven't changed how often they air or taken them off completely?

Edited August 2, 2017 by Jaded

[Jaded]

There will be a Rockford Files marathon on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on Aug 19th and then the show will be on from 11am est/10am ct to 1pm est/12pm est weekdays until Xmas movies invade on that channel from Oct. 27th until Jan 1st.

Edited August 12, 2017 by Jaded

[dalek]

On February 28, 2017 at 7:41 PM, bmoore4026 said:

Don't know if this goes here, but our cable provider took away my Grit TV and I am not happy.  Got someone channel called Charge in it's place.  Apparently it's where all the movies too shitty for TCM go.

This happened to me, except they replaced MeTV with Charge.  I suspect that they want a channel with a theoretically more male demographic than MeTV.   The movie selection's pretty crap.  How many times in one month is it really necessary to show Basic Instinct 2?

[Silver Raven]

Aren't all of the old Westerns, old cop shows and old Hogan's Heroes on MeTV aimed at a male demographic?

[bmoore4026]

On 8/29/2017 at 3:11 PM, dalek said:

 How many times in one month is it really necessary to show Basic Instinct 2?

Until Sharon Stone finally gets enough residuals

On 8/29/2017 at 3:29 PM, Silver Raven said:

Aren't all of the old Westerns, old cop shows and old Hogan's Heroes on MeTV aimed at a male demographic?

And my Ambiguously Gay Western Laramie ain't one of 'em

[Kemper]

Not a fan of the westerns; but I know a lot of people like them.  Here is a thought on MeTv.  When Hallmark starts it's way-too-early showings of 24/7 Christmas Movies (Oct. 27?!)...bumping Murder She Wrote, Matlock, etc.  Maybe MeTV could start showing Murder She Wrote at 12:30 (after Perry Mason, which never gets old)...and Matlock after.  They show Matlock on Hallmark Movie Channel in the morning hours of 5-8 or some such.  Seems it would be a good fit for MeTV during the maddening Christmas movie marathons on some of the other channels.

[wilsie]

Quote

If you get MeTV, they will be showing Richard Anderson tribute episodes of Wagon Train, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, and The Wild Wild West - tomorrow (Saturday Sept 2) starting at 11am / 10 central.

The very wonderful Richard Anderson has died and MaryMitch graciously posted this "In Memoriam"  for anyone who would like to see him in these shows.  

Edited September 1, 2017 by wilsie
gving credit to MaryMitch

[roseha]

Richard Anderson also played the police detective in Season 9 of Perry Mason, perhaps MeTV will show some of those as well?

Edited September 2, 2017 by roseha

[WendyCR72]

I remember Mr. Anderson also from the ill-fated 1984 CBS series, Cover Up, the TV series where the male lead, Jon-Erik Hexum, had accidentally killed himself with a prop gun.

He had quite the career. May he RIP.

[auntjess]

Watched a Father Knows Best, that I remembered from the original airing.

[cynicat]

Did anyone else watch The Mod Squad marathon on Decades?  That show really takes me back to my itty bitty youth where I had no understanding of the politics and the war.  I just wanted to be Julie. It's dated, but by the same token what's old has become new again.  Watching a few episodes where there were police beating up rioters and all the deep anger expressed by both sides was sadly too current.

[Jaded]

I would love it if we ever got that Decades channel here. I don't see it happening though.
 

Quote

MeTV is honoring the legacy of comedian Carol Burnett with a weeklong special programming schedule, “Carol Burnett’s Golden Anniversary.” Each weeknight beginning Monday, Sept. 11 — the 50th anniversary of “The Carol Burnett Show’s” premiere — through Friday, Sept. 15, MeTV will air an episode of the series featuring a different iconic character or skit that helped define the future of sketch comedy. Episodes will air at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Source: Variety

[ratgirlagogo]

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

MeTV is honoring the legacy of comedian Carol Burnett

OMG you freaked me out!  I googled her to make sure she hadn't died!

[honeydo7]

Decades has been running an early 1960's  Aaron's Spelling series, Burke's Law, this weekend.  Episodes I've seen were chock-full of guest stars like Dorothy Lamour, Gena Rowlands,  Mary Ann Mobley, Marlyn Mason,   Mable (Samantha's M-I-L on Bewitched) Albertson , George Hamilton, Dean Stockwell, Tom & Dick Smothers, Ricardo Montalban, & Dick Clark.  It was like watching a police department version of the Love Boat!

[dalek]

While i'm happy that COZI is now showing Kojak and Ironside, as my cable provider dumped MeTV (which is where I used to watch them), I'm bummed that Ironside replaced The Avengers.  They were back to the black and white episodes with Diana Rigg, which were my favorite era of the show.

[magicdog]

22 hours ago, honeydo7 said:

ecades has been running an early 1960's  Aaron's Spelling series, Burke's Law, this weekend.  Episodes I've seen were chock-full of guest stars like Dorothy Lamour, Gena Rowlands,  Mary Ann Mobley, Marlyn Mason,   Mable (Samantha's M-I-L on Bewitched) Albertson , George Hamilton, Dean Stockwell, Tom & Dick Smothers, Ricardo Montalban, & Dick Clark.  It was like watching a police department version of the Love Boat!

I never saw the show first run (too young) but it did come back in the 90s as a series with Gene Barry back in the role and Peter Barton as his son - also a detective.   I think it was a way to complement Diagnosis Murder - both of which brought back many surviving stars for their storylines.   

[ratgirlagogo]

Wait, so this thread isn't in Network Talk anymore?  why?

[shapeshifter]

At least here in the northern reaches of Chicagoland on the over-the -air station, The CW (formerly My50 Chicago and still on channel 50), starting this Saturday, we too will have 2 consecutive episosdes of Major Crimes instead of just  one each Saturday (which skipped every other episode). They will air from 9-11pm Central Time, so I will need a 20 minute nap sometime before then, unless I want to use the show as a sedative, heh.

 

On September 11, 2017 at 8:30 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

Wait, so this thread isn't in Network Talk anymore?  why?

Curious. I'm going to ask now while there should be a lull for the mods between the Emmys and the new fall shows.

Edited September 19, 2017 by shapeshifter

[WendyCR72]

On 6/9/2017 at 6:47 AM, Jaded said:

I miss Hunter not being shown during the week on H&I.

It has been again, as of August 28th, at 2:00 p.m. ET on Mondays through Fridays. (The weekend airing from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET on Saturday evenings is still going on.)

[bad things are bad]

Quote

Decades has been running an early 1960's  Aaron's Spelling series, Burke's Law, this weekend

Burke's Law was one of the series we'd get on Armed Forces TV when I lived in Germany in the late 60s/early 70s.  They only showed programming that was either really old (Sgt Preston of the Yukon!) or not wanted by Germans. We couldn't get Star Trek ("Raumschiff Enterprise" auf deutsch),  but we did get Laugh In as it was apparently far too American and humor doesn't really translate well. 

So I do remember the dapper Mr. Barry very fondly!

[Jaded]

On 9/19/2017 at 0:16 AM, WendyCR72 said:

It has been again, as of August 28th, at 2:00 p.m. ET on Mondays through Fridays. (The weekend airing from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET on Saturday evenings is still going on.)

Thanks. I haven't really been paying as much attention to H&I since they seem to just move around shows they are already airing. 

[auntjess]

I thought there was a forum for  The Odd Couple--the original one, with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, but I don't see one.
I'm just posting to say that Facebook has an I Love the Odd Couple group, and Joan Hotchkis' daughter posted there today,
"Hi all, daughter of Joan Hotchkis here. We will be celebrating her 90th brthday this weekend! Small gathering at my home in Los Angeles with a few cherished family members. She asked for the richest, darkest chocolate brownie ever, so I am going brownie shopping today. This photo shows her four years ago on her 86th birthday; she looks the same today and is doing well! Any well wishes from you will be passed on to her at the party. Thanks for continuing to care."
If any fan is on Facebook, you can send birthday greetings.
ETA Joan Hotchkis played Dr.Nancy Cunningham, Oscar's girlfriend, in some episodes.

Edited September 22, 2017 by auntjess