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

[shapeshifter]

21 hours ago, DXD526 said:

Decades is changing its schedule slightly starting this Monday

Now that you mention it, shouldn’t we expect a lot of our OTA channels to change their lineups in the new year?

[Lili]

On 11/27/2020 at 12:20 PM, icemiser69 said:

They have been running commercials on MeTV about the lineup change for a couple of weeks.  Apparently quite a few of the viewers of early Saturday morning westerns aren't too happy with the line up change..  Basically having the take my ball and go home attitude.  Even with this lineup change, there are still quite a few westerns airing on the network.

That said, I do wonder if some of the cartoons due to the era in which we live my not air at all.  I would rather not watch a cartoon than have a gutted version of it air.

For the most part most of the digital sub channels don't change their programming all that much.  That said, adding more cartoons to MeTV is one of their bigger changes.   I would like to see them give some of their other series a rest, but those series probably bring in a decent audience and that is why they are still in the line up.

Yeah, I don't see the issue either. Besides, there's plenty of other channels that have old western shows in their schedule. With classic cartoons, all there is, is Boomerang, and even that doesn't have as many classic cartoons as before. It does have Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Scooby Doo, The Smurfs and Garfield & Friends, but that's really it. And in the case of Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry, they only show a small selection of shorts on Boomerang, so maybe MeTV will show more of them.

[Florida Dave]

Do different MeTV cities have different programming?  I live in Florida and the only change in years to the night time lineup was replacing WKRP with Green Acres.  You talk about extremes!  Anyone know why that switch took place?  

[chessiegal]

16 hours ago, Florida Dave said:

Do different MeTV cities have different programming?  I live in Florida and the only change in years to the night time lineup was replacing WKRP with Green Acres.  You talk about extremes!  Anyone know why that switch took place?  

I think MeTV has a set schedules. I get weekly emails from them that have things of interest or quizes. They always include what's airing now and what's coming up. They've been doing a lot of switching around because of the holidays. They had a Love Boat Christmas on Sunday. I get MeTV on 2 channels, one out of Baltimore and one out of DC. The Baltimore channel preempts some time slots for local news.

Their schedule is on their website.

[Andyourlittledog2]

I've been watching old Perry Mason episodes on METV and I use the closed captioning to make sure I 'hear' everything. And I notice that whoever does their closed captions has set some automatic censoring filter without distinguishing words from parts of words. So they keep censoring regular words such as:

suspicious ('s***' is xxxx'd out and the word is shown as suxxxxious)

cocktail ('cock' so the word is xxxxtail)

Dick (a man's name) is simply 'xxxx'. It took me a whole episode to finally figure out what that was supposed to be the first time it happened because the actors were kind of mumbling the name the first ten or so times it came up in dialogue.

And so on, with any word that could be considered bad or offensive to anyone. It's ridiculous and annoying.  And this is the only show I've noticed that happening on.

[ratgirlagogo]

13 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

And so on, with any word that could be considered bad or offensive to anyone. It's ridiculous and annoying.  And this is the only show I've noticed that happening on.

All the digital subchannels do this, on every show or film.  I can tell you that MeTV also does this on other shows.  On the late sixties/early seventies episodes of Gunsmoke they actually bleep out words like n***** and c**** - even when the use of the word is crucial to establishing the speaker of said word as a terrible person, as it always was by that time ( even BEFORE that time on TV, actually).

I'm so used to it that I jump a bit when I watch Turner Classic Movies and they just show their films unbleeped - I understand why networks are jumpy but still, it's sad that we've come to this.

[meowmommy]

5 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

On the late sixties/early seventies episodes of Gunsmoke they actually bleep out words like n***** and c**** - even when the use of the word is crucial to establishing the speaker of said word as a terrible person, as it always was by that time ( even BEFORE that time on TV, actually).

And don't ever watch Blazing Saddles on regular TV.  All those words are bleeped out.  Never mind that the slurs are deliberately used to skewer the racists. 

[wknt3]

22 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

And so on, with any word that could be considered bad or offensive to anyone. It's ridiculous and annoying.  And this is the only show I've noticed that happening on.

 

8 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

All the digital subchannels do this, on every show or film.  I can tell you that MeTV also does this on other shows.  On the late sixties/early seventies episodes of Gunsmoke they actually bleep out words like n***** and c**** - even when the use of the word is crucial to establishing the speaker of said word as a terrible person, as it always was by that time ( even BEFORE that time on TV, actually).

I'm so used to it that I jump a bit when I watch Turner Classic Movies and they just show their films unbleeped - I understand why networks are jumpy but still, it's sad that we've come to this.

They all do it, but not necessarily out of any policy or conscious choice, but because the syndication cuts they air were edited that way to make sure they wouldn't get any complaints to the FCC back when the FCC actually care about such things. And now nobody at the retro channels cares since changing things would involve spending money and those Joe Namath ads are going away soon. What @Andyourlittledog2 is talking about is slightly different. I would guess that the closed captioning is fairly similar and that someone used this software that tried to handle standards and practices with a simple find and replace at sometime in the past and now it's part of the metadata that comes with the series, but if someone knows more about the technical side of the process I would love to learn more.

[GHScorpiosRule]

45 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

 

They all do it, but not necessarily out of any policy or conscious choice, but because the syndication cuts they air were edited that way to make sure they wouldn't get any complaints to the FCC back when the FCC actually care about such things. And now nobody at the retro channels cares since changing things would involve spending money and those Joe Namath ads are going away soon. What @Andyourlittledog2 is talking about is slightly different. I would guess that the closed captioning is fairly similar and that someone used this software that tried to handle standards and practices with a simple find and replace at sometime in the past and now it's part of the metadata that comes with the series, but if someone knows more about the technical side of the process I would love to learn more.

I meant to post about what the closed captioning did for Perry Mason, but never got around to it. 

The only exception in not bleeping out the words was TNT. I remember when I was watching "Good Girl" of original recipe Law & Order, when TNT was still airing it, that the N-word wasn't bleeped out; neither was "bare back" or "dyke". The last two were from different episodes.

I know there's another cable network (I'm blanking on the name) that doesn't bleep it out. But the channel that airs Quantum Leap does bleep out all variations of the Negro. It was in "The Color of Truth".

But Sun Dance is a premium channel where it airs R-rated movies and those f-bombs aren't bleeped, yet these words in Law & Order, are! Makes no sense.

[shapeshifter]

19 hours ago, wknt3 said:

They all do it, but not necessarily out of any policy or conscious choice, but because the syndication cuts they air were edited that way to make sure they wouldn't get any complaints to the FCC back when the FCC actually care about such things.

That makes sense, especially for Any Day Now, which runs a screen at the beginning and midpoint of each episode warning the viewers about the use of offensive words due to the historical nature of the program, but then all the N-words are bleeped and the captioning ***'s them too.

The other word they bleep is "piss" as in "pissed off" and "pissing me off" which somewhat amuses me because I didn't know it was offensive until a friend told me in the late 70s when I was pregnant and in my mid 20s. I guess if I'd lived in Birmingham it would've been acceptable, at least within my generation.

Edited December 9, 2020 by shapeshifter

[Andyourlittledog2]

The thing is, it's not just about censoring words. It's about stupid censoring of words. I mean here you are, watching an old TV series that has no 'bad' words, and the closed captioning creates 'bad' words to shove in your face by taking perfectly regular words and highlighting the 'bad' word inside of them. Like some weird version of a word game. You're watching Perry Mason and suddenly the word 'cock' hits you in the face when they say'xxxxtails' or 'peaxxxx' or 'xxxx-eyed'. Or you see 's***' (a word I haven't heard in decades) constantly because it is 'xxxx'd out of suspicion, suspicious, suspicously, and so on.  It is a mystery show after all so that word comes up all the time.  These are just a few of the words this censoring filter creates for the viewer. There are more.

I can just see them finding a murder victim was reading Moby Dick and the closed captioning calling it 'Moby xxxx', as though there was some porno version of the novel out there. 

They are throwing these words out at you when you wouldn't be thinking of them at all. 

[wknt3]

14 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I meant to post about what the closed captioning did for Perry Mason, but never got around to it. 

The only exception in not bleeping out the words was TNT. I remember when I was watching "Good Girl" of original recipe Law & Order, when TNT was still airing it, that the N-word wasn't bleeped out; neither was "bare back" or "dyke". The last two were from different episodes.

I know there's another cable network (I'm blanking on the name) that doesn't bleep it out. But the channel that airs Quantum Leap does bleep out all variations of the Negro. It was in "The Color of Truth".

But Sun Dance is a premium channel where it airs R-rated movies and those f-bombs aren't bleeped, yet these words in Law & Order, are! Makes no sense.

It does make sense in a way. You just have to look at it from the POV of caring first and foremost about money with the content being a secondary concern. It's cheaper to just run the syndication edits of shows that were designed to avoid offending viewers in Tulsa in the 80's than it is to get the original episodes and edit them yourself for time and content, It's cheaper to just use the CC files that are already there even if it has nonsense like "The xxxx Van xxxx Show" and I'm sure that the clumsy solution of using a simple find and replace instead of a human for censorship was used to save money. Law & Order is filler for Sundance which they run because their corporate parent bought the rights and it gets decent ratings in off hours and it would cost money to get the unbleeped episodes that would fit with the brand and the whole point of running it is not to spend money.

[DXD526]

A local newspaper's on-line comments section censors words in a ridiculous and similar manner. The word 'balls' is always bleeped, for instance, which is annoying enough, but beyond silly when it comes to the sports section. If balls and strikes is referenced, it's ****s and strikes. As mentioned above, it forces you to think about the word in a totally different context. It's rather insidious, on that level; censorship that inadvertently leads to 'naughty thoughts'!

I find the StartTV warning on Any Day Now to be particularly annoying, since they bleep any language that might be considered "intense". The language on the show reflects the South and the times, and is meant to illustrate how casually such words were used and were acceptable back then. Bleeping it all out kind of mutes the point. A character like the horribly racist Uncle Jimmy, about half of what he says gets bleeped. It would be much more powerful to leave the dialogue as it was. 

[Lisa418722]

5 hours ago, DXD526 said:

I find the StartTV warning on Any Day Now to be particularly annoying, since they bleep any language that might be considered "intense". The language on the show reflects the South and the times, and is meant to illustrate how casually such words were used and were acceptable back then. Bleeping it all out kind of mutes the point. A character like the horribly racist Uncle Jimmy, about half of what he says gets bleeped. It would be much more powerful to leave the dialogue as it was. 

I watched Any Day Now is in first run in the late 1990s early 2000s and I didn't remember the language that was used until rewatching it on StartTV and all the bleeping makes me think more about what words are being used.  I guess I prefer them bleeping rather than dubbing and having them say, "N-word" or something like that.  I remember there was a courtroom scene and it felt like 3/4 of the testimony was bleeped out; it took away the intensity and seriousness of the scene since you didn't hear what was said.  

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, DXD526 said:

A local newspaper's on-line comments section censors words in a ridiculous and similar manner. The word 'balls' is always bleeped, for instance, which is annoying enough, but beyond silly when it comes to the sports section. If balls and strikes is referenced, it's ****s and strikes. As mentioned above, it forces you to think about the word in a totally different context. It's rather insidious, on that level; censorship that inadvertently leads to 'naughty thoughts'!

I bet a lot of people find it hilarious too. 😉

[chessiegal]

I've been watching The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ZLiving. I just started noticing that they skip episodes. Season 11 started today. They showed eps 1,2, 5, and 6. Anyone have any idea why they are doing this? Do they not have them or have rights to them? My husband suggested content that wouldn't be acceptable today, but I doubt that. The plots are plain vanilla. The other thought was maybe Ricky sang a song he recorded and they'd have to pay royalties.

[GHScorpiosRule]

25 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I've been watching The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ZLiving. I just started noticing that they skip episodes. Season 11 started today. They showed eps 1,2, 5, and 6. Anyone have any idea why they are doing this? Do they not have them or have rights to them? My husband suggested content that wouldn't be acceptable today, but I doubt that. The plots are plain vanilla. The other thought was maybe Ricky sang a song he recorded and they'd have to pay royalties.

Doesn't seem like it. Here is the synopsis for Episode 3: "The Apartment":

Dave and June are gone for the weekend - which gives Ozzie and Joe an idea. Why not tell their wives they are leaving town on a short vacation, and then spend a nice secluded weekend in Dave's apartment?

No synopsis for Episode 4 "Rick & The Sculptress"

I remember when this used to air on the Disney Network and they didn't skip episodes.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

No synopsis for Episode 4 "Rick & The Sculptress"

I remember when this used to air on the Disney Network and they didn't skip episodes.

FWIW, from http://ctva.biz/US/Comedy/OzzieAndHarriet_11_(1962-63).htm

Quote

Rick sees a very attractive item at an art exhibit - but it's the artist Lory West and not her handiwork. 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by shapeshifter

[SVNBob]

What @Andyourlittledog2 is referring to is commonly known as The Scunthorpe Problem.  It's a clbuttic case of computers doing exactly what they are told, and not what humans actually mean and want.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScunthorpeProblem

[dalek]

My favorite example of that is the joke about auto-replacing slang terms and insults with the technical and polite terms gets you Penis Van Lesbian for Dick Van Dyke

[Cobb Salad]

On 12/10/2020 at 2:21 PM, chessiegal said:

I've been watching The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ZLiving. I just started noticing that they skip episodes. Season 11 started today. They showed eps 1,2, 5, and 6. Anyone have any idea why they are doing this? Do they not have them or have rights to them? My husband suggested content that wouldn't be acceptable today, but I doubt that. The plots are plain vanilla. The other thought was maybe Ricky sang a song he recorded and they'd have to pay royalties.

They may be airing the episodes that are in the public domain.  There are quite a number of them.  

[Raja]

So I guess Sundance and E! are now in this network category. E! has the weirdest set up by marathoning a series and then rotating another one up. 

[KWalkerInc]

15 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

The programming is the same on all of the channels.  Sometimes the local channel  that is carrying MeTV as a digital sub-channel will put their own programming in certain time slots overlaying the regular MeTV programming if the MeTV programming isn't drawing a big enough audience for that channel.

Our local channel for several years put the entertainment news show The Insider on at 7:30 PM, preempting the second nightly episode of M*A*S*H.  Sometimes they would switch the second the back of Radar's head appeared on the screen in the opening credits, and other times a few notes of the theme would play before The Insider logo appeared.  I used to think of how this all must have sucked for people hoping to see the conclusion when there was a two-part episode. 

They would also show high school sports on the MeTV channel; but when a game would start at 6:45 instead of 7, they would wait until Jeffersons or Flintstones was over to start the broadcast, missing a whole quarter of basketball games.  I always meant to ask them why they even bothered to go through all that set-up at the gym if they weren't going to show a large chunk of game, or at least maybe work something out with the schools to start at 7.

[Andyourlittledog2]

Good grief, Perry Mason xxxx'd out 'turnip' and it took me a minute to figure out why. It was  the 'nip' the censoring filter caught.  'Nip' was on their bad words list. Sigh.

I remember there was a newspaper article years back where the owners/whoever objected to the word 'gay'. They always replaced it with 'homosexual'. Which led to a headline regarding the atom bomb drop anniversary that referred to 'the Enola Homosexual'.

We need human editors. Seriously.

[SVNBob]

1 hour ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

'Nip' was on their bad words list.

Given that "nip" was used as a slur against Japanese people, there's at least a little logic in having that word on the bad words list.

But it's what Carlin would call "part-time filth"; a word like "cock" or "ass" that has acceptable meanings and still could be said on television in the right context.  As opposed to the list of 7 that could never be said.

However, you're still getting Scunthorped.

[DXD526]

On an episode of Rizzoli & Isles, Lifetime bleeped the word 'penis', even though it was said in a clinical sense by Medical Examiner Isles. This method of censoring doesn't do context and nuance. It's more like sledgehammer censorship.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, DXD526 said:

On an episode of Rizzoli & Isles, Lifetime bleeped the word 'penis', even though it was said in a clinical sense by Medical Examiner Isles. This method of censoring doesn't do context and nuance. It's more like sledgehammer censorship.

Since "penis" is a scientific anatomical term, it shouldn't have been included in the list of words for the software to strip out, IMO --if they were going to remove any terms.

But I guess the real question is: Who or what entity required the censoring?
And is it something that was done decades ago that nobody cares about anymore that would just cost too much to redo?
Realistically, there is no way to program replacements for *** that would make sense in all instances, so it would have to be completely redone. 
But that doesn't seem too hard to just set up the same software that is used to translate for the deaf.
I guess the issue is that there is a huge catalog of show episodes and it wouldn't be cost effective.

Edited December 16, 2020 by shapeshifter

[CityBoy1986]

On 12/15/2020 at 4:32 AM, KWalkerInc said:

Our local channel for several years put the entertainment news show The Insider on at 7:30 PM, preempting the second nightly episode of M*A*S*H.  Sometimes they would switch the second the back of Radar's head appeared on the screen in the opening credits, and other times a few notes of the theme would play before The Insider logo appeared.  I used to think of how this all must have sucked for people hoping to see the conclusion when there was a two-part episode. 

They would also show high school sports on the MeTV channel; but when a game would start at 6:45 instead of 7, they would wait until Jeffersons or Flintstones was over to start the broadcast, missing a whole quarter of basketball games.  I always meant to ask them why they even bothered to go through all that set-up at the gym if they weren't going to show a large chunk of game, or at least maybe work something out with the schools to start at 7.

Our local channel is also affiliated with MyNetworkTV, so we don't get The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, or Green Acres. I'm not sure we would get Andy Griffith on it, anyway, since the local CBS affiliate airs that weekday mornings.

[shapeshifter]

I'm really enjoying Svengoolie's presentation of the 1940 comedy scifi movie The Invisible Woman on MeTV. 
Too bad their schedule link is down.

[Raja]

On 12/15/2020 at 4:19 PM, SVNBob said:

Given that "nip" was used as a slur against Japanese people, there's at least a little logic in having that word on the bad words list.

 

It makes you wonder how McHale's Navy and Black Sheep Squadron can stay on air

[shapeshifter]

32 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

On 12/19/2020 at 8:33 PM, shapeshifter said:

I'm really enjoying Svengoolie's presentation of the 1940 comedy scifi movie The Invisible Woman on MeTV. 
Too bad their schedule link is down.

That is one dude that I just can't get into.   I do like most of Scifi Saturday, but Svengoolie for me is very hit and miss.   I will watch if I am interested in the movie, but that is about as far as I go with it.

I know what you mean, but this was one of the instances where he actually gave interesting background info —and the movie was worth it 

[DXD526]

Some upcoming Decades binges: 1/2-3 - The Twilight Zone (the 60s series this time); 1/9-10 - The Odd Couple; 1/16-17 - The Wild, Wild West; 1/23-24 - Here Come the Brides; 1/30-31 - The Mod Squad. 

[shapeshifter]

On 12/15/2020 at 5:00 PM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

Good grief, Perry Mason xxxx'd out 'turnip' and it took me a minute to figure out why. It was  the 'nip' the censoring filter caught.  'Nip' was on their bad words list. Sigh.

I remember there was a newspaper article years back where the owners/whoever objected to the word 'gay'. They always replaced it with 'homosexual'. Which led to a headline regarding the atom bomb drop anniversary that referred to 'the Enola Homosexual'.

We need human editors. Seriously.

I am right now chatting with a live person regarding picking up a Home Depot order. 
I just typed: 

• I might want to add some sharpie markers and PostIts and labels

And it showed up in the chat screen as:

• I might want to add some sharpie markers and Pos**** and labels

[chessiegal]

I got an email from our cable provider, Verizon, saying they had not reached an agreement with the company that owns, among other channels, the MeTV Baltimore station, which will go away at the end of the year. The last time I got such an email from them they went to great lengths to explain the highway robbery rates The Weather Channel wanted, and dropped them, to be replaced by Accuweather, which is useless. Then 4 years later, with no notice, TWC reappeared. We also get MeTV on a Washington station, so it won't go away. I'm still irritated with Verizon.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I got an email from our cable provider, Verizon, saying they had not reached an agreement with the company that owns, among other channels, the MeTV Baltimore station, which will go away at the end of the year. The last time I got such an email from them they went to great lengths to explain the highway robbery rates The Weather Channel wanted, and dropped them, to be replaced by Accuweather, which is useless. Then 4 years later, with no notice, TWC reappeared. We also get MeTV on a Washington station, so it won't go away. I'm still irritated with Verizon.

How close are you to Baltimore? If it's within 30 miles, you should be able to pick up MeTV over the air for free with an antenna. If you don't want to deal with a spaghetti mess of cords and connectors, you could just hook up a small separate TV to the antenna. Maybe watch MeTV in the kitchen?

 

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

How close are you to Baltimore? If it's within 30 miles, you should be able to pick up MeTV over the air for free with an antenna. If you don't want to deal with a spaghetti mess of cords and connectors, you could just hook up a small separate TV to the antenna. Maybe watch MeTV in the kitchen?

 

I can still watch MeTV on the Washington station, so it's not going away for me completely. When Decades changed to Start TV in my market, I bought an antenna that is supposed to pick up stations within 60 miles. I'm about 30 miles from both Baltimore and DC, and can get exactly 3 stations with the antenna. I think it is because we are in a valley. My alternatives are Xfinity (Comcast) which I've had before, and their customer service sucks. Dish doesn't have the stations I would want. I get annoyed with Verizon when they play the we're too poor card. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I'm about 30 miles from both Baltimore and DC, and can get exactly 3 stations with the antenna.

I apologize in advance if we've already had this conversation, but on the outside chance that this would be helpful (even if just to someone else happening to read), have you tried putting your antennae in a window facing the source of your signal (Baltimore and/or DC)? 

I am moving 700 miles away in a couple of weeks, and this discussion makes me realize I want the TV on the second floor, where I should have unobstructed signal. 

[chessiegal]

6 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I apologize in advance if we've already had this conversation, but on the outside chance that this would be helpful (even if just to someone else happening to read), have you tried putting your antennae in a window facing the source of your signal (Baltimore and/or DC)? 

I am moving 700 miles away in a couple of weeks, and this discussion makes me realize I want the TV on the second floor, where I should have unobstructed signal. 

I've tried most windows, and can get Maryland Public Television and 1 or 2 major stations. I was hoping to get the on-air station in Baltimore that carries Decades, but no go.

[shapeshifter]

It seemed one of the higher numbered over-the-air shopping stations is now the sci-fi Comet station.

For me it’s 62.8——out of either Chicago or Milwaukee——I’m about halfway between them. 

For example:

 

[Gramto6]

Here in MT on Dish Comet a recent addition is on channel 289. I catch all the Quantum Leap I can...love me some Scott Bakula (he looks pretty good in a dress too!). :}

[freddi]

On 12/8/2020 at 7:41 PM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

I can just see them finding a murder victim was reading Moby Dick and the closed captioning calling it 'Moby xxxx', as though there was some porno version of the novel out there. 

Ummm, you don't want to Google this if you do not want a disturbing answer.  As I found out from students looking for a film version.  ☹️

[rcc]

On 1/1/2021 at 6:34 PM, Gramto6 said:

Here in MT on Dish Comet a recent addition is on channel 289. I catch all the Quantum Leap I can...love me some Scott Bakula (he looks pretty good in a dress too!). :}

I just watched a Ray Bradbury episode with Jean Stapleton and a very young Lucy Lawless. Beautiful white dog in this episode too. Comet has some great older shows.

[Lili]

I'm quite impressed with the MeTV airings of the classic cartoon shorts so far. Looney Tunes, in particular, has been on auto-pilot on Boomerang for the past several years now. So having them on MeTV now is great.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Their weekday morning cartoon hour with Toony the Tuna is awful.  It is strange, I assume it is geared for young children, but all of the commercials I keep getting during that hour are geared for people who want to reduce the massive bags under their eyes.  In other words, people that are well beyond childbearing age.

I'm not even watching THOSE. I'm watching the Saturday Morning ones, with Popeye, Tom & Jerry, and Bugs. And I love that they don't edit out the violence. Well, if they did, what would be the point of airing them? I'm waiting for that one Bugs Bunny episode, where Elmer quits because he keeps losing and tears up his "contwact" with Warner Brothers and goes fishing. Bugs finds him sleeping and pops some sleeping bills to invade his dream. I know when Loony Tunes were airing on TNT a few years back, they cut out that scene of him taking those pills because DRUGS!!!!

That said, I'm PISSED, PEEVED and ANNOYED that MeTV took I Love Lucy off their schedule. For WHAT? WHY? Only after bringing it back for a year, when they had removed it from its schedule in 2019! Asshats.

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't think there will be anything shown differently in terms of edited cartoons.  In other words, how they were shown on the other network is how they will air on MeTV.  No one wants to risk offending anyone anymore. it is like walking on egg shells.   I blame anti-bullying campaigns for much of the hyper-sensitive behavior.  I think there are and were better ways to handle bullying situations than the way they have been handled.   I have been on the receiving end of pretty bad bullying back in the day, so it isn't as though I don't sympathize with people who have been treated badly,

Well, they're showing Popeye beating the crap out of Bluto; Tom and Jerry being violent with each other--these were shown, I'm assuming unedited, when I was kid, watching when I got home from school. Even that one episode of Bugs Bunny? I remember watching Bugs popping those sleeping pills when I was kid, and then it being edited out on TNT.

Unless you mean, they'll air as they were back in the 70s and 80s?

I, too, was bullied, beat up on constantly as a kid. And I didn't turn into a sociopathic mass murderer.

[GHScorpiosRule]

“What’s Up, Doc?” Did air on TNT when Loony Tunes aired a few years ago. I don’t see why it wouldn’t air on MeTV

I don’t have Decades so can’t watch. I do have the complete series on dvd though.

[WendyCR72]

13 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (Stacy Keach 1984) airs on GetTV tomorrow at 6:00pm EST.   I don't recall seeing that series on that channel before.  Regardless, tomorrow is the first episode of the series.

 

Mike Hammer also airs on the Pluto TV Crime Drama channel.

[Lili]

On 1/14/2021 at 3:31 PM, icemiser69 said:

Their weekday morning cartoon hour with Toony the Tuna is awful.  It is strange, I assume it is geared for young children, but all of the commercials I keep getting during that hour are geared for people who want to reduce the massive bags under their eyes.  In other words, people that are well beyond childbearing age.

Yeah, I don't even bother with the Toony the Tuna segments. I'm just there for the cartoons.

[DXD526]

Some upcoming Decades binges: 2/6-7 - Early Edition; 2/13-14 - Hawaii Five-0; 2/20-21 - Cagney & Lacey. 

[chessiegal]

MeTV has taken the 3 hours on Sunday afternoon that shows Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley (the only day that show is on) for 4, count 'em 4, weeks of Gilligan's Island in memory of Dawn Wells. Cloris Leachman passes and they announce that they will show a The Love Boat episode today with Cloris. C'mon MeTV. 4 weeks for Mary Ann, and 1 regularly scheduled show to feature Cloris? They should be showing MTM shows with her, plus her spinoff.