If you could create a network on TV…….
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Thor-Delta — 10 years ago(February 29, 2016 09:53 AM)
I realise some of my answers are silly (particularly the "Left" and "Right" channels), but I had an interesting idea for a cable channel. It could be a channel where each day, they roughly recreate the line-up for a particular day in TV history. For example, for one day they might show the programs that were shown on 8 February 1991, while on another day they might show what was shown on 17 November 1986. The shows would be drawn from various mainstream networks/channels. The days used would be chosen largely at random.
If possible, they might show the programs at the time-slot they were originally shown (for example, if a episode originally aired at 8:30PM, the channel would show it at 8:30PM). Since networks do not schedule at every time-slot, syndicated series can also be used. However, showing the shows at the original time-slots might prove too difficult and possibly may not be done.
The real question is what to do about overnight/very-late-night programming. Perhaps they could depart from the premise of the channel and just show old b-grade films, something many channels used to do.
A note: I believe a University has a large number of tapes of newscasts, including those of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. These could be used as part of the line-ups.
Also, it might not be possible to do 1950s through mid-1970s days, since so many shows of that era were discarded after broadcast.
As I mentioned before, I'm Australian, but all my ideas are intended for the US. I came across a New York City schedule for 8 January 1979, which suggests a possible line-up which may be used, drawn from all three commercial networks plus syndicated shows:
6:00 to 9:59AM ?? (I don't know which are local and which are network)
10:00AM - "Card Sharks" (thank you, Mark Goodson, for keeping the tapes)
10:30AM - "The Price is Right" (thanks again, Mark)
11:30AM - "Family Fued" (there's Mark again!)
12:00PM - "The Young and the Restless" (yes, the production company kept the tapes for this)
12:30PM - "Password Plus" (Mark!! Again!!)
1:00PM - ?? (no idea if "The Hollywood Squares" and "All My Children" were keeping their tapes by then). A syndicated possibly is "Dinah", since Dinah Shore kept most of her shows.
2:00PM - "Days of our Lives" (I believe this was the first US soap to regularly keep its tapes)
2:30PM - ?? (no idea if "The Guiding Light" or "The Doctors" were keeping their tapes by then)
3:00PM - ?? (I don't know if "Another World" or "General Hospital" were keeping their tapes by then)
4:00PM - "Match Game '79" (yet another game show kept by the great producer Mark Goodson)
4:30PM - ?? (was "The Mike Douglas Show" being kept?)
6:00PM through 7:29PM - ?? (OK, I admit it, I don't know which newscasts were national and which were local. The network telecasts may have been kept by the University, the local newscasts are probably lost)
7:30PM - ?? (there is mention of a "Muppet Show" episode, no idea whether this was a re-run or not. Syndicated fare seems to include "The Hollywood Squares" and "The Newlywed Game", whose archival status I don't know)
8:00PM - "Little House on the Prairie"
9:00PM - TV movie: Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill
11:00PM - ?? (syndicated fare may include "The Gong Show", which I assume was kept)
11:30PM - "The Tonight Show" (I know Carson kept the tapes starting in the early 1970s, so I expect this still exists)
Doing a 1979 schedule is tough, but 1980s and 1990s should be easier with the phasing-out of tape wiping (wiping of network daytime shows, I believe, had been phased out largely by 1980 and completely by mid-1985) and the introduction of cable channels and more syndicated series (which could be used to fill-in gaps when needed)
Poof! There Goes Perspiration! -
Thor-Delta — 10 years ago(February 29, 2016 10:38 AM)
Additional ideas:
Those marked with "*" are actually good ideas. The rest are a bit silly, but I might watch them.
The B-Grade Western Channel- Nothing but b-grade westerns of both film and TV. I realise there is a western channel, but one dedicated to the b-grade ones would be fun.
The Sword Channel - TV series and films involving swordsmen.
The Swedish Channel
- Swedish films and TV
The Danish Channel
- Danish films and TV
The Dutch Channel
- Dutch films and TV
The African Channel
- Films and TV from countries in Africa
The Coca-Cola Channel - Dedicated to Coca-Cola commercials
The German Channel
- German films and TV
The Thai Channel
- Thailand films and TV
The Blank Channel - Dedicated to the various versions of "Match Game", including "The Match Game", "Match Game 7x", "Match Game PM", "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour", "Match Game" (early 1990s), "Match Game" (late-1990s), plus international versions ("Blankety Blanks", "Blankety Blank", etc)
The Awards Ceremony Channel - It could show classic awards ceremonies, such as old telecasts of the Oscars and the Emmys, plus it could hold new awards ceremonies.
The Classic Documentary Channel
- Dedicated to classic documentaries.
Classic PBS
- Dedicated to classic shows from PBS.
Poof! There Goes Perspiration!
- Nothing but b-grade westerns of both film and TV. I realise there is a western channel, but one dedicated to the b-grade ones would be fun.
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Thor-Delta — 10 years ago(March 12, 2016 01:29 AM)
This is 2016. This has been a very boring year for me. Replying to this thread provides some amusement to me. Please, let me continue replying.
1990s Frozen in Time- A channel dedicated to photos taken during the 1990s, which would be presented in a slideshow accompanied with 1990s music. Sometimes these slideshows would be random, others would be dedicated to a particular theme.
The Curtain Has been Raised - Films and TV from 1990s eastern Europe.
The 1990 Channel - 1990 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1991 Channel - 1991 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1992 Channel - 1992 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1993 Channel - 1993 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1994 Channel - 1994 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1995 Channel - 1995 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1996 Channel - 1996 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1997 Channel - 1997 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1998 Channel - 1998 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
The 1999 Channel - 1999 films, TV movies, TV specials, straight-to-video stuff, etc.
Poof! There Goes Perspiration!
- A channel dedicated to photos taken during the 1990s, which would be presented in a slideshow accompanied with 1990s music. Sometimes these slideshows would be random, others would be dedicated to a particular theme.
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Thor-Delta — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 09:50 PM)
The African-American Movie Channel
- This could work, there's been a reasonable amount of African-American films over the years.
The Oprah Channel - Consisting entirely of repeats of classic episodes of "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
The Bang Channel - Gun-related programming (including documentaries, dramas, comedies, etc)
The LGBT Channel - Because previous channels with this concept ending up jumping the shark.
The Happy Ending Channel
, consisting entirely of films and TV episodes with a happy ending.
New Du Mont high-resolution picture tube and high picture power give a fuller tone range
- This could work, there's been a reasonable amount of African-American films over the years.
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Thor-Delta — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 01:13 AM)
Indeed, of my suggestions so far it is among the most realistic. I'm actually surprised there isn't such a channel. It seems like such an obvious idea.
New Du Mont high-resolution picture tube and high picture power give a fuller tone range