After thinking about it a bit, I find that as a fan, the new RTV schedule isn't THAT bad. I still think it makes the network look more small-time than before, but as a lover of old-school TV, there is a lot to appreciate. Let's go through the weekday schedule, noting that RTV has switched from its customizable-schedule model to a mostly uniform national lineup, with various exemptions in areas here and there but with most stations now showing the same stuff at the same times:
9:00 AM: Daytime: I'm still not sure what the deal is with RTV showing this magazine-style morning show, but it's been on a long time now, and I don't worry about it anymore. It would be nice to have something decent on in the morning, but it's probably this or infomercials.
10:00 AM: Celebrity Kitchen: One of the awful, ill-fitting new shows. It is more suited to RFD-TV, from whence it comes. Stuff like this is why people get upset with the new schedule.
11:00 AM: The Rifleman (2 episodes): I personally saw a ton of these a few years ago on Encore Westerns, and AMC of all places is now showing it, so it's not a rarity anymore. But not everyone gets cable, and besides, this is a great show, albeit one that has been on RTV for a while now. No problems here, though I personally prefer a rarer oater or at least one additional western instead of two Riflemans in a row.
12:00 PM: Adventures of Robin Hood: The kind of old show that bigger classic TV outlets like TV Land (I know, I know) would shy away from. It deserves a place here.
12:30 PM: Peter Gunn: Solid show that deserves a spot, but it's been run an awful lot on RTV already. No problems with it, but would like to have seen something like Danger Man here instead. Also, it might work better in the late night spot it occupied before this big schedule makeover.
1:00 PM: The Bill Cosby Show: Great show that deserves national exposure, but it has been through several cycles already on RTV in the weekend lineup. And why was it in the weekend lineup? because it doesn't have nearly enough episodes to be stripped on weekdays! Good show in the wrong spot.
1:30 PM: Zorro: Not the old Zorro we'd all like to see, but the 1990s Family Channel version, which is way too recent. Cisco Kid is now relegated to weekends, but it would be a better choice. It's not one of the greatest series of all time, but I'd rather have an oldie like that in this slot.
2:00 PM: Movin' On: I had never seen this 1970s Claude Akins trucker show until RTV added it this week. It's an interesting rarity, and I applaud the network for giving it a whirl. But at 40-some hourlong episodes, it is more suited for weekend duty than for Monday through Friday.
Look, obscurities like this are exactly what I like to see on professed classic TV outlets to supplement the evergreens. However, RTV's reliance on short-lived series like this and Cosby to fill its weekday schedule indicates RTV is struggling to replace all that Universal Studios content.
3:00 PM: Naked City: Now we're talking! The episode I saw Tuesday looked--pardon my jargon--shimmery and kind of weird, but this is one of the all-time greats. This is a real treat and a solid mark on the "Good" side of the board when we consider this RTV makeover.
4:00 PM: Route 66: Another great add for RTV, but it's airing in glorious Stretch-o-vision for some reason, and I wonder if something funny is going on with the source material. But this is a top-notch classic show that hasn't been aired much nationally lately, and thus is another great addition.
5:00 PM: I Spy: No problem here, but it's been on RTV weekdays for a while already.
6:00 PM and 7:00 PM: This week, back-to-back episodes of Daniel Boone are airing, one color and one b&w, and the first impulse is that any classic TV channel that has to air two episodes of Daniel Boone each day just isn't trying very hard...or is just desperate to fill time. But in this case, it's temporary, as next week brings Highway to Heaven to replace one of the Boones.
I've nothing against Boone, and at least it's an older program. Highway to Heaven seems to bounce around the national landscape pretty steadily and is not all that old. It's sitting in too valuable a time slot. Not a coup for RTV.
8:00 PM: Starsky and Hutch: The star free agent acquisition of this new programming strategy gets the prime 8:00 PM slot. I'll write more about this later.
No, not right now. I mean in a separate post. Sorry.
9:00 PM: Police Story: I'm digging this 1970s anthology series so far. It's quite a contrast to Starsky, though, with its more, shall we say, mature approach to depicting police life. It's one of the pleasant surprises on the new schedule. Mustachioed Don Meredith eases the pain of losing Jim Rockford.
10:00 PM: The Saint: Is it true the color episodes are better than the black and white ones? RTV, I assume, plans to show both. Hey, this is a pretty cool add. Really, if you focus on the meaty part of the day/evening, RTV isn't looking so bad. Unfortunately, unless you're hosting a morning chat show (like Daytime!), the day doesn't end at 10:00, and so we move on to...
11:00 PM: Da Vinci's Inquest: One of the cheap modern Canadian dramas RTV imported, it has no place on RTV, and Americans have had ample opportunities to see it already. It really sticks out at 11:00 PM. RTV should have at least buried this at a different hour and found a legit classic crime/mystery show to anchor late nights.
12:00 AM Cold Case Files: I was disappointed last night when this A&E product actually came on at midnight. I much preferred what was on Monday night: "RTV is experiencing technical difficulties." Meet the new RTV...same as the old RTV! Getting back to Cold Case Files, though--ah, let's not and say we did.
1:00 AM: Cold Squad: Seriously, RTV might as well just shut down at 11:00 PM, and that's way too early for a classic TV channel to throw its hands in the air and resort to Magic Bullet ads or junk. Why not put Naked City somewhere in here or some cool anthology or crime show and find a decent program for 3:00 PM? Late nights on RTV are worthless.
So in summary, weekdays, we have the established Peter Rodgers Organization shows like I Spy and Rifleman moving around a bit, some solid adds, a couple of great gets, and some garbage that makes the whole schedule look decidedly non-classic.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The New Look RTV: Part 1
I'd say the dust has settled on the upheaval at RTV, but with this outfit, you never know when another mishap or sudden change is gonna occur. But I think it's safe to make one final (for now) post about the new lineup--you know, now that I know what it IS and all.
First of all, let me say if you want a good laugh to go with some good info, go to the second (and current) RTV Facebook page. The first one disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and while the official claim is that those darned technical difficulties were the culprit, others--and not just conspiracy-inclined crackpots--assert that RTV pulled it due to the amount of negative feedback it was receiving. At any rate, Version 2.0 is up and running, and much like Version 1.0, you don't see much info at all from RTV. No, the fans provide the useful knowledge about affiliate changes, programming moves, and the like.
One particular fan, Steve Russo, clearly knows his stuff and has been the de facto company spokesman for a long time on the page, but at some point this year he became kind of a spin doctor for RTV, putting some of the more questionable RTV moves and non-moves in the best possible light for the Luken folks. For example, when someone complains that RTV representatives don't post there, Russo responds with a dig at Antenna and ME-TV for having "interns" post canned responses.
He has a point, but the Antenna page in particular at least has someone engaging with the community, and while the frequent empty promises to add shows to the master "wishlist" smack of meaningless appeasement, there are fun posts highlighting guest stars or other notable aspects of upcoming TV episodes airing on the channel. It would be easy for RTV to do this, assuming the people that run it KNOW what's gonna be on their channel.
Anyway, now that RTV's schedule is overhauled with the loss of the Universal library and the addition of some cool shows and a lot of garbage, Russo is valiantly portraying this in a positive light, chiding people for saying RTV "lost" the Universal shows when it may have just been a contract non-renewal. Well, yeah, but if RTV couldn't afford to renew it, how is that good? And though RTV has added some interesting programs from other sources, it has also brought in a lot of unappealing filler, and while I am willing to accept that if it means support for the good stuff (a point Russo is making on the Facebook page), it also looks like a clear sign that the company is in trouble.
ME-TV is poaching RTV affiliates all over the country, and it is hard to believe that trend won't continue. ME-TV has the power of the prestigious CBS/Paramount library in its favor, and RTV just lost (or "didn't renew") its own library deal with one of the other appealing libraries. I love that "Naked City" is on RTV now, but look at stuff like "Da Vinci's Inquest" and all the syndicated filler like "Great Outdoorsman" that clogs the weekends--shows thought to be offered on a barter basis, which basically means cheap as hell for RTV--and tell me that is more of a draw to station owners than a roster that includes name brands like "Leave It to Beaver" and "Magnum P.I."
I think that RTV is in trouble and that this move is a sign that it needs to cut costs to tread a little water. Now, were the Universal shows played out? Sure. RTV overplayed them, didn't take full advantage of the Uni library (assuming it had access to more than it actually used; perhaps many shows were off limits), and ruined some series by repeating episodes multiple times instead of showing the entire run. "Battlestar Galactica" is one that experienced rerun-itis. If you want the whole series, go to Netflix, where I believe all episodes of the original series are available for streaming. Why couldn't RTV get these episodes? And if RTV aired the last couple seasons of "Hitchcock Presents," I missed them because I gave up looking for them.
So change is welcome in this case, but is this good change overall? It looks bad for RTV if it's fighting to establish itself with station owners looking to sign up or maybe jump to ME-TV or even Antenna. It's good and bad for classic TV fans, who get some fresh classics but have to take them with a lot of unwelcome extras. Then of course there is the loss of old favorites which, played out as they were to longtime RTV viewers, were still beloved by many and haven't been on elsewhere much, either.
In fact, one of the as yet unspoken aspects that intrigues me about all this is what is to happen to those Universal shows. Will Antenna or ME-TV go after them? Is some other programming outlet going to acquire them? Personally, I'd love to see Netflix air some of the old stuff. It has a deal with Universal already and does stream many of the shows, yet many others have not appeared or no longer appear. Hopefully the severance of ties with RTV frees up the return of fare like "Kojak" and "Quincy" to Netflix Instant Watching.
Well, I've said a lot without really talking about the new RTV shecule. I'll stop here and be back tomorrow with more on that.
First of all, let me say if you want a good laugh to go with some good info, go to the second (and current) RTV Facebook page. The first one disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and while the official claim is that those darned technical difficulties were the culprit, others--and not just conspiracy-inclined crackpots--assert that RTV pulled it due to the amount of negative feedback it was receiving. At any rate, Version 2.0 is up and running, and much like Version 1.0, you don't see much info at all from RTV. No, the fans provide the useful knowledge about affiliate changes, programming moves, and the like.
One particular fan, Steve Russo, clearly knows his stuff and has been the de facto company spokesman for a long time on the page, but at some point this year he became kind of a spin doctor for RTV, putting some of the more questionable RTV moves and non-moves in the best possible light for the Luken folks. For example, when someone complains that RTV representatives don't post there, Russo responds with a dig at Antenna and ME-TV for having "interns" post canned responses.
He has a point, but the Antenna page in particular at least has someone engaging with the community, and while the frequent empty promises to add shows to the master "wishlist" smack of meaningless appeasement, there are fun posts highlighting guest stars or other notable aspects of upcoming TV episodes airing on the channel. It would be easy for RTV to do this, assuming the people that run it KNOW what's gonna be on their channel.
Anyway, now that RTV's schedule is overhauled with the loss of the Universal library and the addition of some cool shows and a lot of garbage, Russo is valiantly portraying this in a positive light, chiding people for saying RTV "lost" the Universal shows when it may have just been a contract non-renewal. Well, yeah, but if RTV couldn't afford to renew it, how is that good? And though RTV has added some interesting programs from other sources, it has also brought in a lot of unappealing filler, and while I am willing to accept that if it means support for the good stuff (a point Russo is making on the Facebook page), it also looks like a clear sign that the company is in trouble.
ME-TV is poaching RTV affiliates all over the country, and it is hard to believe that trend won't continue. ME-TV has the power of the prestigious CBS/Paramount library in its favor, and RTV just lost (or "didn't renew") its own library deal with one of the other appealing libraries. I love that "Naked City" is on RTV now, but look at stuff like "Da Vinci's Inquest" and all the syndicated filler like "Great Outdoorsman" that clogs the weekends--shows thought to be offered on a barter basis, which basically means cheap as hell for RTV--and tell me that is more of a draw to station owners than a roster that includes name brands like "Leave It to Beaver" and "Magnum P.I."
I think that RTV is in trouble and that this move is a sign that it needs to cut costs to tread a little water. Now, were the Universal shows played out? Sure. RTV overplayed them, didn't take full advantage of the Uni library (assuming it had access to more than it actually used; perhaps many shows were off limits), and ruined some series by repeating episodes multiple times instead of showing the entire run. "Battlestar Galactica" is one that experienced rerun-itis. If you want the whole series, go to Netflix, where I believe all episodes of the original series are available for streaming. Why couldn't RTV get these episodes? And if RTV aired the last couple seasons of "Hitchcock Presents," I missed them because I gave up looking for them.
So change is welcome in this case, but is this good change overall? It looks bad for RTV if it's fighting to establish itself with station owners looking to sign up or maybe jump to ME-TV or even Antenna. It's good and bad for classic TV fans, who get some fresh classics but have to take them with a lot of unwelcome extras. Then of course there is the loss of old favorites which, played out as they were to longtime RTV viewers, were still beloved by many and haven't been on elsewhere much, either.
In fact, one of the as yet unspoken aspects that intrigues me about all this is what is to happen to those Universal shows. Will Antenna or ME-TV go after them? Is some other programming outlet going to acquire them? Personally, I'd love to see Netflix air some of the old stuff. It has a deal with Universal already and does stream many of the shows, yet many others have not appeared or no longer appear. Hopefully the severance of ties with RTV frees up the return of fare like "Kojak" and "Quincy" to Netflix Instant Watching.
Well, I've said a lot without really talking about the new RTV shecule. I'll stop here and be back tomorrow with more on that.
Are you ready for some football? Well, no, but the magazine publishers are
It was a surprising sight at my local supermarket this weekend: Pro football preview magazines! Not even July, and they're already coming. I saw the "Sporting News" mag and I think at least one other; it was hard to distinguish them amidst the slew of college football guides on the shelves.
Yep, a pro football preview magazine...even though there may not be professional football (well, of the NFL variety) this year. I know the lead time is such that there is a lot of pressure to push these rags onto the stands early, and I love 'em even in this digital age--I've been buying 'em for years--but this is ridiculous.
June is too early even in a year without labor difficulties. If there is a prolonged stoppage that cancels games because the greedy owners are trying to stick it to the players (any doubt where I stand?) this magazine is irrelevant. If there IS a deal soon and no games are missed, then free agency starts and players move around like crazy...in which case this magazine is irrelevant!
To its credit, the "Sporting News" preview does have a "Will they play?" headline near the top of its cover. The fact that it needs to include that is a good sign that it's too soon. I hate to say this is a sign of the increasing irrelevance of print media. So I won't.
Yep, a pro football preview magazine...even though there may not be professional football (well, of the NFL variety) this year. I know the lead time is such that there is a lot of pressure to push these rags onto the stands early, and I love 'em even in this digital age--I've been buying 'em for years--but this is ridiculous.
June is too early even in a year without labor difficulties. If there is a prolonged stoppage that cancels games because the greedy owners are trying to stick it to the players (any doubt where I stand?) this magazine is irrelevant. If there IS a deal soon and no games are missed, then free agency starts and players move around like crazy...in which case this magazine is irrelevant!
To its credit, the "Sporting News" preview does have a "Will they play?" headline near the top of its cover. The fact that it needs to include that is a good sign that it's too soon. I hate to say this is a sign of the increasing irrelevance of print media. So I won't.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Time for some Shark Bytes
I've been busy and too excited by the Pirates' recent success to focus on one thing for very long, so today's post consists of comments too brief to merit a dedicated post. Yet these thoughts have not appeared on Twitter, nor in the Shark Bytes section on the right side of this page, nor anywhere but inside my own mind!
*Hey, does anyone know why Encore Westerns stopped its "Have Gun Will Travel" sequence in the middle of the sixth season, then went back to the beginning of the season and ran episodes had just run a few weeks prior? I can see them all on Netflix, it appears, but it's puzzling and aggravating.
*Bono and the Edge have done it all, but on that Tony Awards broadcast a few weeks back, they displayed...humility. Who knew?
*The random selection of Chris Hardwicke as host of BBC America's new "Ministry of Laughs" program block must mean we've finally run out of British guys to come over here and class us up.
*Speaking of that, I loved the U.S. premiere of a new batch of "The Inbetweeners" and enjoyed "Come Fly With Me" more than I expected, but why is "The Graham Norton Show" included? It feels like a cheat to put a chat show in there, and considering all the sitcoms the American Beeb can presumably try to acquire, it's an annoying use of an hour of airtime.
*Whatever happened to Kristanna Loken? I saw her name attached to a DVD coming out this week and remembered that, oh, yeah, she was supposed to be a big deal when that "Terminator 3" movie featured her. OK, I see she was in "The L Word," but still, I ask, whatever happened to her?
*I caught up with it way after the fact, but "Episodes" was a pretty funny show. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed season 1 of the Showtime comedy.
*The Baseball Project's "Volume 2" CD is another winner, a great collection of songs that should please any rock fan and any baseball fan. A baseball fan who likes rock? Katie, bar the door. And while you're up, Katie, could you please get me some chips? What? Get them myself? Well, I just--Oh, OK, fine then. Oh, yeah? Well, YOU, TOO!
Whoa, that got weird.
*Jim Miller, in a podcast interview with Bill Simmons, says that in the paperback edition of the ESPN oral history he co-authored with Tom Shales, there will be a hundred pages or so of new material. This is like a DVD double-dip. I haven't bought the book yet, and now I'm wondering if I should. Of course, Miller also said that the paperback would DELETE some material from the current hardback. Why not just release it the way you want to the first time? I didn't know this, but they did the same thing with the paperback version of their "SNL" book. Is that worth reading again in softcover to get different material?
*TCM's Drive-In Thursday series this month is its best idea since, well, whenever the last awesome idea it had was, which was probably recently. Have I mentioned how great this channel is?
*The more I hear about "Cars 2," the less tempted I am to see it, at least not until it comes to Disney Channel and my kids want to watch it a hundred times.
*Hey, does anyone know why Encore Westerns stopped its "Have Gun Will Travel" sequence in the middle of the sixth season, then went back to the beginning of the season and ran episodes had just run a few weeks prior? I can see them all on Netflix, it appears, but it's puzzling and aggravating.
*Bono and the Edge have done it all, but on that Tony Awards broadcast a few weeks back, they displayed...humility. Who knew?
*The random selection of Chris Hardwicke as host of BBC America's new "Ministry of Laughs" program block must mean we've finally run out of British guys to come over here and class us up.
*Speaking of that, I loved the U.S. premiere of a new batch of "The Inbetweeners" and enjoyed "Come Fly With Me" more than I expected, but why is "The Graham Norton Show" included? It feels like a cheat to put a chat show in there, and considering all the sitcoms the American Beeb can presumably try to acquire, it's an annoying use of an hour of airtime.
*Whatever happened to Kristanna Loken? I saw her name attached to a DVD coming out this week and remembered that, oh, yeah, she was supposed to be a big deal when that "Terminator 3" movie featured her. OK, I see she was in "The L Word," but still, I ask, whatever happened to her?
*I caught up with it way after the fact, but "Episodes" was a pretty funny show. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed season 1 of the Showtime comedy.
*The Baseball Project's "Volume 2" CD is another winner, a great collection of songs that should please any rock fan and any baseball fan. A baseball fan who likes rock? Katie, bar the door. And while you're up, Katie, could you please get me some chips? What? Get them myself? Well, I just--Oh, OK, fine then. Oh, yeah? Well, YOU, TOO!
Whoa, that got weird.
*Jim Miller, in a podcast interview with Bill Simmons, says that in the paperback edition of the ESPN oral history he co-authored with Tom Shales, there will be a hundred pages or so of new material. This is like a DVD double-dip. I haven't bought the book yet, and now I'm wondering if I should. Of course, Miller also said that the paperback would DELETE some material from the current hardback. Why not just release it the way you want to the first time? I didn't know this, but they did the same thing with the paperback version of their "SNL" book. Is that worth reading again in softcover to get different material?
*TCM's Drive-In Thursday series this month is its best idea since, well, whenever the last awesome idea it had was, which was probably recently. Have I mentioned how great this channel is?
*The more I hear about "Cars 2," the less tempted I am to see it, at least not until it comes to Disney Channel and my kids want to watch it a hundred times.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The single TV series I most want to see on DVD
Each year around this time, partly for sentimental reasons and partly because it's just awesome, I try to watch "Casablanca"--you know, the movie version. If that qualifier sounds absurd, it's there for a reason, so bear with me.
"Casablanca" is the best movie ever made, I believe, and there will be none superior. In addition--and this may have something to do with my high opinion of the film--it is the one that got me "into" watching classic movies. One late night showing of it in public television opened up a whole world for me.
I got to thinking about what I would really love to see on DVD the other day, and since I was already eyeballing the "Casablanca" disc on the shelf, it hit me: The TV series! Yes, there was a TV series based on the movie--two of them in fact--and, yes, it tanked. It was probably a terrible idea. But I still want to see it!
The early-1980s David Soul series, I can do without. I would like to see it someday, even though I recognize that it would probably irritate me, but I've seen it out there in collector's circles and I know it exists. But the one that really intrigues me is the 1950s Charles McGraw version. In fact, Warner Brothers added an episode to one of its umpteen "Casablanca" special edition DVDs, and seeing it not only did not drive me up a wall, but it appealed to me as an interesting curio.
I assume WB has the rest of these episodes (8 hourlong installments in all), and why not put them on DVD? I would consider the brand strong enough to support an actual mainstream release, too, not just an Archives job. I'm surprised the company hasn't at the very least filled out a super-duper Blu-Ray package with more of these.
I have a lot of stuff on DVD, and I know where to find a lot of the stuff that's not "officially" on DVD, but I have never seen the other 7 1955 "Casablanca" episodes. So if you ask me today what series I would most like to see get a legit DVD release, my answer is..."Dance Fever."
No, I kid. It's "Casablanca." Put the 1955 and 1983 versions together in one spiffy box set, commission a featurette called "From Beloved Movie to TV Industry Joke: What in the Hell We Were Thinking," and get a few talking heads to do commentary on a few episodes. Bam--great collection to milk more bucks out of the millions of folks who love the classic movie, or at least the thousands who are crazed enough to buy almost anything connected with it.
"Casablanca" is the best movie ever made, I believe, and there will be none superior. In addition--and this may have something to do with my high opinion of the film--it is the one that got me "into" watching classic movies. One late night showing of it in public television opened up a whole world for me.
I got to thinking about what I would really love to see on DVD the other day, and since I was already eyeballing the "Casablanca" disc on the shelf, it hit me: The TV series! Yes, there was a TV series based on the movie--two of them in fact--and, yes, it tanked. It was probably a terrible idea. But I still want to see it!
The early-1980s David Soul series, I can do without. I would like to see it someday, even though I recognize that it would probably irritate me, but I've seen it out there in collector's circles and I know it exists. But the one that really intrigues me is the 1950s Charles McGraw version. In fact, Warner Brothers added an episode to one of its umpteen "Casablanca" special edition DVDs, and seeing it not only did not drive me up a wall, but it appealed to me as an interesting curio.
I assume WB has the rest of these episodes (8 hourlong installments in all), and why not put them on DVD? I would consider the brand strong enough to support an actual mainstream release, too, not just an Archives job. I'm surprised the company hasn't at the very least filled out a super-duper Blu-Ray package with more of these.
I have a lot of stuff on DVD, and I know where to find a lot of the stuff that's not "officially" on DVD, but I have never seen the other 7 1955 "Casablanca" episodes. So if you ask me today what series I would most like to see get a legit DVD release, my answer is..."Dance Fever."
No, I kid. It's "Casablanca." Put the 1955 and 1983 versions together in one spiffy box set, commission a featurette called "From Beloved Movie to TV Industry Joke: What in the Hell We Were Thinking," and get a few talking heads to do commentary on a few episodes. Bam--great collection to milk more bucks out of the millions of folks who love the classic movie, or at least the thousands who are crazed enough to buy almost anything connected with it.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
OK, RTV is just messing with me now
Yet again, my FIOS on-screen programming guide is showing changes afoot for my local RTV affiliate, but this time, the changes also appear at TitanTV and Zap2It. Some of these changes are good, some are bad, some are puzzling, but you'll understand why I don't go into great detail considering what happened last time I made a big post about the supposed changes.
Buuuuuuut...since I'm here, anyway...
According to these listings, joining the weekday lineup is "Route 66" (yay!), "Naked City" (a most pleasant and welcome surprise if true), "The Saint" (not bad), and "Starsky and Hutch" (Talk about random! I did not see that one coming).
Unfortunately, "Da Vinci's Inquest," way too modern for the RTV format, is apparently joining the weeknight lineup, as is..."Celebrity Kitchen"? I think this is a show hosted by Crook of the venerable country lifestyle team Crook and Chase, and, uh, yeah. I don't want to see that at all. What happened to "Celebrity Bowling"? And the show is listed as airing at both 11:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., which makes no sense whatsoever.
These listings also show "Daniel Boone" as airing at both 7:00 and 9:00 P.M. This also must be a mistake, right? I'll have to get that DVR cranking Monday to find out.
Weekends also show wholesale changes, mostly with some of the westerns getting booted in favor of filler-type syndicated programming like "Steel Dreams" and "The Great Outdoorsman," plus more too-recent series like "Cold Squad" and "Intelligence." I really hope the weekend lineup is "subject to change" because right now it looks terrible.
I have a theory that there is some kind of preview next weekend for RTV's parent company's other services like TuffTv and MyFamilyTV; some of these oddball additions already appear on are would seem appropriate for those outlets. Of course, it's also possible that RTV's "build your own channel" model is allowing my local affiliate to create this horrible mishmash of a schedule and I'm going to be stuck with it.
Well, it might all be worth it if we get the "Naked City" episodes that aren't already on DVD. I ain't getting my hopes up, though. Actually, if anything, I'm more aggravated about the prospect of "Celebrity Kitchen" than I am excited about "Naked City," which I guess says more about me than about the perpetual wackiness of RTV.
Buuuuuuut...since I'm here, anyway...
According to these listings, joining the weekday lineup is "Route 66" (yay!), "Naked City" (a most pleasant and welcome surprise if true), "The Saint" (not bad), and "Starsky and Hutch" (Talk about random! I did not see that one coming).
Unfortunately, "Da Vinci's Inquest," way too modern for the RTV format, is apparently joining the weeknight lineup, as is..."Celebrity Kitchen"? I think this is a show hosted by Crook of the venerable country lifestyle team Crook and Chase, and, uh, yeah. I don't want to see that at all. What happened to "Celebrity Bowling"? And the show is listed as airing at both 11:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., which makes no sense whatsoever.
These listings also show "Daniel Boone" as airing at both 7:00 and 9:00 P.M. This also must be a mistake, right? I'll have to get that DVR cranking Monday to find out.
Weekends also show wholesale changes, mostly with some of the westerns getting booted in favor of filler-type syndicated programming like "Steel Dreams" and "The Great Outdoorsman," plus more too-recent series like "Cold Squad" and "Intelligence." I really hope the weekend lineup is "subject to change" because right now it looks terrible.
I have a theory that there is some kind of preview next weekend for RTV's parent company's other services like TuffTv and MyFamilyTV; some of these oddball additions already appear on are would seem appropriate for those outlets. Of course, it's also possible that RTV's "build your own channel" model is allowing my local affiliate to create this horrible mishmash of a schedule and I'm going to be stuck with it.
Well, it might all be worth it if we get the "Naked City" episodes that aren't already on DVD. I ain't getting my hopes up, though. Actually, if anything, I'm more aggravated about the prospect of "Celebrity Kitchen" than I am excited about "Naked City," which I guess says more about me than about the perpetual wackiness of RTV.
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