Actually shocked by TCM!

[Quigley Brown]

Early this morning (couldn't sleep again) I was a bit surprised at what was on TCM. A couple of those early 70s blaxploitation films staring Pam Grier...Coffy and Foxy Brown....both had quite a bit of sex and nudity. I'm sort of fascinated by this film genre...how the black community was portrayed in them...right on! I can dig it! The most entertaining to me, though, was the clothing being worn. Yikes! Men wearing red, yellow and orange fedoras!

You can really see how these films had a heavy influence on Quentin Tarantino films. Anyone planning on seeing the latest Tarantino/Rodriguez epic lol 'Grindhouse?'

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I can't stand the obsessive emphasis that TCM now has for its promos for the "TCM Underground" bit. Talk about chasing away the classic movie audience! That and the late-night Friday garbage they play now. They also changed the charming "One Reel Wonders" opening with a repetitive intro that tries too hard to be "cool." I still watch TCM, but not nearly as much as I used to, though they still play a healthy amount of obscure, 1930s films.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It all started when they got rid of the subway-train bumpers they used for the ratings card at the beginning of every movie and replaced it with that annoying guitar-theme dingus they use now. All part of the snag-the-hipster cineaste marketing push they seem to be caught up in now.

I look forward with much anticipation to seeing their special Halloween attraction this year, Robert Osborne Plays A Game Of Chess With Death.

 

[Liz]

I'm sorry I missed the blaxploitation movies, and I personally like the TCM Underground features. I was so excited when they showed Faster Pussycat Kill Kill last year. I love those kinds of films as well as the classic Hollywood ones. Maybe I'm in the minority here though...

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Black men actually dressed like that in my inner-city neighborhood in the Seventies. I liked seeing bright clothing on guys. Two of my friends have dads who were preachers and they wore the most colorful turnouts in their leisure time.
Alas, I don't have cable but if I did it would be to get TCM. I'd rather watch the underground stuff at home because whenever the George Eastman House theatre shows it the hipsters feel they have to shout things at the screen and that upsets me. Danged hipsters.

 

[Senator Jack]

Posted by Liz:
I was so excited when they showed Faster Pussycat Kill Kill last year. I love those kinds of films as well as the classic Hollywood ones. Maybe I'm in the minority here though...

Hey, just yesterday I watched Kitten in a Cage and The Girl from Pussycat - talk about the real grindhouse!

If you like that sort of fare Liz, you should take a look at this thread:

Regards,

Senator Jack: A Quinn/Martin Production

 

[Lee Lynch]

I can't stand the obsessive emphasis that TCM now has for its promos for the "TCM Underground" bit. Talk about chasing away the classic movie audience! That and the late-night Friday garbage they play now. They also changed the charming "One Reel Wonders" opening with a repetitive intro that tries too hard to be "cool." I still watch TCM, but not nearly as much as I used to, though they still play a healthy amount of obscure, 1930s films.

We mute the sound during those. The music is awful, and completely disjointed with the classic movie genre.

 

[Snookie]

I don't have cable currently, so I didn't know the style of the channel is changing. Has anyone written to the station to explain what you used to love and miss?

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I'm sorry I missed the blaxploitation movies, and I personally like the TCM Underground features. I was so excited when they showed Faster Pussycat Kill Kill last year. I love those kinds of films as well as the classic Hollywood ones. Maybe I'm in the minority here though...

Nope -- my husband and I enjoy them, too! We love and collect as many Something Weird movies as we can. I especially like the really old ones from the 30s and 40s. Many eyebrows have been raised by me while watching them. I sort of expect to see such things in 50s onward exploitation movies, though, but I still like them.

Did TCM replace the "Sunny Side Of Life" intro thingie!!?? I recorded Child Of Manhattan the other morning and noticed there was some "hip" musical intro before it that I've never seen before!!!!

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Man, that sounds awesome. Too bad I don't have cable anymore.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Did TCM replace the "Sunny Side Of Life" intro thingie!!?? I recorded Child Of Manhattan the other morning and noticed there was some "hip" musical intro before it that I've never seen before!!!!

Yep, I noticed that the other day too -- part of their New Look graphics package. Feh.

I loved the old Sunny Side bumper -- since it included a free commercial for the Strand Theatre (where I work). But they'd been messing around with it for a while before it got replaced -- sharp viewers might have noticed that the guy in the hat and overcoat who used to come out of the brownstone and pause on the stoop to light a cigarette appeared to have abruptly given up smoking the last few weeks the old bumper was used.

(I watch these things much too closely, alas.)

 

[Shearer]

Yep, I noticed that the other day too -- part of their New Look graphics package. Feh.

I loved the old Sunny Side bumper -- since it included a free commercial for the Strand Theatre (where I work). But they'd been messing around with it for a while before it got replaced -- sharp viewers might have noticed that the guy in the hat and overcoat who used to come out of the brownstone and pause on the stoop to light a cigarette appeared to have abruptly given up smoking the last few weeks the old bumper was used.

(I watch these things much too closely, alas.)

The Sunny Side song always made me feel inexplicably warm and happy. That's too bad.

 

[jazzzbaby]

Early this morning (couldn't sleep again) I was a bit surprised at what was on TCM. A couple of those early 70s blaxploitation films staring Pam Grier...Coffy and Foxy Brown....both had quite a bit of sex and nudity. I'm sort of fascinated by this film genre...how the black community was portrayed in them...right on! I can dig it! The most entertaining to me, though, was the clothing being worn. Yikes! Men wearing red, yellow and orange fedoras!

You can really see how these films had a heavy influence on Quentin Tarantino films. Anyone planning on seeing the latest Tarantino/Rodriguez epic lol 'Grindhouse?'

I saw "Coffy" a couple of months ago on late night TCM for the first time
and I loved it. Pam Grier was like the "Dirty Harry" revenge machine.
Not to mention she was and still is gorgeous!

I also liked the Russ Meyer flicks they broadcasted. I had always heard about them, but never had a chance to see them
until "TCM Underground" ~ I look forward to a funky film on Friday nights.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and couldn't wait to see the Elvira's Saturday Night BAD Horror movies.
They are were extremely campy and bad, but I found it amusing nonetheless.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

On the other hand, they seem to be showing a bunch of pre-Code talkies lately. I love it!

I had "The Wet Parade" on my DVR for a while and watched it last night. For fans of 1960s TV, it's quite fascinating to see Neil Hamilton, "Batman's" Commissioner Gordon, and "Marcus Welby MD," Robert Young as they were in 1932. Hamilton looked different with a mop of wavy black hair, but the voice was unmistakable.

 

[Lincsong]

I hope they don't turn it into another AMC and A&E, two formerly fine channels that are barely tolerable.:rage:

 

[jazzzbaby]

I hope they don't turn it into another AMC and A&E, two formerly fine channels that are barely tolerable.:rage:

You are quite right with this statement. I am so disappointed at
what has happened to both AMC & A&E. I do not believe that the
Underground film will last on TCM , although it doesn't bother me,
I do believe it would bother most TCM viewers.

 

[Feraud]

I hope they don't turn it into another AMC and A&E, two formerly fine channels that are barely tolerable.:rage:

Right on!
As long as they keep the commercials out and the great films in, I could care less about the intros.

 

[Sefton]

Has TCM gone...HIPSTER? Could Rob Zombie be the Jay Leno to Robert Osbourne's Johnny Carson? Or worse,the Chevy Chase? I hadn't noticed the change in the bumpers. Got rid of the smoking man in the fedora? What's next,digitally remove the smoking from the films themselves? Although I don't smoke and can't stand to be around the stuff I don't want to ever see the Maltese Falcon with a Lollipop in Bogie's mouth!

 

[Lincsong]

Has TCM gone...HIPSTER? Could Rob Zombie be the Jay Leno to Robert Osbourne's Johnny Carson? Or worse,the Chevy Chase? I hadn't noticed the change in the bumpers. Got rid of the smoking man in the fedora? What's next,digitally remove the smoking from the films themselves? Although I don't smoke and can't stand to be around the stuff I don't want to ever see the Maltese Falcon with a Lollipop in Bogie's mouth!

What the hell??? They got rid of a smoking man in a fedora?????

 

[Sefton]

"I loved the old Sunny Side bumper -- since it included a free commercial for the Strand Theatre (where I work). But they'd been messing around with it for a while before it got replaced -- sharp viewers might have noticed that the guy in the hat and overcoat who used to come out of the brownstone and pause on the stoop to light a cigarette appeared to have abruptly given up smoking the last few weeks the old bumper was used." -Quote,LizzyMaine

I haven't seen this myself,I only read about it in this thread. I'll have to watch TCM more closely myself and see if the thin wedge of the PC cheese has started to slip into things!