Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Television AMC: Change Your Damn Name
Posted by Damon Hunzeker on Wed, May 18, 2011 at 3:08 PM
Despite its eclectic programming, AMC’s full name is American Movie Classics. It needs to change, maybe to something like “The Whatever the Hell We Want to Put on TV Channel.”
Many of the movies are hardly classic: 88 Minutes, Never Been Kissed and Overboard mixed in with High Plains Drifter and Rio Bravo. Then there are original dramas adored by critics such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men and The Killing intermingled with Three Stooges episodes.
Nothing about AMC makes sense. The drift toward a chaotic schedule began when the channel added commercials between movies, then during movies, then started airing programs that aren’t movies at all, then new movies that aren’t classics, leading up to its current focus on original shows. On any given night, it’s a place to watch—in no particular order—an award-winning drama that everyone’s talking about, a Drew Barrymore movie nobody remembers, two Humphrey Bogart films separated by Rambo: First Blood Part II, several late-night infomercials and then a marathon of Larry and Curly poking each other’s eyes. Plus, the channel has announced upcoming reality shows about advertising and Homeland Security.
We all know that the initials “AMC” still stand for “American Movie Classics,” though. It’s like when Kentucky Fried Chicken decided, “We’re just KFC now—that can mean anything, right?” No. It still means “Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Watching AMC nowadays is like going to KFC for a bucket of chicken and discovering it’s full of asparagus-wrapped scallops, a Chocodile, a Slap Chop coupon, lobster bisque, a Whopper with extra Skittles, one piece of chicken and a picture of Janet Napolitano.
Comments (6)
Showing 1-6 of 6
Why am I picturing Peter Griffin's latest "what grinds my gears" segment or a future call on KIVI's "The Rant"?
Is there an Andy Rooney gene that is common to all journalist or do they just like to whine?
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You sure you aren't getting AMC confused with TCM on the old movies part & 3 stooges? From what I have seen during regular day hours (8am - 1am) AMC plays pretty current stuff. Turner Classic Movies definitely plays a bunch of old stuff. I know AMC has played older stuff in the past, but I cant say Ive seen anything pre 1960 on that channel in a long time.
AMC's TV shows rule, that's all that matters. Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Rubicon (RIP), The Killing, Mad Men? AMC FTW!
Yeah you for sure are getting AMC and TCM confused. I just scrolled through 3 days worth of programming for AMC on TV Guide's website. The oldest movie I saw them playing was Sixteen Candles. LAWLZ
Talking about one channel is what makes it a whine. It could have been an entertainment article if she looked into the whole cable/satellite issue with channels you pay for not being what they used to be and being made up of mostly paid advertising, so basically, you are paying for a bunch of commercials. As for the topic of this article, Two other examples would be the History channel and the learning channel (TLC). These used to be very informative channels that have been taken over by worthless reality TV.
As soon as my satellite contract is up, I'm dropping satellite and going the Netflix and computer route. It's cheaper and I get to choose what I want to pay for.
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