You can actually sue a TV channel for sucking — and win. That’s the lesson of today’s legal victory against AMC, in a breach of contract suit filed by Time Warner Cable (like EW.com, a division of Time Warner).
Like some viewers who remember when AMC stood for ”American Movie Classics,” the cable operator complained that AMC doesn’t show classic movies much anymore. (These days, the channel just goes by the abbreviation ”AMC,” as if to gloss over the word ”Classics,” much like KFC, which doesn’t want to remind anyone in our calorie-conscious era that the ”F” stands for ”Fried.”) A look at this month’s AMC schedule, which does include some genuine classics and rarities (like two John Wayne movies that haven’t been televised in 25 years), reveals that too much of AMC’s schedule is given over to decidedly non-classic films of the last two decades, like Death Warrant, Braddock: Missing in Action, and Jaws: The Revenge.
”We think we’re programming classics to all ages,” AMC executive Ed Carroll told the New York Times earlier this week. ”To my kids Home Alone and E.T. are classics, Risky Business is to me; to my dad, To Kill a Mockingbird.” Still, it’s clear that AMC is not playing on the same field as Turner Classic Movies, which airs movies from the 1930s to the ’60s, unedited and without commercials. That’s what AMC used to do, but when TCM came along a decade ago with its vast, exclusive movie library, AMC apparently decided it couldn’t compete and abandoned the field, resulting in the format change that prompted the lawsuit.
Still, the format change has boosted AMC’s ratings. Which makes me wonder: Is Carroll right? Is the definition of ”classic” really that elastic? What exactly makes a movie a classic?
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I might be able to enjoy the “new” classics AMC plays if it weren’t for the commercials. I had to quit watching the channel when it started running ads, although previously I watched it regularly. Even worse than the commercials, I found, were the obnoxious AMC station promos — the ridiculous movie-lover gagfests shot against a white background. I don’t know if they still show those or not, but I can’t turn on the channel for fear of seeing one and losing my lunch. Meanwhile, Turner Classic Movies shows uncut and uninterrupted movies, many of them truly “classics,” does clever programming, and has stylish self-promotions and engaging on-air talent. It trumps AMC on every level. That’s why TCM is on my TiVo Favorite Channels list and AMC is nowhere to be seen.
AMC sucks. Every once in a while a classic movie is shown early in the morning (while I’m getting ready for work), then it’s crap the rest of the time. I long for the AMC from about 10 years ago.
Not only aren’t the movies on AMC classics, they are so often interrupted by commercials, that I can barely keep track of what movie is on. If they’re going to chop up a movie, at least do it with some flair like TBS used to do with “Dinner and a Movie.”
If it’s still good after 25 years, it’s a classic.
Only an EW writer would somehow think the idea of declaring “Home Alone” and “Risky Business” as classics to be worthy of debate. Actually, that’s not true – I’m sure the writers at People and Us Weekly also think something as old as a college student is considered “classic”.
Well, I stopped watching AMC (or is it amc) about 3 years ago when they introduced commercials into their movies. I don’t mind them showing newer “classic” movies it is just the fact that they started editing them (who wants to watch an edited version of “Animal House”?) and then flood us with crass advertising. I would still like to think that there is a market for the baby boomer generation now since more and more boomers will be retiring (and hence watching more TV)–which makes me ask what happened to AMC’s plan to launch a stand alone channel based on their old American Pop saturday movie?
I grew up watching AMC, I loved the old Danny Kaye movies, and at 16 I could recite all the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’s movies. Now, it kinf of pains me when I pass through AMC.
I grew up watching AMC, I loved the old Danny Kaye movies, and at 16 I could recite all the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’s movies. Now, it kind of pains me when I pass through AMC.
AMC needed to change it’s lineup. Most people today don’t want to be influenced by the “Golden Age” of television anymore. The new consumers(18-35) have global tastes. Besides, who has time to watch a movies/tv for more than an hour at a time with no commercials? I watch the good ones and the tape the rest(for viewing during the slow periods in my life).
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Greetings- AMC puts the “ick” in classics with toooo many commercials! I’m surprised the public doesn’t flood the FCC with demands to regulate less commercials like europe does. Remember when cable meant no commercials?
I was a LOYAL AMC Fan from their first day UNTIL they Ceased to be Commercial Free. They should change their name. They edit movies and have commercials like the major networks. Thank GOD For TCM (TurnerClassicMovies) who remains the ONLY Channel with classics and they are NEVER EDITED and NEVER ANY COMMERCIALS. Shame on AMC.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who refuses to watch the horrible AMC channel anymore. They play the same movies over and over and over (not even ‘classics’), they play straight to DVD movies (Pinata Island, anyone?) and somewhere Orson Welles is spinning in his grave at how loosely the term ‘classics’ is used in regards to film. And how about commercials ever 12 minutes that last for 8 minutes? If you can watch a movie on AMC all the way through, you’re a better person than I am. I have blocked this channel out on my TV because I would (about every 2 months) see a movie I wanted to watch and then I’d try to watch it and give up because of the commercials. Watching this station is REALLY painful if you’re a fan of movies. What started out as a good idea became one of the more horrible channels on TV. TONIGHT: Cammando! Tommorrow morning: Commando! Tomorrow night: Commando! And so on and so on for a few months.
If Commando qualifies as ‘classic,’ I’ll eat my shoes.
I too can no longer watch AMC because the commercials and edited movies. AMC used to have quality films, uncut, without commercials from the golden age of movies. Now we only have TCM to look to for the true classics. Not to say that there aren’t movies from the 1960’s to the present that aren’t “classic,” but we already have countless networks airing them such as TBS, USA, etc. and also a few local channels. AMC is now no different from them. Shame on you AMC for fixing something that wasn’t broken – your format!
I have stopped watching movies on AMC for most of the same reasons mentioned on your site. However, the clincher for me was when they blocked movies from recording to DVD. I normally would rather record a movie and watch it by skipping through commercial(chapter button). After they started blocking movies I haven’t even considered checking what showing on AMC.
AMC is a worthles cable channel. They show the same movies for months at a time. Tonight the Hunt For Red October is on. This must have been on 25 times in the last 3 months. Also tonight Roadhouse is on . Again this stupid movie has been shown 25 times at least.
I agree that AMC is worthless as a movie station. I just turned off “VonRyan’s Express” which will be the last movie I will ever try to watch on this station. 117 minutes of movie stretched into a 180 time period. Stations used to find suitable places for commercials, such as scene changes. Now it seems they purposefully slap their numerous advertisements in the middle of action scenes and important parts of the movie. The commercial breaks are frequent and they are TWICE the volume. When the movie finally DOES come back, all the superimposed ads pop up over the movie. I really do not want to see the Mad Man or Breaking Bad idiots pop up over a World War II battle scene. So much for all the work these film masters did to create ambience and setting a mood in their movies, when we instead see all the crap that pops up all over the screen. Let’s all watch TCM, instead and let AMC loose their advertisers! Maybe THEN they will pay attention to their customers!
AMC sucks to block out commercials I have a mute button on my remote….People are smart these days…..Simple just turn AMC off….I called my cable company and had then block out that useless channel…..its all garbage….I shake my head how crap movie channels like AMC stay in business…they can take their commercials and all their 1-800 commercials and shove up their porr little money hungry butts….they wont last long guys