Poring over T.V. Guide in General Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

0 Points

Forum Jump

Poring over T.V. Guide

Author	Comment
hermanthegerm	Poring over T.V. Guide	Lead	[-]
Jul 23 12 4:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I suspect others here did this: Every week when my Dad brought in the TV Guide I would pore over it to find any and all the genre movies and shows. I would plan my week accordingly so I would not miss the possibilities. Since this is before cable or satellite I could only dream about the hundreds of movies that were showing in L.A. but which we did not get in the San Diego/Tijuana border. Many times, also I'd come across title which seemed to be genre, but were not Night of the Iguana! (sorry) or bizarre titles and descriptions I could not comprehend: Mourning Becomes Electra... (what does that even mean? ...other than sounding vaguely science fictiony...) "There is a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something blows up, so I'll give them a boom." George Lucas as quoted by Harlan Ellison's WATCHING
	Remove this ad
sthorntn		#1	[-]
Jul 23 12 5:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Absolutely. And, man, did I kick myself in the butt when I would forget and miss one.
flashback		#2	[-]
Jul 23 12 9:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	i do not like how tv guide magazine became a tv personality people magazine instead of the extensive local tv listing source it was.
Rick		#3	[-]
Jul 23 12 9:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I don't like it either, but they really didn't have much choice. When cable blew up, there were simply too many stations for TV Guide to cram into the listings. The last time I bought a TV Guide -- years ago -- it was already almost indecipherable because of all the stations. When I was a kid (and even when I was no longer a kid) I would read the TV Guide listings with pen in hand to mark each and every monster movie in the grid, even those on the stations we didn't receive. Two memories in particular have always stuck with me. One was the week when there was only ONE genre film in the listings for the whole week. It was BACK FROM THE DEAD and it was on a station that we didn't get. Terrible week. The other memory is a very good one. I had worked my way through the whole week, and there was nothing really interesting --as happened most weeks actually -- finally I got to Friday afternoon -- nothing, Friday evening -- nothing. I turned to the very last page and there at the bottom on the Late Show -- almost the very last thing listed for the whole week-- was KING KONG. My first chance to see it. I actually think I screamed like a leetle gurrrll, and ran around like a lunatic. Of course, I didn't know anyone who would be remotely as excited about it as I was. I even remember the very date -- June 23, 1961. It's burned into my memory.
flashback		#4	[-]
Jul 23 12 10:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	they could have comprehensive listings for the local channels and the main cable channels. they had a choice.just did not make a good one in my opinion. Last Edited By: flashback Jul 23 12 10:05 PM. Edited 1 times.
flashback		#5	[-]
Jul 23 12 10:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	flashback wrote: accidental duplication.sorry.
blackbiped		#6	[-]
Jul 24 12 4:57 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I would go to the store where I knew they put their TV Guides out a day earlier than everyone else and grab my copy. Then I'd take it home and scour each listing for genre stuff to circle. The best items would be scrawled in large letters on the cover so I wouldn't forget. After that, the trick was actually being in front of your TV set when these movies came on. That's one of the main reasons why finally getting VCRs was such a trip. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. Porfle's Secret Blog HK and Cult Film News Andersonvision.com
clore103051		#7	[-]
Jul 24 12 7:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I used to go straight to the section that had the listings for all movies playing on TV that week and circle everything listed as either "melodrama" or "science-fiction." Also, anything that had a horror star in the cast, which was how I discovered things such as OF MICE AND MEN or HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Rick		#8	[-]
Jul 24 12 12:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I can honestly say I never forgot a single viewing. Of course, from when I started with TV Guide (probably around 1960) till cable crept into the picture (around '72), there were never enough monster movies on to worry about forgetting one. In the period A.C. (after cable), I always had a piece of paper on hand when I scoured the Guide, and I made a list of times, stations and titles which I kept very much within reach.
Spoiler II		#9	[-]
Jul 24 12 7:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	We had TV Showcase that came with our Sunday paper and covered the week. It had the same station call letters and synopsis layout as TV GUIDE. I also went through the movies with a fine toothed comb and have fond memories of stumbling across titles i had never heard of that were out of the norm (such as seeing the entry "SQUIRM *" with a description like "An army of flesh eating worms invade a small Georgia town". It sounded like the wildest movie i had ever heard of in my life!). I would circle the stuff i wanted to watch with a yellow or light colored marker and when the week was up,i would meticulously cut all the entries out for my own future reference and tape them to sheets of paper. Sadly,my mom found that hobby pointless and messy...and tossed them in the garbage. sigh*.. Wish i still had them today. My daughter,with our good sized horror/sci-fi DVD/Blu-ray library and Netflix,doesn't realize how good she has it..but also doesn't realize how much she missed out on.
Python		#10	[-]
Jul 25 12 12:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	clore103051 wrote: I used to go straight to the section that had the listings for all movies playing on TV that week and circle everything listed as either "melodrama" or "science-fiction." Also, anything that had a horror star in the cast, which was how I discovered things such as OF MICE AND MEN or HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD. "Melodrama" used to throw me off in the listings. I would accidentally skip over those listings until I once saw The Mummy's Curse under melodrama. From that point on, I was far more educated in the ways of the TV Guide!
	Remove this ad
blackbiped		#11	[-]
Jul 25 12 4:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	We got "Showtime" (later "Sunday Magazine") in the Sunday paper and the centerspread had all the week's movies. I'd always zero in on Saturday afternoon and night to see what was playing on "Thriller" and "Chiller." Then I'd check out the "Dialing for Dollars" menu that week (3:30 weekday afternoons) and on a good week they'd be showing all Universal horrors, 50s sci-fi, etc. Anything genre-related was an exciting find, even your typical Larry Buchanan flick. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. Porfle's Secret Blog HK and Cult Film News Andersonvision.com
hermanthegerm		#12	[-]
Jul 25 12 5:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	[36] MOVIE – Science Fiction “The Clonus Horror.” (1979) Low-budget thriller about a Government plot to clone the population. Peter Graves, Dick Sargent. (2 hrs.) Doesn't this just sound really good? "There is a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something blows up, so I'll give them a boom." George Lucas as quoted by Harlan Ellison's WATCHING Last Edited By: hermanthegerm Jul 25 12 5:28 PM. Edited 1 times.
flashback		#13	[-]
Jul 25 12 8:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	lots of good shows listed on that page. is it just me or is television a lot less fun to watch these days then then?
blackbiped		#14	[-]
Jul 26 12 1:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ever watch someone remote clicking through the onscreen satellite TV menu looking for something good to watch out of the hundreds of choices? click click click click click click click... Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. Porfle's Secret Blog HK and Cult Film News Andersonvision.com
flashback		#15	[-]
Jul 26 12 3:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	same thing with my cable menu channel listing.
hermanthegerm		#16	[-]
Jul 26 12 9:17 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	flashback wrote: lots of good shows listed on that page. is it just me or is television a lot less fun to watch these days then then? Clonus, Tales from the Darkside, Night Patrol, Rebecca, sure! "There is a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something blows up, so I'll give them a boom." George Lucas as quoted by Harlan Ellison's WATCHING
Python		#17	[-]
Jul 26 12 12:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	blackbiped wrote: Ever watch someone remote clicking through the onscreen satellite TV menu looking for something good to watch out of the hundreds of choices? click click click click click click click... Ooooh yeah. My girlfriend has some crazy package with DirecTV. Sometimes it takes a good ten minutes to channel surf every channel and wind up with absolutely NOTHING! No wonder I have Netflix streaming and a DVD collection at home.
BongoFury		#18	[-]
Jul 26 12 12:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	That was back when if there was a movie you wanted to see you had to watch it then because you never knew when it would be on again. Now they play a movie all weekend or even all week. I can't count the number of times Knocked Up has been on TV this year.
Spoiler II		#19	[-]
Jul 26 12 9:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	hermanthegerm wrote: [36] MOVIE – Science Fiction “The Clonus Horror.” (1979) Low-budget thriller about a Government plot to clone the population. Peter Graves, Dick Sargent. (2 hrs.) Doesn't this just sound really good? I'd be all over that NIGHT FLIGHT like ugly on an ape. The influence that show had in shaping my interests in my teens can't even be measured.
Jon Markion		#20	[-]
Jul 27 12 11:57 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This thread brings back a lot of memories, of going through TV Guide and/or the local sunday paper's equivalent and circling all the melodramas, sci-fis, horrors for the week. One of those forgotten sunday rituals, usually after being up half the night (or more) watching these things.
	Remove this ad

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Add Reply

Yuku free message boards

Poring over T.V. Guide

Poring over T.V. Guide