EVEN DeepER Blurting!: DTv is our friend, after all

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DTv is our friend, after all

Posted by DexterBG on 8/25/2008, 1:57 am

Well this proves that you just never know how things are going to work out. What first looked to be a bad move, seems to have a silver lining.

Here we are, in the middle of this MST3k "drought" period. Though I think it's a more extensive lull of media criticism, in general. Everything's been bought up and protected. Either for some media investment speculation. Or by film producers (like Roger Corman) in order to keep their works from ridicule. Too bad they didn't invest as much thought into making better movies, in the first place.

Also, there's been a drought of Tv programming, of anything other than the so-called "reality" format. In this case the term means "super cheap to make". Beyond their hosts, there are no stars to pay. Very little writing involved. And the sets rarely change. It's all contests, and obstacle courses (Fox's latest ripoff, looks like a Playdough fun factory for people), audience involved setups. Anything they can do to avoid paying expensive actors and writers. And if you truly hate this brain dead junk, what have you to look forward to? Even if you have cable, you can expect that they will eventually follow the same cost cutting trend.

But now there's some small light at the end of the tunnel of mediocre Tv. And it came in a way I would never have foreseen. The Digital Tv broadcast revolution. Tv stations are adding extra subchannels to their main channel. And they need programming to appear on them. Apparently none of the big four networks, or the minor two (CW & MyTv), had thought to recruit these in advance (though they still could). And perhaps it should remain that way, because network affiliation of all the previously available analog channels, only lead to stifling their programming choices. And I for one am sick of seeing the same four sitcoms spread across several broadcast channels. King of Queens just wasn't that good. And Seinfeld should have run its course years ago. I'm sure there's politics involved as to what shows get syndicated on these networks.

But as the new digital subchannels appear, and hopefully remain unaffiliated with the major networks, their owners have had to go shopping for whatever they can find to fill the programming void. Guess what? There already is such programming. One source, called "Retro Television Network" has managed to squeeze enough programming out of the clutches of CBS & NBC studios to establish an impressive roster of vintage Tv programming. Anything from the "A Team" to "Wagon Train". Usually whatever doesn't sell too well on cable, or on DVDs.

I've noticed that they're only showing the final seasons of some shows, like "Airwolf" and "It Takes a Thief". Typically their worst and final season. They also lack any Close Captioning. But these do tend to run close to their original run times of 48 to 50 minutes. And the lack of enough current advertising, is temporarily replaced by "retromercials" of a bygone era ("Don't squeeze the Charmin"). They should call them Red-o-mercials, as the colors have often turned completely red. And some of the vintage shows aren't far behind. Which is probably why RTN gets to show them at all.

On the weekends, some movies slip into the schedule. I've been seeing a lot of Rock Hudson, for some reason (mostly as McMillian & Wife). I guess the aids thing, killed syndication of his show on cable. And another vintage movie provider has something called "Off Beat Cinema". Which was started back in Buffalo NY, in 1993. And shows old "B" movies, the likes of which MST3k might have chosen. Last week's choice was "Teenage Zombies". And before that, the other Rich Hall film "Wild Guitar".

But just this past weekend it was "Embryo" (another Rock Hudson flop). So I suspect some weekend to see "Avalanche", "World War III", or "The Star Maker". Digital channels, the new dumping grounds of orphan media.

Well we wanted a return of MST3k in some form. And this might be next best thing. Off Beat Cinema features a trio of beatnik hosts, that chime in during the commercial breaks (even reading viewer mail) with short skits and comments. But they don't riff during the film. They're more like the coffee house version of Wayne's World. Complete with drop in, dropout quests. The copyright dates vary. The one for the "Teenage Zombies" episode was 2003. But the one for the "Embryo" episode was 2008! So they've been in and out of production since 1993. I suspect they stopped a few times. But digital Tv's demand for content gave them a comeback. Thank you Buffalo!

So as long as digital subchannels survive not being taken over by affiliation to existing FCC approved mega-networks. They'll have the freedom to program a more refreshing mix of the vintage past and present day avant-garde, programming. We may even see a return to local station producing content, as Creature Feature once was. I miss those days of independent Tv. And Digital Tv may just bring them back for awhile. Hopefully a very long while.
-Dex-