I recently saw a post on TV Land's message board that both Bonanza and Gunsmoke's contracts expire 8/31/11.

Does anyone know if the contracts have been renewed? Those 2 westerns have been a constant on the network for so long it breaks my heart that they might go off...

I was going to comment somewhere that TV Land's new slogan is "Laugh More." It's even below the bug on the screen. I could not help but wonder if they will eliminate the drama programming eventually.

Gunsmoke and Bonanza do air on MeTV, if you get it....

Gunsmoke also airs on the encore western channel. They show it uncut and commercial free.

...that "Encore Westerns" have the rights to schedule the first five hour-long black and white seasons of "GUNSMOKE" (1961-'66), 'dangfish', while "TV Land" has the color episodes (1966-'75) only. Considering the fact that "TV Land" has virtually "butchered" those episodes in recent years, including replacing the original closing credits with their own at the bottom of the screen, during the final scenes...perhaps it's just as well that it's time to "retire" them for now.

:tv:

I personally, do NOT give a rats *** what TV LAND does!!!!:mad:

I was going to comment somewhere that TV Land's new slogan is "Laugh More." It's even below the bug on the screen. I could not help but wonder if they will eliminate the drama programming eventually.

Gunsmoke and Bonanza do air on MeTV, if you get it....

If that is the case, I hope Extreme Makeover goes too. LOL.

I personally, do NOT give a rats *** what TV LAND does!!!!:mad:

IMHO, I do NOT give a Rat's Arse what PAY-TV Does!!! :( :mad: :angryfire

I personally, do NOT give a rats *** what TV LAND does!!!!:mad:

Agreed. The shows are cut beyond recognition anyway so what difference does it make what they air.

The only ones " laughing more " is TVLAND, at the people paying to watch their channel.

I don't know how true this is, but I have heard they plan on getting rid of ALL their older shows once the contracts expire no matter how popular the show is. At one time the most popular shows were Gunsmoke, Bonanza and Andy Griffith Show on the station. However, these shows tend to get older viewers and as been mentioned, TVLAND wants a younger audience. I wonder if the fact that Me-TV picked up the rights (though they had the local rights before Me-TV went national)also signals an end to these shows.

All of this is speculation but I suspect they will let the contracts expire.

I don't know how true this is, but I have heard they plan on getting rid of ALL their older shows once the contracts expire no matter how popular the show is. At one time the most popular shows were Gunsmoke, Bonanza and Andy Griffith Show on the station. However, these shows tend to get older viewers and as been mentioned, TVLAND wants a younger audience. I wonder if the fact that Me-TV picked up the rights (though they had the local rights before Me-TV went national)also signals an end to these shows.

All of this is speculation but I suspect they will let the contracts expire.

If it is younger viewers they want, why are they airing shows that feature old people? All of their new originals feature mainly older actors.

That part I don't get either, but it has been mentioned on their forums they want younger. But if that's the case why do they have Hot In Cleveland and Happily Divorced? Maybe because they own the rights to those shows (ie DVD sales for example). That's just a guess.

Bringing back Leave It To Beaver is a good sign.

I wonder if the fact that Me-TV picked up the rights (though they had the local rights before Me-TV went national)also signals an end to these shows.

That's irrelevant. ME-TV isn't a cable channel like TV Land is so it doesn't really apply. TV Land's programming decisions will not at all be based on anything ME-TV does.

I could say "If they're looking for comedy bring back Night Court" but not so much after I've seen the handling of The Nanny. I just love that they only show 3 seasons and skip over a ton of episodes. Then again they treated NC the same way near the end, only showing a handful of Season 5 and 6 episodes.

The shows are cut beyond recognition anyway so what difference does it make what they air.
I concur.Even if they had a perfect schedule of classic tv shows,I would hardly watch them.Just a guess,but I'll bet in the areas Antenna and/or Me-tv are available,those 2 stations in reality are crushing tvland and have MANY more steady viewers.

Me-TV does a fairly good job with both series. Here are my observations:

Gunsmoke, original half-hour black-&-whites: They use the "Marshal Dillon" syndicated version, but otherwise the presentation is pretty good. Closing credits appear full-screen, though once again they are the altered Marshal Dillon prints and that appears again. Lots of eps from '55 to '59. Overall nice looking and sounding prints, especially considering the age of the material.

Gunsmoke, one-hour color: Sometimes the small credit before the final commercial is cut, and it seems that the closing credits may be sped up. Otherwise these seem fine to me -- currently they're showing some interesting 1972 episodes. Most of what they show comes from the era with Thad/Festus/Newly (mid-'60s to early '70s). Good prints with minimal if any visual defects (aside from some faded closes), but possibly the sound sometimes could stand a little improvement.

Bonanza: Today an early ep aired and included two rare NBC items at the close -- you just never get to see those, like the one saying it's been an NBC color presentation. A+ job by Me. Shows usually from seasons 1-10, although I think they've also gone further, with emphasis on the "Glory Years" with Pernell (1-6). There may be some speeding-up, but if so it's very subtle. Prints are usually outstanding as far as color, sound, condition.

MeTV shows 223 of the 233 half-hour Gunsmoke episodes. I sent them an e-mail asking why they never show the last 10 episodes of Season 6. They did respond, saying they don't have the rights to them. I wonder why 10 episodes were held out of the package. Most episodes are uncut.

The color hours are the syndicated 46-minute versions, not the uncut 50-minute ones that TV Land showed when they first came on the air. Now TV Land cuts them down to 44 minutes.

Unfortunately, shows that used to be uncut on MeTV, like Cannon, The Untouchables, and Stagecoach West are now being cut to under 46 minutes. Since they used to be uncut, MeTV can not claim that is what they were sent.

Gunsmoke also airs on the encore western channel. They show it uncut and commercial free.

The Western Channel is AWESOME.

When I heard that TV Land was going to get rid of Gunsmoke I found it VERY INSULTING. Jim Arness just died, at least they could have the decency to keep it on at least six months for the respect of this SPECIAL MAN. They don't have to have it on every day, even if it was once a week.

Anyway, I think it would be terrific if the Western Channel could put the colored ones on.