Sal
11-15-2020, 01:57 PM
Now that the fall schedule is underway, which one of your favorite digital retro networks will you watch? Is there one that you will stick with all the way or will you go back and forth between channels depending on whatever is on or whatever you want to tape and save until later? Unfortunately for me, there is only one station in Canada (CHCH) that has the kind of classic shows that many of us tend to love while in the US there's a fair number of them with Antenna, Me, and Decades being the most popular.
In looking at the various schedules for all 4 of the main networks, none of them stands out over the others. During the day, they each have their strong time slots and their weaker ones along with an annoying trend of saving some of their best sitcoms for the early morning hours when their fans are asleep or are ready to head off to work. Despite this obvious flaw, there is still plenty of good material to watch for the rest of the day on all 4 stations. So which one do you like the best? Here are the current schedules that will help you decide.
ANTENNA TV (https://antennatv.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Antenna_TV_4thQ_2020.pdf)
"TV The Way It Was Meant To Be" --- until 5 pm when the weakest links show up. The morning schedule is nice with series that haven't been syndicated in a long time but have found a nice home thanks to the great Columbia/Screen Gems library which I consider the best among the classic TV studios. Johnny Carson adds another plus for the network but on the down side having "The Partridge Family" at 6 am is simply unforgivable so I'll have to take a few points off there.
My verdict: 3rd place
Me TV (https://cdnmetv.metv.com/6Mnd5-1598990844-MeTV%20Nat%20Sch%20FALL%202020%20Eff.%209-7-20%20E-P%20%283%29.pdf)
The biggest victim of the early morning blues. After 5 am you can watch "I Love Lucy", "Gilligan's Island", and "Leave It To Beaver" yet the afternoons are filled with Westerns. This easily makes MeTV the worst channel of the group although they do try to make up for it with a strong prime time lineup and a good Sunday afternoon group (although their previous one was a lot better) but it's not enough for me.
Verdict: 4th and last place
DECADES (https://decadescdn.decades.com/IPZcy-1600440637-DECADES%202020%20Programming%20Schedule%204th%20Quarter%20%28as%20of%2009-14-20%29.pdf)
The most improved channel of the group with a very strong morning and afternoon lineup and a new, better late evening group. It's also the hardest channel to find and receive thanks to that awful Start TV cutting into its territory. Do yourselves a favor and tell off your cable companies to do something about this. You are taxpayers and you deserve the best, or in this case, 2nd best.
Verdict: 2nd place
CHCH (https://www.tvpassport.com/tv-listings/stations/chch-hamilton-on/43/2020-11-24) (Effective Nov. 24th)
Except for the drama series, there's not a weak link in the whole group. Take your pick. What will you have? "Bewitched", "Green Acres", "The Brady Bunch", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Gilligan's Island", and more, all at reasonable viewing hours. That's all folks. This race is over!
Verdict: #1 all the way!
There may also be others that I didn't mention that you might like to watch from time to time like Cozi TV, Retro Tv, This TV, LAFF, and more of the smaller channels. You can add those to your rankings if you wish.
In looking at the various schedules for all 4 of the main networks, none of them stands out over the others. During the day, they each have their strong time slots and their weaker ones along with an annoying trend of saving some of their best sitcoms for the early morning hours when their fans are asleep or are ready to head off to work. Despite this obvious flaw, there is still plenty of good material to watch for the rest of the day on all 4 stations. So which one do you like the best? Here are the current schedules that will help you decide.
ANTENNA TV (https://antennatv.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Antenna_TV_4thQ_2020.pdf)
"TV The Way It Was Meant To Be" --- until 5 pm when the weakest links show up. The morning schedule is nice with series that haven't been syndicated in a long time but have found a nice home thanks to the great Columbia/Screen Gems library which I consider the best among the classic TV studios. Johnny Carson adds another plus for the network but on the down side having "The Partridge Family" at 6 am is simply unforgivable so I'll have to take a few points off there.
My verdict: 3rd place
Me TV (https://cdnmetv.metv.com/6Mnd5-1598990844-MeTV%20Nat%20Sch%20FALL%202020%20Eff.%209-7-20%20E-P%20%283%29.pdf)
The biggest victim of the early morning blues. After 5 am you can watch "I Love Lucy", "Gilligan's Island", and "Leave It To Beaver" yet the afternoons are filled with Westerns. This easily makes MeTV the worst channel of the group although they do try to make up for it with a strong prime time lineup and a good Sunday afternoon group (although their previous one was a lot better) but it's not enough for me.
Verdict: 4th and last place
DECADES (https://decadescdn.decades.com/IPZcy-1600440637-DECADES%202020%20Programming%20Schedule%204th%20Quarter%20%28as%20of%2009-14-20%29.pdf)
The most improved channel of the group with a very strong morning and afternoon lineup and a new, better late evening group. It's also the hardest channel to find and receive thanks to that awful Start TV cutting into its territory. Do yourselves a favor and tell off your cable companies to do something about this. You are taxpayers and you deserve the best, or in this case, 2nd best.
Verdict: 2nd place
CHCH (https://www.tvpassport.com/tv-listings/stations/chch-hamilton-on/43/2020-11-24) (Effective Nov. 24th)
Except for the drama series, there's not a weak link in the whole group. Take your pick. What will you have? "Bewitched", "Green Acres", "The Brady Bunch", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Gilligan's Island", and more, all at reasonable viewing hours. That's all folks. This race is over!
Verdict: #1 all the way!
There may also be others that I didn't mention that you might like to watch from time to time like Cozi TV, Retro Tv, This TV, LAFF, and more of the smaller channels. You can add those to your rankings if you wish.