I Love Lucy on TV Land?

[TJ]

I wonder if there is any truth to the rumor that TV Land is more expensive for cable companies to carry then other networks such as Animal Planet and Food Network and some of those others? I thought that was a possibilty as to why more cable companies don't carry it.

My cable company did not add it until December 1999.

[This message has been edited by TJ (edited 05-25-2001).]

[dawsongirl]

Animal Planet is probably cheap because no one watches it. Well, someone does, but not a whole lot of people. A few years back my cable system added AP, no one watched and it was dropped.

My cable system (which actually I dumped last year in favor of a dish) added TV Land last month to basic cable from digital cable. And I thought if Des Moines had it, everyone did.

[Terry Ross]

TJ - I don't know about the costs but I do know that TV Land has had some issues with Cablevision, which is my cable system. It had to do with TV Land hiring an executive away from Cablevision or something. All I know is that my sources at TVLand say that Cablevision will never carry TVLand.

There are certain cable networks that charge a higher premium, like ESPN. I'm not sure how TV Land compares to the Food Network but I would imagine it would get more money than a very niche network like Food or evenAnimal Planet.

[Betsy]

Terry, you and I have the same system, Cablevision, as I live out on Long Island...no wonder we share the same frustration!

If the reason Cablevision does not carry, or will not carry, TVLand,is because of some ridiculous incident with an employee....well, boy, that really ticks me off. I have a good mind to call Cablevision and threaten to cancel our service.!

[Terry Ross]

You're right, dawsongirl. And, in fact, all of the cable systems are losing subscribers to the dish companies, which is why they have created 'digital television', which is the cable system's answer to satellite. There are hundreds of channels available on digital (like satellite) but my dopey cable system (Cablevision) is scheduled to be the very last system to roll out digital.

I share your frustrations, Betsy, but you'll only punish yourself if you cancel your cable because unless you get a dish, all you'll have left will be the broadcast networks and PBS.

I still am so angry at the thought of losing Lucy in October. And so frustrated because I can't do anything about it.

[Betsy]

Terry, even if I wanted to, I couldn't cancel our Cablevision...I live with my parents, and I don't think they'd be too happy..

The only way to express our great unhappiness is to stick it to N@N where it hurts: the pocketbook. I love Family Ties, but I can live without it. I never saw Cheers, and while Cosby Show was funny when it was on, it's not one of my favorites. Basically, without Lucy (and the other classics), I have no interest in N@N whatsoever, and I plan to protest the loss of Lucy by completely ignoring N@N on my remote control. Maybe if enough people did this, it would help.

If N@N is really upset about this move, (a) they better do a marathon of Lucy before it goes off the air and (b) they could have found some way to accomodate those w/o TV Land

Sorry to repeat myself so often, but I feel better after venting!

Betsy

[dawsongirl]

Betsy, that's what this board is for; to vent! I know after ILL goes off Nick, I won't watch it anymore. I just don't like 80's shows. I think it's because I grew up watching them. And I do get TV Land. But then I persuaded my folks to get a dish so I could get this and the Game Show Network. We could have gotten digital cable because living in the burbs, we got the priviledge first, but we were already paying $45 bucks a month and digital would have been about the same as a dish and a dish has more channels.

I'm not promoting the dish industry, honest. I just think it sucks the way the cable industry thinks they have strings attached to their customers backs and they control them like marionettes. Oh, that and networks not listening to their customers.

I'm gonna start my own network!

[dawsongirl]

GSN is doing the same thing at the end of the year. They're getting rid of all the Goodson-Todman game shows. What's with these networks? Are they trying to make us mad?!

[Terry Ross]

They need more research done. I grew up watching shows in the 60's and 70's; never, ever even liked the shows from the 80's. They weren't different; they all blended together. "My Three Sons" and "Make Room For Daddy" are the shows I remember as a kid. And I know "Sons" is on TV Land.

One last thing about these cable systems. They raise our rates every year (at least Cablevision does) and never give us more channels for oyur money. And the final insult is the way they treat us: they won't carry TV Land because of some ridiculous feud about an executive that went to work for TV Land. A personal grudge and innocent subscribers suffer the consequences. I watch Lucy in the morning at 5:00AM as I'm getting up. As long as I can remember, I was able to watch this top, most excellent show. I'm seriously thinking of writing a letter to Nick . . . and I've never done anything like that before.

[dawsongirl]

I wrote a letter to Nick once when they unceremoniously dropped The Monkees in 1997 and chewed them out out about how they liked to drop shows without warning (well, chewed out was harsh, it wasn't that bad). Anyway, I never heard a thing back from them. They probably threw the letter away.

[Terry Ross]

I hate to have to admit this, because I do work in television, but when you write to television networks, they never answer you and the letters are lost in mounds of paper.

You know, I was noticing that TV Land and Nick are both currently running Andy Griffith so I will hold out hope that they may both air Lucy in the fall.

[Terry Ross]

I hate to have to admit this, because I do work in television, but letters written to a television network are never acknowedged and are most likely filed away someplace.

I noticed that TV Land and Nick are both running Andy Griffith right now. So I can hold out hope that they may both air Lucy in the fall. Why not? They're owned by the same company. "Law & Order" is on NBC, A&E, and beginning this Tuesday, TNT.

[dawsongirl]

Well, let's hope you're right. You can never have to much Lucy!

[Roz1013]

Originally posted by EJoshuaP:
and next fall is Roseanne!

Are you serious?! Pardon me while I go throw up...... Well I for one and extremely disappointed with this announcement. As far as I know I can't receive TV Land in my area either (besides that, it costs extra right?) so when it goes off Nick at Nite, I have no other place of seeing it. Looks like I better whip out those blank tapes and start recording this summer. Guess it just goes to show that N@N is like every other money grubbing network, sacrifices the good things to make some extra dough. I liked things a lot better when Dick Van Dyke was chairperson of Nick at Nite!


------------------
"Happy Birthday Mrs. Mertz, and I hope you live another 75 years!"



[This message has been edited by Roz1013 (edited 06-05-2001).]

[JamesTR]

...N@N are really idiots to drop ILL. Lucy was classic, no doubt about it.