Topic: Stooges on Local TV, and more

[Dunrobin]

Unfortunately, channel eleven dropped them years ago, because obviously they have something far more important to run on a Saturday evening at midnight!

I find it odd that you would jump to the conclusion that a TV station doesn't really give a crap about what its' viewers prefer.  Could it not have been a case of their contract to show the Stooges expiring and they were unable to negotiate a new one?

They will probably only run them again if by chance some Stooge fan is put in charge of programming there someday, but I won't hold my breath on that.

Even if the programming director of a local station is a fanatical devotee of the Stooges, that doesn't mean that the station would necessarily be able to obtain a contract to show them (at least at a reasonable enough cost to justify the airtime.)


Fortunately, technology advances and we are no longer dependent on local stations to air the Stooges, cut or uncut.  Personally, I'd rather pop in one of the DVDs and watch a few hours of Stooges without interruption at whatever time the fancy hits me.   

[xraffle]

Personally, I'd rather pop in one of the DVDs and watch a few hours of Stooges without interruption at whatever time the fancy hits me.   

Same here. That's why a lot of us are very excited about these new DVD sets. When all 9 volumes are out, we no longer need to depend on TV stations anymore. Our whole stooge collection would be sitting in a nice shelf and we can watch any episode we like at any time.

[AmalgamatedMoron]

I find it odd that you would jump to the conclusion that a TV station doesn't really give a crap about what its' viewers prefer.  Could it not have been a case of their contract to show the Stooges expiring and they were unable to negotiate a new one?

Sorry about that Rob.  Maybe I'm assuming too much and do not know enough about how these things work.  You may be correct on that.  I do know that anecdotal evidence suggest that there was a loyal following here in St. Louis, to channel 11's Stooge airings.  Perhaps I'm just too cynical over the whole issue.

Even if the programming director of a local station is a fanatical devotee of the Stooges, that doesn't mean that the station would necessarily be able to obtain a contract to show them (at least at a reasonable enough cost to justify the airtime.)

Yes, again you are correct.  I'm just conjecturing at how much power an individual in that position would have over such programming decisions.  Perhaps it's just wishful thinking.

Fortunately, technology advances and we are no longer dependent on local stations to air the Stooges, cut or uncut.  Personally, I'd rather pop in one of the DVDs and watch a few hours of Stooges without interruption at whatever time the fancy hits me.   Grin

I agree with you here, though there is something nostalgic to me about turning on the TV and seeing the Stooges.  But I do agree with your sentiment on technology.  In fact, I recently sent a thank you email to Mike Schlesinger at Sony.  In that email I said this:

"Again, thank you for all your hard work. My Stooge crazed son and daughter thank you as well. Now this generation will have the privilege of watching any and all of the stooges shorts at their leisure and command. Though the rest of us had to rely on the sporadic and intermittent airings of our local TV stations when we were kids. Thank God for the digital age and all of it's blessings and privileges."

I can't wait to complete my DVD collection.  Hopefully more of us here will take the time to express our gratitude to Sony for this wonderful gift.