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Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atlanta, Georgia. The channel's programming consists mainly of classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. (covering films released before 1950), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (covering films released before May 1986), and the North American distribution rights to films from
RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
. However, Turner Classic Movies also licenses films from other studios and occasionally shows more recent films. The channel is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta (as Turner Classic Movies), Latin America, France, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, the Nordic countries, the Middle East, Africa (as TNT), and Asia-Pacific.


History


Origins

In 1986, eight years before the launch of Turner Classic Movies, Ted Turner acquired the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio for $1.5 billion. Concerns over Turner Entertainment's corporate debt load resulted in Turner selling the studio that October back to Kirk Kerkorian, from whom Turner had purchased the studio less than a year before.Fabrikant, Geraldine. "Turner to Sell MGM Assets."
'' The New York Times.'' June 7, 1986.
As part of the deal, Turner Entertainment retained ownership of MGM's library of films released up to May 9, 1986. Turner Broadcasting System was split into two companies, Turner Broadcasting System and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and reincorporated as MGM/UA Communications Co. The film library of Turner Entertainment Co. would serve as the base form of programming for Turner Classic Movies upon the network's launch. Before the creation of Turner Classic Movies, films from Turner's library of movies aired on the Turner Broadcasting System's advertiser-supported cable network TNT along with colorized versions of black-and-white classics such as '' The Maltese Falcon''.


Launch and contributions (1994–1996)

Turner Classic Movies debuted on April 14, 1994, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, with Ted Turner launching the channel at a ceremony in New York City's Times Square district. The date and time were chosen for their historical significance as "the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City". The first movie broadcast on TCM was the 1939 film '' Gone with the Wind'', the same film that served as the debut broadcast of its sister channel TNT six years earlier on October 3, 1988. At the time of its launch, Turner Classic Movies was available to approximately one million cable television subscribers. The network originally served as a competitor to AMC, which at the time was known as "American Movie Classics" and maintained a virtually identical format to Turner Classic Movies, as both networks largely focused on films released prior to 1970 and aired them in an uncut, uncolorized, and commercial-free format.


Time Warner ownership (1996–2018)

In 1996, Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner which, besides placing Turner Classic Movies and
Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
under the same corporate umbrella, also gave Turner Classic Movies access to Warner Bros.' library of films released after 1950 (which itself includes other acquired entities such as the Lorimar, Saul Zaentz and National General Pictures libraries); incidentally, Turner Classic Movies had already been running select Warner Bros. film titles through a licensing agreement with the studio that was signed prior to the launch of the channel. In the early 2000s, AMC abandoned its commercial-free format, which led to Turner Classic Movies being the only movie-oriented basic cable channel to devote its programming entirely to classic films without commercial interruption or content editing. By 2002, AMC had broadened its film content to feature colorized and more recent films.


TCM Movie Database (2006–2019)

Launched in 2006, Turner Classic Movies maintains its own comprehensive database of actors, actresses, and film crew (listing more than 1.25 million people, with 15,000 written biographies), and motion picture titles (more than 130,000 titles), not limited to the film libraries that Turner Classic Movies owns, and it includes links by which a user can request that Turner Classic Movies schedule any title for viewing. ''TCM Movie Database'' has lost some functionality. The portal page is now unavailable, yet database entries are still available and function. * * Richard B. Steiner was the creator, architect, and supervisor of ''TCM Movie Database''. By 2013, the ''Watch TCM''
app App, Apps or APP may refer to: Computing * Application software * Mobile app, software designed to run on smartphones and other mobile devices * Web application or web app, software designed to run inside a web browser * Adjusted Peak Performan ...
for iOS, Android, and Blackberry had some ''TCM Movie Database'' information. Leonard Maltin's reviews appear in the TCM Movie Database.


Corporate reconstruction (2019–present)

On March 4, 2019, Time Warner's new owner AT&T (who renamed the company WarnerMedia) announced a planned reorganization to effectively dissolve the Turner Broadcasting System division, which involved
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
,
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
, Turner Classic Movies, and digital media company Otter Media being transferred directly under Warner Bros. Entertainment. Aside from Otter, which was transferred to
WarnerMedia Entertainment Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
on May 31, 2019 to oversee development of HBO Max, the newly transferred properties came under a newly formed division,
Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
. On September 1, 2021, Turner Classic Movies introduced a new logo and slogan, "Where Then Meets Now", in the network's first major rebranding since its launch. The rebranding was intended to give Turner Classic Movies a more modern and energetic presentation while continuing to emphasize its commitment to showcasing classic cinema; new branding elements include Technicolor-inspired color schemes, and a new stylized "C" in its wordmark, which resembles a camera lens and symbolizes themes of "curation", "context", "culture" and "connection".


Programming

Turner Classic Movies essentially operates as a commercial-free service, with breaks between films usually consisting of promos for its programming, advertising for the network's events and merchandising, and interstitial segments profiling classic film actors and actresses. In addition to this, extended breaks between features are filled with theatrically released movie trailers and classic short subjects – from series such as ''The Passing Parade'', ''Crime Does Not Pay'', '' Pete Smith Specialties'', and Robert Benchley – under the banner name ''TCM Extras'' (formerly ''One Reel Wonders''). In 2007, some of the short films featured on Turner Classic Movies were made available for
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
on Turner Classic Movies's website. Partly to allow these interstitials, Turner Classic Movies schedules its feature films either at the top of the hour or at :15, :30 or :45 minutes past the hour, instead of in timeslots of varying five-minute increments. Turner Classic Movies's film content has remained mostly uncut and uncolorized (with films natively filmed or post-produced in the format being those only ones presented in color), depending upon the original content of movies, particularly movies released after the 1968 implementation of the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings system and the concurrent disestablishment of the Motion Picture Production Code. Because of this, Turner Classic Movies is formatted similarly to a
premium channel Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
with certain films – particularly those made from the 1960s onward – sometimes featuring
nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...
, sexual content, violence and/or strong profanity; the network also features rating bumpers prior to the start of a program (most programs on Turner Classic Movies, especially films, are rated for content using the TV Parental Guidelines, in lieu of the MPAA's rating system). The network's programming season runs from March of one year until the following February of the next when a retrospective of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated movies is shown, called ''31 Days of Oscar''. As a result of its devoted format to classic feature films, viewers who are interested in tracing the career development of actresses such as
Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
or Greta Garbo or actors like Cary Grant or
Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...
have the unique opportunity to see most of the films that were made during their careers, from beginning to end. Turner Classic Movies presents many of its features in their original aspect ratio ( widescreen or full screen) whenever possible – widescreen films broadcast on Turner Classic Movies are letterboxed on the network's standard definition feed. Turner Classic Movies also regularly presents widescreen presentations of films not available in the format on any home video release. Occasionally, Turner Classic Movies shows restored versions of films, particularly old silent films with newly commissioned musical soundtracks. Turner Classic Movies is also a major backer of the Descriptive Video Service (created by Boston PBS member station WGBH-TV), with many of the films aired on the network offering
visual description Visual description, also referred to as image description or self description (or in the case of film or television program audio description) is a detailed explanation of visual which provides textual or verbal access to visual content or scenery ...
for the blind and
visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment†...
, which is accessible through the second audio program option through most television sets, or a cable or satellite receiver. During the prime time hours, an ident for the "Watch TCM" app is shown after every movie. Certain titles on Turner Classic Movies are not available to
streaming services An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of s ...
, due to restrictions through this service platform. During these scheduled times, the movie title is blocked from airing and a visual notice is provided to the viewer.


''Now Playing''

Turner Classic Movies formerly published ''Now Playing'', a monthly program guide, originally available through a standalone subscription, which provided daily listings and descriptions for films scheduled to air on Turner Classic Movies in the coming month. The digest-size magazine highlighted a featured actor on the cover, and featured essays about the "guest programmer" as well as a movie-and-actor themed crossword puzzle. The May 2017 issue, following the death in March 2017 of host Robert Osborne, contained "Remembering Robert Osborne" by Ben Mankiewicz. Turner Classic Movies ceased print publication of ''Now Playing'' (which had been one of the few channel-specific program guides that remained in print circulation for most of the 2000s and 2010s) with the August 2017 issue, moving it to an electronic format available via email free of charge.


Movie library

Turner Classic Movies's library of films spans several decades of cinema and includes thousands of film titles, including Warner Bros. Pictures. Besides broadcasting films owned or licensed by Warner Bros., Turner Classic Movies also licenses films from Universal Pictures,
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, The Walt Disney Company (including film content from
20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
,
Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
as well as most of the Selznick International Pictures library),
Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...
(primarily film content from Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures), StudioCanal, and
Janus Films Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein ...
. Also, Turner Classic Movies has aired movies from the 1900s, the 1910s and the 1920s even if they are now entered in the public domain. Although most movies shown on Turner Classic Movies are releases from the 1930s, the 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s, some are more contemporary – Turner Classic Movies sometimes airs films from the 1970s and the 1980s, and occasionally broadcasts movies released during the 1990s, the 2000s, the 2010s and the 2020s.


Hosted and special programming


Regular features

Most feature movies shown during the
prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
and early overnight hours (8:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time) were presented by film historian Robert Osborne (who had been with the network since its 1994 launch until 2016, except for a five-month medical leave from July to December 2011, when guest hosts presented each night's films), Ben Mankiewicz presenting primetime films on Wednesday through Sunday evenings,
Jacqueline Stewart Jacqueline Najuma Stewart is a University of Chicago professor of cinema studies and director of the nonprofit arts organization, Black Cinema House. She has written about the history of African Americans in filmmaking in ''Migrating to the Movies: ...
presenting "Silent Sunday Nights" on Sundays, Tiffany Vasquez presented the films on Saturday afternoons from 2016 to 2018 when Dave Karger began presenting Saturday afternoons and the primetime films on Mondays, and
Alicia Malone Alicia Malone is an Australian television host and author, born in Canberra, Australia. She is a host on Turner Classic Movies. Career Alicia Malone first auditioned for, and was hired by the TCM film streaming service, FilmStruck, in 2015 ...
presenting the films on Sunday afternoons, the primetime films on Tuesdays and "TCM Imports" on Sundays. During the ''31 Days of Oscar'' film festival in 2021, which aired from April 1 to May 1 to coincide with the 93rd Academy Awards – which were pushed back to April 25 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – Stewart and Muller alternated hosting duties on Wednesday nights, as the respective programming blocks they hosted in any other month, ''Silent Sunday Nights'' and ''Noir Alley'', were pre-empted by the month-long Oscar showcase. A similar occurrence took place in August for the Summer Under the Stars festival. Turner Classic Movies regularly airs a "Star of the Month" throughout the year in which most, if not all, feature films from a film star are shown during that night's schedule. August is the only month to not have a "Star of the Month" due to "Summer Under the Stars". The network also marks the occurrence of a film actor's birthday (either antemortem or posthumously) or recent death with day- or evening-long festivals showcasing several of that artist's best, earliest or least-known pictures; by effect, marathons scheduled in honor of an actor's passing (which are scheduled within a month after their death) pre-empt films originally scheduled to air on that date. Turner Classic Movies also features a monthly program block called the "TCM Guest Programmer", in which the host is joined by celebrity guests responsible for choosing that evening's films (examples of such programmers during 2012 include Jules Feiffer,
Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourdai ...
, Debra Winger,
Ellen Barkin Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress and a producer. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film '' Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as ''Tender Mercies'' (1983), ''Eddie and the ...
, Spike Lee, Regis Philbin and Jim Lehrer); an offshoot of this block featuring Turner Classic Movies employees aired during February 2011. '' The Essentials'', with various hosts since 2001, is a weekly film showcase airing on Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time which spotlights a culturally significant movie and contains a special introduction and post-movie discussion. One of the weekly blocks is "Noir Alley", featuring
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
movies. It broadcasts on Saturday evenings and repeats on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is hosted by Eddie Muller. The channel also broadcasts two movie blocks during the late evening hours each Sunday: "Silent Sunday Nights", which features silent films from the United States and abroad, usually in the latest restored version and often with new musical scores, and hosted by
Jacqueline Stewart Jacqueline Najuma Stewart is a University of Chicago professor of cinema studies and director of the nonprofit arts organization, Black Cinema House. She has written about the history of African Americans in filmmaking in ''Migrating to the Movies: ...
; and "TCM Imports" (which previously ran on Saturdays until the early 2000s), a weekly presentation of films originally released in foreign countries and hosted by
Alicia Malone Alicia Malone is an Australian television host and author, born in Canberra, Australia. She is a host on Turner Classic Movies. Career Alicia Malone first auditioned for, and was hired by the TCM film streaming service, FilmStruck, in 2015 ...
.


Seasonal blocks

Turner Classic Movies suspends its regular schedule twice each year for a special month of film marathons. ''31 Days of Oscar'' is a programming block aired each
Oscar season The Oscar season is the time period in which Hollywood studios release or promote the films they consider most likely to be critically acclaimed, hoping to win at the Academy Awards. Oscar season usually begins in the late-fall and early-winter, ar ...
by the U.S. and Asian Turner Classic Movies cable networks during the month of the Academy Awards. Each feature that TCM airs in this block can be either an Oscar winner or nominee. Another is called "Summer Under the Stars", aired during August which features entire daily schedules devoted to the work of a particular actor, with movies and specials that pertain to the star of the day. In the summer of 2007, the channel debuted "Funday Night at the Movies", a block hosted by actor Tom Kenny (best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants). This summer block featured classic feature films (such as ''
The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...
'', ''
Sounder Sounder may refer to: * ''Sounder'' (novel), a book by William H. Armstrong * ''Sounder'' (film), a film based on the novel *Sounder, a group of wild boar or domestic pigs foraging in woodland; see List of animal names *Sounder, a device that tra ...
'', ''
Bringing Up Baby ''Bringing Up Baby'' is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. The film tells the story of a paleontologist in a numb ...
'', ''
Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...
'', ''
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' is a 1939 American Political drama, political Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold (actor), Edward Arnold. ...
'', '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'', and ''
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...
'') aimed at introducing these movies to new generations of children, and their families. Each February, Turner Classic Movies airs films and programs honoring Black History Month.


Other programming blocks

"Funday Night at the Movies" was replaced in 2008 by "Essentials Jr.", a youth-oriented version of its weekly series, '' The Essentials'' (originally hosted by actors Abigail Breslin, and Chris O'Donnell, then by
John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...
from 2009 to 2011, and then by Bill Hader, starting with the 2011 season), which included such family-themed films as '' National Velvet'', '' Captains Courageous'', and '' Yours, Mine and Ours'', as well as more eclectic selections, such as ''
Sherlock Jr. ''Sherlock Jr.'' is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by and starring Buster Keaton and written by Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, and Joseph A. Mitchell. It features Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, and Ward Crane. In 1991, ''Sherlock Jr.'' ...
'', ''
The Music Box ''The Music Box'' is a Laurel and Hardy short film comedy released in 1932. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, which depicts the pair attempting to move a piano up a long f ...
'', '' Harvey'', '' Mutiny on the Bounty'', and '' The Man Who Knew Too Much''. In 2014, the channel debuted "Treasures from the Disney Vault", hosted by Leonard Maltin. This block showcased a compilation of vintage Disney feature films, cartoons, documentaries, episodes of Disney's anthology television series'','' and episodes of '' The Mickey Mouse Club''. The last scheduled "Treasures from the Disney Vault" aired on September 2, 2019 due to the launch of Disney+ in November of that year. '' TCM Underground'' debuted in October 2006 as a Saturday late night block which focused on
cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...
. The block was originally hosted by rocker/filmmaker
Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...
until December 2006; , it was the only regular film presentation block on the channel that did not have a host. ''TCM Underground'' was discontinued in February 2023 after its programmer, Millie De Chirico, was laid off from TCM. In March 2023, it was announced that TCM would air special programming in April to mark the centennial of Warner Bros., in conjunction with The Film Foundation and the
TCM Classic Film Festival Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...
. The programming will include special airings of newly-restored Warner Bros. films, including ''
Rio Bravo Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...
'' (which will be introduced by Martin Scorsese), and ''East of Eden'' (which will be introduced by Wes Anderson and
Joanna Hogg Joanna Hogg (born 20 March 1960) is a British film director and screenwriter. She made her directorial and screenwriting feature film debut in 2007 with ''Unrelated'' followed by ''Archipelago'' (2010) and ''Exhibition'' (2013). Two of her film ...
).


Documentaries

In addition to films, Turner Classic Movies also airs original content, mostly documentaries about classic movie personalities, the world of filmmaking and particularly notable films. An occasional month-long series, ''Race and Hollywood'', showcases films by and about people of non-white races, featuring discussions of how these pictures influenced white people's image of said races, as well as how people of those races viewed themselves. Previous installments have included "Asian Images on Film" in 2008, "Native American Images on Film" in 2010, "Black Images on Film" in 2006 "Latino Images on Film" in 2009 and "Arab Images on Film" in 2011. The network aired the film series '' Screened Out'' (which explored the history and depiction of homosexuality in film) in 2007 and ''Religion on Film'' (focusing on the role of religion in cinematic works) in 2005. In 2011, TCM debuted a new series entitled '' AFI's Master Class: The Art of Collaboration''.


TCM Remembers

In December 1994, Turner Classic Movies debuted "TCM Remembers", a tribute to recently deceased film personalities (including actors, producers, composers, directors, writers, and cinematographers) which occasionally airs during promotional breaks between films. The segments appear in two forms: individual tributes and a longer end-of-year compilation. Following the recent death of an especially famous film personality (usually an actor or filmmaker), the segment will feature a montage of select shots of the deceased's work. Every December, a longer, more inclusive "TCM Remembers" interstitial is produced, featuring a selection of audio and video clips interspersed with scenes from settings such as an abandoned drive-in (2012) or a theatre which is closing down (2013). Since 2001, most of the soundtracks for these have been introspective melodies by indie artists such as Badly Drawn Boy (2007) or
Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...
(2009). 2015's song, "Quickly Now", was written especially for ''TCM Remembers'' by Chuck Moore and Reid Hall, and sung by Eryn McHugh.


TCM Remembers soundtracks


Accolades

Turner Classic Movies received a 2008 Peabody Award for its dedication to film preservation and "a continuing, powerful commitment to a central concept—the place of film in social and cultural experience". Turner Classic Movies received a 2013 Peabody Award for its presentation of Mark Cousins' '' The Story of Film: An Odyssey'', a 15-episode documentary about the development and advancement of the medium of motion pictures. Drawing on its exhaustive film library, Turner Classic Movies complemented each episode with short films and feature films from the familiar to the little-seen. The Peabody Award praised Turner Classic Movies's ''The Story of Film'' "for its inclusive, uniquely annotated survey of world cinema history".


Streaming

Turner Classic Movies is associated with parent company Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max streaming service. TCM has its own category on the service with select classic content.


Merchandising and events


TCM Vault Collection

The TCM Vault Collection consists of several different DVD collections of rare classic films that have been licensed, remastered and released by Turner Classic Movies (through corporate sister
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
). These boxed set releases are of films by notable actors, directors or studios that were previously unreleased on DVD or VHS. The sets often include bonus discs including documentaries and shorts from the Turner Classic Movies library. The initial batch of DVDs are printed in limited quantities and subsequent batches are made-on-demand (MOD). * ''Universal Collection'' – Featuring films licensed by Turner Classic Movies from the Universal Pictures vault. * ''The Lost RKO Collection'' – Featuring RKO films from the 1930s. * ''TCM Spotlight'' – A series of DVD boxsets released by Warner Home Video featuring Charlie Chan and stars such as
Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...
, Errol Flynn, Jean Arthur, Deanna Durbin, and
Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 â€“ May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
.


TCM Wine Club

In October 2015, Turner Classic Movies announced the launch of the TCM Wine Club, in which they teamed up with Laithwaite to provide a line of mail-order wines from famous vineyards such as famed writer-director-producer Francis Ford Coppola's winery. Wines are available in 3-month subscriptions and can be selected as reds, whites, or a mixture of both. From the wines chosen, Turner Classic Movies also includes recommended movies to watch with each, such as a "True Grit" wine, to be paired with the
John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
film of the same name.


TCM Young Composers Film Competition

In 2000, Turner Classic Movies started the annual Young Composers Film Competition, inviting aspiring composers to participate in a judged competition that offers the winner of each year's competition the opportunity to score a restored, feature-length silent film as a grand prize, mentored by a well-known composer, with the new work subsequently premiering on the network. As of 2006, films that have been rescored include the 1921
Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 â€“ August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
film '' Camille'', two Lon Chaney films: 1921's '' The Ace of Hearts'' and 1928's '' Laugh, Clown, Laugh'', and Greta Garbo's 1926 film ''
The Temptress ''The Temptress'' is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo and starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Lionel Barrymore, and Roy D'Arcy. It premiered on October 10, 1926. The film melodrama was based on a novel by Vi ...
''.


TCM Classic Film Festival

In April 2010, Turner Classic Movies held the first TCM Classic Film Festival, an event—now held annually—at the Grauman's Chinese Theater and the
Grauman's Egyptian Theater Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater located at 6706 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood ...
in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
. Initially hosted by Robert Osborne, the four-day long annual festival celebrates Hollywood and its movies and features celebrity appearances, special events, and screenings of around 50 classic movies including several newly restored by '' The Film Foundation'', an organization devoted to preserving Hollywood's classic film legacy. The festival was cancelled in 2020 and moved to a virtual setting in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


International versions

Turner Classic Movies is available in many other countries around the world. In Canada, Turner Classic Movies began to be carried on Shaw Cable and satellite provider Shaw Direct in 2005.
Rogers Cable Rogers Cable Inc. is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, primarily in Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Ro ...
started offering Turner Classic Movies in December 2006 as a free preview for subscribers of its
digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...
tier, and was added to its analogue tier in February 2007. While the schedule for the Canadian feed is generally the same as that of the U.S. network, some films are replaced for broadcast in Canada due to rights issues and other reasons. Other versions of Turner Classic Movies are available in France, Greece, Canada, Spain, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America,
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta. The UK version operated two channels, including a defunct spinoff called
Turner Classic Movies 2 TCM Movies (formerly Turner Classic Movies) is a British pay television channel featuring classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. film libraries, which include many Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM titles. History It was ...
.


See also

*
The Great Movie Ride The Great Movie Ride was a dark ride located at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The attraction employed the use of Audio-Animatronic figures, practical sets, live actors, special effects, and pro ...
– a former attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios that was Turner Classic Movies-sponsored. *
Turner Classic Movies 2 TCM Movies (formerly Turner Classic Movies) is a British pay television channel featuring classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. film libraries, which include many Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM titles. History It was ...
– A defunct sister network to the UK & Ireland version of Turner Classic Movies. *
Movies! Movies! (also known as simply M!) is an American free-to-air television network, owned by Popcorn Entertainment, LLC, a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corporation. The network's prog ...
– an American digital multicast television network operated as a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the Fox Television Stations, specializing in classic feature films primarily sourced from the Warner Bros. and
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
library. * This TV – an American digital broadcast television network owned by Tribune Broadcasting and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, specializing in feature films (including many classic films) with limited classic television series, including those from the MGM library not owned by Turner. *
The Film Detective The Film Detective is an American classic film restoration, distribution, and streaming company based in Rockport, Massachusetts, and is a division of the American entertainment company, Cinedigm. Launched in 2013, The Film Detective offers an ext ...
- an American internet television service specializing in restored seldom-seen titles. *
Family Movie Classics Family Movie Classics (FMC) is an American cable and satellite television network owned by the Family Broadcasting Corporation. The network features classic movies and marketed as "to entertain audiences with quality films featuring the biggest ...
- an American cable and satellite television network operated by Family Broadcasting Corporation.


References


External links

* – official site {{Canadian movie channels 1994 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Television channels and stations established in 1994 Classic television networks Nostalgia television in the United States Commercial-free television networks Film preservation English-language television stations in the United States Movie channels in the United States Peabody Award winners Warner Bros. Discovery networks Television networks in the United States Companies based in Atlanta