Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, February 9th, 2021

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, February 9th, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities suburbs, where AllYourScreens HQ is powered by lots and lots of coffee.

THIS IS WHY MOST CLASSIC TV ISN'T AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING
I love the television industry. Television has always been a marker for the state of American society and aside from the great quality of some of the early television shows, they are fascinating to watch from a historical standpoint. There is an audience for the old shows and while it's not huge, in theory a streaming TV equivalent of Turner Classic Movies would seem to be a slam dunk. To say nothing of what Disney or WarnerMedia could do with their archives. So why is it so rare to see obscure programs from the classic age of television available for streaming?

As with most things, it comes down to money. Although maybe not in the way you might think. For the most part, any TV show that aired from the early 1960s forward is available in some archive. Finding a copy is usually not a problem. Unfortunately, everything step after that costs money.

There is a cost to transfer the prints and remaster them into a format suitable for streaming. A number of the old shows that are streaming were converted for DVD sets or for recent syndication deals. While the transfer costs aren't massive, they only make financial sense if there is some pre-sold market that will help underwrite the expense. An example of the latter are shows such as Laramie, The Virginian and The Man From Shilo, which were remastered after a cable deal was finalized. There are thousands of hours of television that sit in vaults and won't be transferred because the perception is that it's not worth the expense. Dozens of anthology shows, lots of programs in black-and-white. The cost of remastering is too steep for some niche streamer to justify and the large streamers aren't interested in making the investment in an niche audience.

As I have looked into this, one surprising hang-up is the number of TV shows that are hung up due to music clearance rights. It's not surprising that it's difficult and often expensive to clear well-known songs. It's the reason why the family of Rick Nelson has spent more than a decade trying to get episodes cleared from The Ozzie & Harriet Show. And those are the same problems that affect a range of shows from Bachelor Father to Harper Valley PTA and some of the episodes of Name Of The Game.

But sometimes the music clearance issues are more mundane. Many of the great 1960s and early 1970s detective and adventure shows from Warner Brothers are held up in a clearance issue because the studio decided at the time to save money by library music instead of original background music to save money. And so now to prep the shows for streaming, they would have to have big hunks of the background music replaced. Which is cost-prohibitive for nearly all of the programs. One of the few Warner Brothers shows from that era that has been syndicated & streamed is 77 Sunset Strip. But that is because MeTV was willing to make a deal that would cover the costs of the editing.

And there are a number of shows that are tied up in other rights disputes. Part of the rights are owned by a long-defunct production company and its no longer clear who can legally give approval. Or there are shows such as Run For Your Life where the owners are known, but for whatever reason don't have any interest in making a deal. That's also the case with Hec Ramsay, which is owned by Jack Webb's estate. These independent production companies are also the cause of most of the shows that are missing from archives. For instance, Jack Webb apparently trashed all the episode of Pete Kelly's Blues to save on storage costs. That is generally not something you have to worry about with the larger studios. They have their faults, but they also generally have pretty solid asset management systems. 

Although if we are talking about the major studios, there are also two other snags in getting classic television onto streaming and they both come from major studios. Sony TV has a lot of great stuff in their vaults, but now that they don't have a streamer of their own, they have absolutely no incentive to spend the money to transfer and remaster old TV shows. And as for Disney....all I can say is that they don't seem to be interested in releasing anything from the 20th Century Television vaults, which is a shame.

There is a lot more I could add to this, but at least now you have a sense of why it is so difficult to get classic television onto your favorite streaming platform.

TODAY'S PREMIERES

1) Black Art: In The Absence Of Light (HBO)
A vital and illuminating introduction to the work of some of the foremost African American visual artists working today, including Theaster Gates, Kerry James Marshall, Faith Ringgold, Amy Sherald and Carrie Mae Weems, the film is a testament to the indelible contributions of Black American artists in today’s contemporary art world.

2) Chopped Sweets Series Premiere (Discovery+)
In an all-new season, Scott Conant challenges four pastry artists to battle baffling basket ingredients under pressure. They utilize their skills to create divine desserts in hopes of claiming the $10,000 prize.

3) Fright Club Series Premiere (Discovery+)
In a frightening yet friendly competition, paranormal investigators Jack Osbourne and the Ghost Brothers – Dalen Spratt, Marcus Harvey and Juwan Mass – come together to freak each other out with the craziest and creepiest paranormal footage they can find. These guys have each faced their fair share of paranormal disturbances, so they know what’s real … and what’s really freaky. It’s an uproarious and jaw-dropping battle of the paranormal.

4) Love Naturally (MHz Choice)
A Parisian businesswoman travels to rural France for a wedding and falls in love with Luc, a single father and farmer.

5) Mafiosa Season Four Premiere (MHz Choice)
A gripping drama about the inner workings of a notorious mob clan after its patriarch dies and his young niece takes over as heir to the family business.

6) The Food That Built America Season Premiere (History)
For generations of Americans, food titans such as Herman Lay, James Kraft and the McDonald brothers have been household names. However, before they became titans, they were brilliant – sometimes ruthless – visionaries who revolutionized food and changed the culinary landscape of America forever. Through dramatic recreations, fascinating facts, anecdotes, and expert commentary, season two delves into their unbelievable stories of grit, innovation and determination. The series also leans into America’s nostalgia with food by highlighting the product inspiration and numerous trials, triumphs and tribulations endured by these entrepreneurs whose unrelenting innovation ultimately helped them come out on top.

This newsletter is called "Too Much TV" because....well, it's hard to keep track of all the new television premiering everyday. To help you prioritize your viewing, click here to see our list of more than 400 upcoming television premieres, movies and finales. You'll find listings from more than 70 networks, as well as streaming services and web shows.

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I'll be back with another one tomorrow. If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.