CT Anyone remember SW Trilogy on USA Network circa 1993 - 1995 ??

Ummmm...no. Box office and home video receipts indicate otherwise. What is it with folks who have to believe they are part of a majority? There are three other films in the saga, and yes, a lot of people enjoy them. And yes, they should include them as part of any marathon simply because they're half of the story.

Funny, Spike TV never hesitated in showing the PT because they were "less popular."

 

If TPM was so poor, why did it have strong repeat business? Especially three years ago when it was re-released in theaters? Why have the VHS and DVD sales for the individual PT films been so strong? Why have the ratings on Fox, MTV, Spike TV, HBO and Cinemax been so good for all three PT films?

TESB and ROTJ were still on Sci-Fi in 1998 and I think into 1999, but weren't by 2000. A year later, the SE's of those two films were on Fox.

 

Transformers Dark of the Moon has incredible box office and home video receipts. I guess that means the majority love that movie too.. Right ? Yeah, exactly. You cant look at box office receipts as an indicator people liked the film. All that means was a lot of ppl paid to see the film. If they liked it or not - you have to check reviews. Which in this case, PT got awful reviews.

And Spike TV got the rights to the Prequels. They didnt air them because they were beloved films or classic masterpieces - they aired them because the name brand of 'Star Wars' can create and generate a lot of advertisements. Please study business 101 before trying to argue that with me. Everything is about money and if any network has a chance to grab the name brand of Star Wars to please their board members and collect more advertisers, they will without a doubt jump on that chance. You really think Spike TV only airs good and quality movies ???? DO you even watch that channel ???

I know a lot of hardcore fans like PT - there are even elements i enjoy - but you can't deny a majority of the fans were disappointed and consider them non-cannon. Midi-Chlorians ??? Jar Jar Binks ?? ugh....... Dont get me started. The mods will jump all over me.

Lets keep this about the Classic Trilogy guys. No hijacking the thread. Its against the rules. Dont bait into a prequel v. classic debate.

 

Movies don't make $300-$400 million unless people like the film. It just doesn't happen. TPM, for example, had great legs, which indicates good word of mouth. As far as the PT's reviews, TPM and AOTC had mixed critical reception at worst. ROTS is still sitting pretty at 80% fresh. So...yeah.

And yes, Dark of the Moon was popular, and a lot of people did like that movie.

Yes, I do watch that channel. I also know that TV stations won't keep something on the air unless it gets ratings. Which, as DS pointed out, the PT always gets great ratings. So are people tuning in because they hate something as much as you're implying?

Unless you've got the numbers to back it up, I'd keep the whole "majority" argument out of the conversation.

You might want to read what you wrote. You yourself baited with the whole, "don't show the PT, no one likes those" crap.

 

I remember USA networks still showing the OOT versions while the SE were still in the theaters.

 

I'm often more inclined to watch a movie or re-run of an episode of something when it comes on tv, even if I own the dvd of it and can watch it anytime I want. There's a certain authenticity to watching something on tv as opposed to putting in a dvd or streaming something online. I like the shared experience of knowing others are out there watching the same thing.

ABC Family could easily do it, they do Harry Potter Weekends and other randomly themed weekends all the time. I'd say the first or second weekend of November would be ideal, after the Halloween buzz has died down and before all the Thanksgiving/Christmas programming takes over. And to keep people tuned in, during the commercials they could easily splice in bits of TFA advertising, behind the scenes stuff, cast and crew interviews, new looks at this or that, any number of things. "And stay tuned for an exclusive extended look at the newest addition to the Star Wars saga, The Force Awakens" at every commercial break would have the masses tuned in pretty dedicatedly.

 

You continue to bait the whole prequel thing..... Mods dont like that.

PT gets great ratings ? Show me the numbers please...

Funny how you ignored my other points. Let me ask you something - do networks want more advertisers or ratings ? What do you think is their main source of income ??

And every single article written about The Force awakens that mentions the prequels - ALWAYS mentions them in a bad light. Read the reviews. Read the RLM comment section. Read IMDB boards. Its common knowledge that most fans were disappointed. Any Star Wars fan MUST at least acknowledge that the Prequels are NOT held in the same level as the CT. Even if you enjoy those "films" , you have to admit to yourself there are a lot of people out there, even hardcore SW fans who don't share the same opinion that they are enjoyable films. They have some major flaws and some very very poor awful writing that hinders the film quality.

And you continue to believe TPM made all that money because its a great film. Amazing you think the indicator of if the movie was good or not depends on box office receipts. I guess Blade Runner was a terrible movie according to you because it absolutely bombed in the box office, but Transformer Dark of the Moon is an instant classic next to the Godfather.

 

Well, people must have loved "Dark Of The Moon", because they came out for "Age Of Extinction" and it was just as bad as the other three films. As noted, movies do not have repeat business up into $300 and $400 million range if it was piss poor. Take "Fantastic Four" 2015. Awful film and tanked miserably in the US. No positive word of mouth. DOTM was not given glorious reviews, but it spawned a sequel. And that sequel did well enough that not only will there be a fifth film, but that Hasbro and Paramount put together a team of screenwriters to plan out spin offs, sequels and new cartoon series.

Ah, good and quality movies? Let's see what's on Spike TV for this week.

Let's see, tomorrow morning they're showing "Bruce Almighty" and "Along Came Polly". The former made $484 million and spawned a sequel. The latter made $171 million despite negative reviews. Wednesday will have "Scarface", "Carlito's Way" and "Goodfellas". But those movies were all terrible films that didn't Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and wins. Next Saturday night, "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen" and "G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra" will be on. But those films didn't make a bunch of money and spawn sequels. The following Monday has "Hitch", "27 Dresses" and "Fun With Dick And Jane". All films that didn't do well, right. None of them made money. None of them are considered good. You might not like those films, but other people do.

December of 97, only the THX versions of TESB and ROTJ were on USA that Christmas. ANH was not. I remember because I had specifically checked TESB to see if it was the SE or not and was disappointed to see otherwise. The SE's debuted in January of 97, while the previous month had TESB and ROTJ and I think ANH.

 

Again, you are the one that baited.

I don't need to grab you the ratings. The fact that they continue to get shown again and again when the network can get just as many advertisers by just showing the OT is enough evidence. It's common sense; people watch the PT, so the PT gets airtime.

I didn't ignore anything. To answer this farce of a question, networks want both. Advertisers aren't coming to shows/films that aren't drawing ratings because they want their commercials to be seen.

Oh please. We're using the internet as a gauge of popularity now? Funny you'll use those sites as your proof, but ignore the evidence that I provided to you. The repeat business, the fact that all three films sold incredibly well on home video. Hell, TPM made a decent amount of money in its 3D re-release, mere months AFTER it was available on Blu Ray! And if you want to go the review route, on Rotten Tomatoes all three films have a majority of good reviews vs. negative reviews, with both critics AND audience.

Real cute move with the "films" remark, too. Are you sure you know what baiting is?

Ummmm....someone's confusing quality with popularity. No one is saying that TPM or Dark of the Moon are classics and on the level of the Godfather (though I would argue that at least TPM is more enjoyable than Blade Runner). The fact of the matter is that these films got repeat business. Do you know what that signifies? It means that the films developed a rapport with the audience so much so that they either had to see it again or recommend it to other people. THEN they bought it on home video. Does that sound like a majority of people hate those films to you? Or the fact that they all scored As on the Cinemascore grades at release?

How much else do we have to throw at you before you get it?

With that, I'm dropping it. If you can't carry what was supposed to be a neat conversation about the USA Networks airing the OT back in the day without flinging mud at a few movies you just didn't happen to like (and not to mention just needing to believe that those who like the films are part of some sort of minority, despite all evidence brought to you), then it's just not worth my time.

 

You guys missed out on what HBO back in the 1980s had at the time.

Empire Strikes Back was the first Star Wars movie to air on HBO. Then in 1985 or 1986 is when Return of the Jedi made its first debut on HBO.

Good times back then. Yes indeed

 

Uh, no. ANH was the first one to air on HBO. That was in February 1983.



The infamous CBS airing of ANH was a year later, but aired against an ABC mini-series that actually beat out ANH due to it being racy. By 1984 standards.

TESB was on around January of 86 and on NBC in November of 87. ROTJ debuted on HBO a year later and on NBC in March of 89.

http://thestarwarstrilogy.com/starwars/post/2013/07/18/Star-Wars-Network-TV-Premiere-on-CBS-1984

 

New Hope never came on HBO when I was a kid. HBO only aired Empire Strikes back when I was a kid in the early 198s. Then Return of the Jedi came on HBO a year after it was in theaters or whatever.

New Hope or just plain Star Wars was on CBS NBC or ABC back then before I was born.

 

I remember watching Star Wars on USA all the time before we got them on VHS. If my dad was flipping through the channels and came across A New Hope my siblings and I would get all excited and my Dad knew he wouldn't get to watch anything he wanted to that day.

I seem to remember Carrie Fisher hosting one of the marathons.

 

I distinctly remember watching it on USA. USA was kind of the cheap cable network, so it seemed surprising when it got movies like this and The Godfather. I hated how it cut to commercial just before Lobot looked at Lando in sync with the music.

 

No, it was on HBO. I showed the link to an HBO airing of ANH. That's not fan made. Why you don't remember it being on there, is beyond me, but it was on there. That's why when HBO had the marathon of the Saga films, neither TV Guide nor the cable box guides referred to ANH as being a premiere as they did with TPM and ROTS.

 

I remember it being on HBO. Was that the television premier? It was a big deal. The HBO monthly guide looked like a Star Wars brochure, there may have been four pages dedicated to it. I stayed the night at a relative's house for the premiered. It was an event.

Was the CBS airing near Thanksgiving? And why is it infamous?

I also remember NBC showing Empire and Jedi on back to back nights. Maybe Saturday / Sunday. Or Sunday / Monday over a holiday weekend. Until reading this thread I thought it was all three movies and I'd missed Star Wars. But maybe it was just the sequels. Does anyone know what year this was? For some reason I thought it was for the 10th anniversary, but that would be in 1987. It was a memorable enough surprise for me it must have been before I owned the movies on VHS.

 

Heck yes, ANH was on HBO in 1983. That was one of the biggest events of my childhood. It was right after we got HBO in January and I watched it as many times that month as I could. I remember the anticipation leading up to it, and describing the movie to someone who hadn't seen it, which is one of my rare memories of having seen it before that airing. Come to think of it, after that month it was on HBO, I might not have seen it again until a theatrical showing in 1986.
NBC did indeed only show TESB and ROTJ. They had a commercial pretending the Empire was interrupting the commercial break with a transmission about the movie. I remember someone asking why they weren't showing ANH, and I said they probably couldn't get it, and of course this person was clueless and said something like "I could go to the video store and get it; how can they not get it?" A year or so later when they aired ROTJ, I recorded it and that was what I watched several times before I got the movies. It's weird now to think I tolerated it like that for so long, a recording where I tried to pause and skip commercials and they cut the scene with the droids going to 8D8 for time and maybe something else.

 

As I mentioned, ANH got beat in the ratings by an original ABC movie event. CBS had correctly assumed that the television broadcast of ANH would be the most watched program of the evening, that they were able to line up a bunch of sponsors for it. When the ratings came in, ABC's film had beat out ANH by a wide margin. Enough so that CBS had to offer refunds because of it.

NBC did a back to back broadcast in 1989 and then again in 1992. They aired on Saturday and Sunday the first time. I missed out on ROTJ as I was watching "Poltergeist III" on video.

 

This was an event in 1983 as I remember it fondly. Most people didn't have VCR's back then so we hadn't seen SW since its original theatrical run in 1977. Just think about how many of us are complaining about the BluRay coming out in 4,5,6 months after theatrical release of TFA, and people like me had to wait 6 years to see my favorite movie of all-time again.

The great thing about HBO back then is they didn't have an extensive library so they would show movies like Star Wars 3 times a day (once in the morning as I would watch it before I went to school, once in the afternoon as I would watch it when I got home from school, and once at night during primetime hours).

When CBS premiered Star Wars in February 1984, fans like me had seen it on HBO a zillion times in 1983 so that is a huge reason it got trounced in the ratings. I had probably seen Star Wars 100 times on HBO when it finally premiered on CBS, so it wasn't a big deal to me and many of my friends. That is really when the shift started to come with Cable TV and movies.

 

lol , kids these days ...before any of these airings , ANH premiered on a pay tv service called ONTV ... in 1982 , same year the first VHS release came out . My family was one of the lucky ones that had this service ( fond memories of watching scrambled signals on the basement tv late at nigh while the folks were upstairs watching the unscrambled feed , nudge nudge , wink wink ) It was on channel 44 out of Chicago . A few days before my 11th birthday . And the first HBO broadcast was indeed in 1984 . I watched that one n a sleepover at my aunts house . Empire was on HBO in 1986 , which I remember well , as that was the year we got legit cable tv . In March of 87 was when Return Of The Jedi debuted on HBO , this I remember because I scanned the cable guide every month for it and got up very early the morning it aired , around 7 a.m. , to watch it . Later that spring HBO aired TESB and ROTJ back to back along with the documentary , From Star Wars To Jedi , The Making Of A Saga . I taped that marathon on vhs in longplay mode and would repeatedly watch it until 1988 when my dad got me the official tapes of the trilogy , which were backup copies from a video store inside a grocery store that he ran. Also , ANH did debut on CBS network tv in 1984 , and the ratings were poor due to the miniseries called Lace on a rival network . That I remember , because my older teenage sisters outvoted me for tv privledges that night . The fact that it had already been out on vhs , subscription tv and the HBO airing earlier that year also was a factor .

 

Thanks for that informative post.

Anyway, you lived where PPV was common place. In Nebraska, only Omaha and I think Lincoln had that with Cox cable. So for a lot of people, that's an unknown bit of news.

 

I remember they use to play Star Wars (A New Hope) on WGN every Thanksgiving back around the early 2000s. This was the only way for me watch Star Wars as a kid since we didn't own A New Hope but had Empire recorded on video tape and the only other Star Wars movie we did own that wasn't video recorded was Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.
I thought it was strange that WGN only played A New Hope and not Empire or Jedi.

 

WGN, TNT and TBS were part of the syndication deal Lucasfilm and FOX made in 1997-98. Until 2001, there wasn't a rush to put the other two. Why exactly is unknown. Check my post on page one, for a more detailed review.

 

I do see movies on TBS/TNT a lot and no longer have WGN.
It's been mostly the Sequels and PT that are on. Rogue One has been seen a few times. Why never Solo? Or the OT?

My wife never Understands this importance of why when these movies are on TV, we must watch (some of it anyways). I try to state it brings back memories of only being able to view them as we didn't own them and it would bring friends/families together. Especially during the holidays.

Anyone see one on TV during Thanksgiving or Christmas?

 

Thanksgiving just had the films on the Turner channels.