TCM’s Oscar-Fest Delves Into The Decades
Net’s ‘31 Days’ Stunt Spotlights Period Films On Different Nights
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 2/2/2008 4:46:00 AM
While questions remain about what shape this year’s Academy Awards ceremony will take as the Writers Guild of America’s strike continues, Turner Classic Movies has adopted a new format for its 14th annual “31 Days of Oscar” programming stunt.
This time around, Turner Classic Movies will devote each night in February to a decade of top films. Monday’s primetime lineup will feature Oscar-winning and nominated films from the 1920s and 1930s, while Tuesdays will showcase top titles from the 1940s. The march through time continues each night, culminating with Sundays being home to classics from the 1990s to the present.
Moreover, TCM’s daytime lineup will morph into mini-festivals of sorts. For instance, the spotlight shone on adventure films and science-fiction movies on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, respectively. Coming up: coming-of-age movies Feb. 5; mysteries Feb. 10; John Wayne films Feb. 17; war titles Feb. 21; Alfred Hitchcock theatricals Feb. 23; and epics March 2..
With the latest incarnation of 31 Days of Oscar, TCM will make 35 million titles available to its 75 million subscribers for the first time, including the first Best Picture winner, 1927’s Wings Feb. 4; cultural touchstone Easy Rider Feb. 7; box-office blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Feb. 10; Steel Magnolias Feb. 16; and Maverick March 2.
One of the most nominated films of all, All About Eve, is slated to make its debut on the commercial-free retro film service on March 1.
More modern classics such as Atlantic City and The Trip to Bountiful both on Feb. 2; The Wings of the Dove and Kundun both on Feb. 3; Apocalypse Now Feb. 8; Amistad Feb. 17; and Contact Feb. 24 are also on TCM’s schedule for the first time this month.
“In this, the 14th year we’ve presented TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar , we are really showing off our movie library, which is without a doubt the biggest and best in the industry,” said TCM senior vice president of programming Charlie Tabesh in a statement. “By dedicating each night to a particular decade and each day to a specific theme, we prove that no other network can celebrate the Academy Awards with the breadth of TCM.”
ABC is scheduled to air the 80th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. (ET).
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