Tim Almond

There’s an article by Carol Midgely in The Times about Christmas TV

I have here, you see, the Christmas TV schedules from 1976, exactly 30 years ago, … But the main, juicy film offering from the BBC is Oliver! with Ron Moody, which, fabulous though it is, even then was nine years old….

The thing is that that was probably its TV premiere. Most Bond films took about 8 years to reach the small screen. The Wizard of Oz was only premiered in the 1970s, some 30-odd years after release.*

Look, by contrast, at what the mainstream channels are offering this year: six film premieres between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day alone ranging from Chicken Run to Pirates of the Caribbean.

The problem is that no-one cares about terrestrial TV premieres anymore. If, in the 1960s, you missed Oliver! at the cinema, you had a long time to wait to see it on TV. So, when it was shown, it was a big deal. But with satellite channels and DVD, it’s no effort to catch Pirates of the Caribbean as and when it suits you.

TV should ignore big Christmas premieres. Concentrate on making some good TV instead.

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Tags: Television //