Will McKinley

OMG the vinyl table cloths! 1982?

Looks like a comfortable place to hang out. 😊

Did they own a lunch counter?

Linda Darnell is great in FALLEN ANGEL. I just wish there was more of her in it.

LAURA and WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS are my favorites of these four.

Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell in Fallen Angel (1945)

Gene Tierney and Richard Conte in Whirlpool (1950)

Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews in Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

Four films noir by Otto Preminger #BOTD on YouTube:

LAURA (1944)
youtu.be/Njj2hDg92kI

FALLEN ANGEL (1945)
youtu.be/UHLdAGVxrZI

WHIRLPOOL (1950)
youtu.be/cXRDOKNfXTw

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1950)
youtu.be/-QNzkL6EGPc #FilmSky #FilmNoir

Indeed.

Yes.

MS NOW to Launch Direct-to-Consumer Offering Next Summer The service will be "centered around community, membership, and democracy and as a digital hub for progressives," parent company Versant says.

MS NOW — soon to be spun off from NBC — is launching a streaming service.

It will include a linear feed, podcasts, access to live events, and opportunities for fans to interact w/ hosts + each other.

This is what TCM should do when its spun off from WBD.

www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Black and white photo of people in Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck costumes walking hand in hand at Disneyland in the 1960s.

Friday mood

Ha!

Another example of how the Christmas specials of our youth had a bit more of an edge than today's fare.

An original 1964 ad for RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER.

A 1964 ad for RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER — which is back on NBC tonight 8pm ET.

The Rankin/Bass classic debuted on THE GENERAL ELECTRIC FANTASY HOUR — and the characters appeared in ads for G.E. products.

Watch the original commercials on YouTube:
youtu.be/4PJHPvm1cOw?... #Animation

Well, we heard from Zaslav today that HBO Max is sticking around if Netflix acquires WB.

And there's no doubt classic films will still be featured on HBO Max.

But will TCM have a presence if its planned spinoff happens in Q3 of 2026? I can't imagine they'd promote a brand they no longer own.

Too Much TV Exclusive: Inside Netflix's Bid For Warner Brothers Several Netflix executives talk to me about the streamer's efforts to acquire Warner Brothers studios.

I know @toomuchtv.substack.com already plugged it late last night, but I think his insightful behind-the-scenes interview with folks within Netflix about their bid should be mandatory reading for a lot of folks around here.

toomuchtv.substack.com/p/too-much-t...

Maybe Netflix Will Be Good for HBO “It may be the least worst option,” one HBO insider said of the deal.

There are lots of angles to the Netflix/WB deal, and plenty of reasons for concern. Media consolidation? Not great! That very significant caveat aside, there's reason to be hopeful that maybe the Netflix-HBO of it all will be... not bad? Up now at @vulture.com

www.vulture.com/article/netf...

What he lacks in talent he makes up for in savvy, or dumb luck.

I very much want to protect the theatrical experience but, to me, these bloated over-priced spectacles are not the theatrical experience. They bore me and they mostly look like shit. To me, a mid-level A24 film is more cinematic than a $200+ million studio tentpole.

Netflix getting Warner Bros. is bad for art, but right-wing oligarchs not getting it is bad for fascism.

The Ellisons already got Paramount and Fox-ified CBS, plus a big stake in TikTok USA and more.

On balance, avoiding more Orban-style media consolidation is a good outcome.

Such are the times.

It's on Peacock (and Hulu) and back on NBC Dec 9.

A black and white photo of musician composer arranger John Altman, wearing headphones and conducting. Tags movies, films TV cinema legend Hendrix Clapton Marley Baker

Happy 76th birthday to the insanely talented musician/arranger/composer John Altman.
His work has touched on the 007 franchise, TITANIC, LIFE OF BRIAN, "The Rutles," over 4,000 TV ads, and playing sax with some of the biggest names in jazz and rock.
And still going strong!
#musicsky #BOTD #filmsky

Thanks Nancy! I appreciate that.

Sorry. I'm just the messenger!

He played the Ellisons like a fiddle, so you gotta give him that.

Remember, David Zaslav loves TCM, so you're already halfway there!

David Zaslav's Warner Bros. Discovery press photo.

David Zaslav will make nearly $660 million if Netflix's deal to acquire Warner Bros. closes, according to CNBC.

Add that to his $470 million in compensation since 2019, and the king of failing up is about to be a billionaire.

www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/p... #WarnerBros #Netflix #DavidZaslav

FilmStruck's premature demise wasn't due to the quality of the product, or the success of the TCM and Criterion partnership.

It had more to do with the parent company's desire to eliminate all internal competition for subscribership leading up to the launch of HBO Max.

I think it's too early to be pessimistic. There are so many moving parts at this point, we don't really know where things will land.

A TCM and Criterion partnership would be a great idea. They already did it once w/ FilmStruck.

Similar arrangements will have to be made for other spun-off channels that rely on library content. WBD isn't going to hamstring these channels, they just want them off the balance sheet.

That said, Discovery Global (or any of the channels) could still be acquired by a third party. Stay tuned!