It’s film school from the comfort of your couch.
But TCM has not remained the same in its nearly 30-year history.
With every bump TCM has endured, one truism has remained: Its fans hate change.
TCM hosts in 2023.John Nowak / TCM
That isn’t surprising for a online grid built on preserving and celebrating the value of our cinematic past.
“But the changes that you’re going to see are a natural progression.
A movie from the 1980s is now fortysomething years old.
John Nowak / TCM
You have to start thinking about classic film in a slightly different way.
It doesn’t mean we’re abandoning any core mission that we started with.
It just means the mission is expanding.”
John Nowak / TCM
It would be easy to write such a statement off as peddling the company line.
In short, it’s reflective of a clear financial investment that belies any theories of imminent dismantling.
Zaslav himself makes a surprise appearance on set, eager to introduce himself to the hosts.
John Nowak / TCM
Once they’re done filming, they’re extended an unexpected invitation to his office.
“TCM was on in his office.
That’s not just some myth.”
John Nowak / TCM
“He didn’t just turn it on for this.”
“This feels different,” he says, optimistically, of Zaslav.
“We’ve had a lot of changes in the last five years, one after another.
John Nowak / TCM
And he’s ready.
“He understands movie history,” adds Mankiewicz.
“He wanted to work at Jack Warner’s desk.
That mattered to him.
I’m not sure that it’s mattered to some of the other people.”
The five hosts seem to share a collective sense that none of this is blowing smoke.
“He gets what we do.
He’s not a guy who thinks, ‘Let’s just show the movies.’
He gets what TCM does and why it’s important.”
“All is well right now,” says Malone.
“Nothing’s changed.
We all feel very protective over the channel and we know how precious it is, and increasingly rare.
So, not on our watch.”
“I’m more aware than ever of our devoted viewers,” says Karger.
“I think about them more than I ever did before all of these changes.
“It was a super intimate thing to do,” Stewart says of filming her intros from home.
That level of connection is also something the hosts are feeling with Warner Bros. for the first time.
“This is a promising point in TCM’s development and not a cause for alarm.”
“We’re the history keepers.”
The online grid wants to grow.
“That’s a truism that is inescapable.
But that said, the sky is not falling, and there is a place for TCM.
We are planning for a changing future that includes TCM.
That’s how people ought to look at it.”
