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| AMCAmerican Movie Classics Frequency: Cable AMC is a cable television network that primarily airs movies. The letters originally stood for American Movie Classics. However, since 2003, the full name has been deemphasized (as is the case for TLC, and formerly TNN) as a result of a major shift in programming. Some have surmised that the channel's acronym could now stand for American Movie Channel or All Movie Channel. AMC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation, and signed on October 1, 1984. AMC was originally a premium cable channel that aired classic movies during the afternoons and early evenings, largely pre-1950s, in a commercial-free, generally unedited format. It was not uncommon for the channel to host a Marx Brothers marathon, or show such classics as the original Phantom of the Opera. In the early 1990's, the channel shifted to a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week format. The network has since dramatically changed its programming, shifting from premium to basic cable, emphasizing more recent movies, adding a new logo, with a lowercase a (seen above at right) and using a new slogan: "TV For Movie People." With competitors such as Turner Classic Movies and Fox Movie Channel, AMC changed its format from a classic movie network to a broader movie network, airing movies from the 1970's onwards. The commercial-free format has also been abandoned. AMC airs fewer classic movies than they did years ago. Currently, AMC claims to air fewer commercials per hour than any other basic cable channel. As it is now an advertiser supported network, movies are edited for content. Whenever possible, the network television version of a movie is aired. From 1996 to 2003, before the format change, AMC aired its first original series, Remember WENN, a half-hour show about a radio station during the peak of radio's influence in the 1930s. The show was generally a success, and was originally renewed for a fifth season, but the change in management led to its abrupt cancellation in favor of a new show, The Lot. "The Lot" only lasted two seasons, at 16 episodes (a 4-episode run in 1999, and a 13-episode run in 2001), and was considered a failure, both in ratings and by critics. One popular AMC program from 1998-2002 was American Pop!, which featured 50s and 60s movies aimed at baby boomers, such as Beach Blanket Bingo and Ski Party. Of particular interest to movie completists were the segments AMC played to fill out the time slot (Saturday nights from 10pm to midnight): classic movie trailers, drive-in movie ads and snipes (bits extolling viewers to visit the snack bar, etc.), plus music videos cribbed from musical movies from the period. Another notable original series for AMC was AMC Backstory (2000-2002, 71 episodes, and 2004, 3 episodes), a half-hour series about the "backstory" (or behind the scenes look) at various movies, ranging from classic (All About Eve) to contemporary (There's Something About Mary). While glossy and somewhat more of a 22-minute trivia and anecdote session, it featured interviews with the cast and crew of the films, along with movie critics and film historians. Episodes dealing with films from 20th Century Fox can normally be found on the DVD release as well. On Thursday, July 19, 2007, AMC's newest original series, Mad Men debuted at 10PM. The series airs Thursdays at 10PM. Mad Men is set in 1960 New York and is about the "Golden Age" of advertising. The series stars Angel co-star Vincent Kartheiser, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Michael Gladis, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer, Bryan Batt, Maggie Siff, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, January Jones, and Rosemarie DeWitt. In December 2006, The Hollywood Reporter reported that AMC was developing a series remake of the 1960s British TV series The Prisoner to run at least six to eight episodes, beginning in January 2008. AMC plans to re-air the original series at about the same time. In 1997, AMC started Monsterfest, a weeklong marathon of scary movies that airs in late October. The 10th edition started on October 22, 2006. AMC's website has started a Monsterfest blog, chronicling the latest horror news in movies and on television. In addition, late at night every Friday AMC presents Fear Friday, a horror movie double feature. AMC officially became available in Canada for cable customers of Shaw Cable and satellite customers of StarChoice on September 1, 2006, marking the first time the network was made available outside of the United States. Rogers Cable followed suit on December 12, 2006. |
