Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Channel Z
While the Z Channel was limited to Los Angeles, we saw something of the same thing in Dallas with over the air movie channels. When cable began to move into the area in the late 70s every city wanted the decision on cable. This lead to each city being served by a different cable company a delay of years for some people to get service. In this delay movie channels moved in. They would attach a microwave antenna to your house and with a decoder box you could watch uncut films after the local UHF stations went off the air at 7:00pm. This is how the channels 21, 27, and 33 got their start. Three different movie channels provided service: ON, PreView, and the one we had VEU.
In June 1981 VEU drastically changed their format from a first run only channel to a wonderful mix of classics, foreign films, cult films, and new releases. Coincidentally this is around the same time that Jerry Harvey began programming the Z Channel. If VEU was not associated with the Z Channel then it was a direct copy that I am very thankful for and where I discovered my love of film. Each month VEU would highlight a different genre, director, or country. The monthly programming guides included long essays on each film as to why they were important or would even say this film is horrible but it is a fun watch so enjoy this guilty pleasure. Another feature was each night at 11:00pm was Night Owl Theater. This would show either a mix of soft porn films, which while pretty to look at I found fairly boring; or cult films, these I would try and stay up as late as possible to see. Because of falling asleep I remember seeing the beginnings of many films. Some of these are still hard to find and I have yet to see the entire film.
The monthly highlights were a treat and have resulted in some of my all time film favorites. Some that I remember were:
- Stanley Kubrick – built around the premiere month of The Shining I also saw 2001, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon.
- Martin Scorsese – in the premiere month of Raging Bull they also showed Taxi Driver and The Last Waltz.
- Francois Trauffaut – I think I only saw 400 Blows in its entirety but I watched parts of The Wild Child, Jules and Jim, Story of Adele H, and Day for Night.
- Francis Ford Coppola – Apolocapyse Now, The Godfathers I & II, and the Conversation.
- Werner Herzog – Fitzcarraldo, and parts of Aguirre and Nosferatu.
- Akira Kurosawa – Kagamusha and parts of The Seven Samuri, and Rashomon.
- Brazil – a personal favorite: Pixote, Bye Bye Brazil, and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands.
- Australia – this was another personal favorite. Australia was the country of the moment and we seemed to get them all. Some are still not on dvd. Breaker Morrant, Odd Angry Shot, The Club, Sunday Too Far Away, & Mad Max (before The Road Warrior).
The other treat was seeing these wonderful cult or hard to find films. Many of these played during Night Owl Theater. There were many I was exposed too, even more if I counted the partially seen films, but some of the ones I saw in their entirety that still stick with me to this day were: Straw Dogs, The Music Lovers, The Ruling Class, Cockfighter, Out of Season, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Duellists, Blue Collar, The Silent Partner, Soldier of Orange, Loophole, Return of the Secaucus 7, The Stunt Man, The Tin Drum, American Pop, and Smithereens.
VEU encountered much the same fate as the original Z Channel. Around 1985 cable saturation was enough to run all of these movie channels out of business. We got cable in April 1984 so my watching of VEU was only for slightly over 3 years. But at the time cable was daring enough to where I didn’t mind the loss of the movie channel. I heavily watched A&E, USA, and Bravo. The current formats are totally different then the generic fare they now show. Brave was much like IFC it showed uncut arts and movies. I watched many French and Australian films on this channel in the summer before I left for college. They also showed the entire 14 hours of Berlin Alexanderplatz but I was only able to catch a few parts. USA had the greatest show in cable history: Night Flight on Friday and Saturday nights. They would show cult films, underground videos, music, and concerts every weekend. Night Flight went off the air in the spring of 1987.
This is really a long missed age of cable television. At the time we had about 40 channels and could always find something interesting to watch. Today I have about 200 channels of digital cable and find myself watching Netflix, TCM, or IFC more than anything.
Labels: FilmReview
