Retro Television Network - RTN

I recently discovered a TV network that my cable system must have just started carrying, as I don't remember seeing it before. It's called the Retro Television Network, or RTN for short. In summary, it is everything TV Land used to be and no longer is, and it's so much fun to see all the old shows that I haven't seen in years, plus retromercials (does TV Land even *show* old TV commercials anymore?)

Shows from the 60's and 70's such as "Marcus Welby M.D." or "Ironside;" one of my all-time favorites in "The Rockford Files" (anyone who knows me knows I've had a crush on James Garner since I was about 9 years old; and in high school, Friday nights meant Jim, Rocky, Dennis, the Firebird, and an hour of wonderful television!) - "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (I haven't seen that one since forever, and it's such a classic show!) - and today I was thrilled to see a rerun of another of my very favorites, "Banacek." My mom and I used to watch that show together back in the early 70's. It only lasted a couple seasons, more's the pity, but it was SO good. George Peppard was wonderful, suave and "cool" as the wise-cracking insurance investigator with all the Polish proverbs. I had to let out a gleeful whoop when I saw the opening credits and thought, "Hey, look, they're showing 'Banacek!'"

A lot, if not most, of the shows on this network seem to be Glen Larson productions for Universal Studios; everything that was on television 30 years ago seemingly was a Glen Larson production for Universal Studios! RTN must have bought the entire vault of Universal shows!

One thing I've noticed is how dated these shows are. Not in the obvious way, such as clothes, hairstyles, cars, or secretaries sitting at desks with typewriters and rotary-dial phones. Rather, it's the writing. The "flavor" of the writing, if you will, seems almost sophomoric, if that's the word I'm looking for. Sadly, the trend in television in recent years, and it's considered "progress," is for shows to be harder-edged, grittier, more cynical, more violent, more sexual, more "in your face." The tamer, more easy-going writing for shows from 30 or more years ago seems almost bland or silly in comparison. And yet, I myself PREFER the older shows precisely BECAUSE they were not so hard-edged or cynical in flavor. "Banacek" beats anything that is on television today, and "The Rockford Files" will always be a classic to me. (Incidentally, when I was in high school, my "dream car" was a gold Pontiac Firebird "just like Jim drives." I never got one, more's the pity, and they don't make'em like that anymore. That car was just way too cool!) (And where did Jim find the money to get it repaired, or to have insurance on it, when it seems like he crashed it in almost every episode? That's a mystery as big as the Sphinx!)

I'm also seeing Westerns on here that I've never had a chance to see ("Laredo") or haven't seen in years ("Alias Smith and Jones" and "Wagon Train.") Anyone who knows me also knows that my favorite genre of all is a good old Western, and most of my favorite TV shows are Westerns ("Maverick," "The Big Valley," "The High Chaparral," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "The Virginian.") So that's a treat too! (I read somewhere that a movie version of "Alias Smith and Jones" is planned. Oh please, leave it alone. They'll make THAT "harder-edged and grittier," too, you can just bet, and it will thereby lose all the charm the old show had!)

I love the retromercials, too! "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know!" I'd forgotten all about that one! Took me right back to Saturday mornings as a kid, watching cartoons all morning!

Right now, it's safe to say about the only networks I watch are Encore Westerns, the History Channel, Fox News, and now RTN!