As my fellow Turner Classic Movies fans know, all this month TCM is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. with movies produced and/or distributed by the studio. DC Comics is represented with its two most iconic characters in two of their most influential movies: Superman (1978) and Batman (1989). Given these movies don’t air on TCM that often, let alone back to back, I thought it would be a great time for a watch-along! Here I have to point out that since I am in the Central Time Zone, we’ll be relying on the Eastern feed for TCM. If you don’t have TCM, both movies are on HBO Max or you can rely on any DVDs you might have! Anyway, here are the details.
Where to Watch: Turner Classic Movies
Where to Chat: right here.
When: Sunday, April 23 Superman 8:00 PM Eastern/7:00 PM Central/6:00 PM Mountain/5:00 PM Pacific Batman 10:30 PM Eastern/9:30 PM Central/8:30 PM Mountain/7:30 PM Pacific
Here I want to point out that the classic animated short “Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century” is showing right before Superman, so you might want to tune in a little bit early! I don’t know why TCM chose it. Don’t get me wrong. “Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century” is one of my all-time favorite Warner Bros. cartoons, but I think “Super-Rabbit” (1943) and “Stupor Duck” (1956) are more pertinent to the movies Superman and Batman.
I think they may have shown Superman in the past, but I think this may well be the debut of Batman (1989) on TCM! I know they have shown the Batman serials and the 1966 movie.
I don’t have cable with TCM channel, but I do have HBO Max TCM, hope that counts, sadly I won’t get to see or hear the interduction before and after the movie.
I miss the original host Robert Osborn, it’s sad he passaway, he was a huge movie expert just like @HubCityQuestion is a huge DC Comic expert. I’ve always enjoy his interduction on movies, glad he’s on my Lon Chaney DVD talking about the silent movies.
They might have the intros to the movies on HBO Max. I hope so! Last week I watched The Strawberry Blonde on HBO Max and they had Wes Anderson’s introduction before it. This was like two days before it was on TCM!
Anyway, I do miss Robert Osborne. I remember when he died it was pretty much a national day of mourning for TCM fans. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to replace him.
BTW, I checked HBO Max. They don’t include the intros. What I’ll do is let people know when each movie starts, so that they can fire them up on HBO Max and stay synced with the rest of us!
Tonight’s the night! Just a reminder that if you don’t get Turner Classic Movies you can still participate in the watch-along. Both movies are on HBO Max and if you have the DVDs you can watch that way too. Since TCM always has an intro before the movie, I will let everyone know when the movies start, so they can launch them on HBO Max or their DVD player.
