Will This Be the Last We See of Turner Classic Movies?

Published: July 6, 2023

Will This Be the Last We See of Turner Classic Movies?

By Movieguide® Contributor

Many film fans and Hollywood actors became concerned after the recent layoffs at Turner Classic Movies.

Although Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav admitted that Turner Classic Movies won’t be going anywhere, he recently removed the firm’s general manager and many other senior-level executives.

Actor Brian Cox told Above the Line, “I’ve just written a thing for Facebook because I’m horrified. The head of Warner Brothers, once they get rid of TCM/Turner Classic Movies, which I think is one of the most vital resources — and certainly Robert Osborne set that up, and the five gals who run it now. I mean, who’s an expert on film? I just love that sense of who we are, where we’ve come from, and our history. It’s vital to me that we see that and live it.”

Cox recently starred in HBO’s SUCCESSION, and he said that Turner Classic Movies is a way for people to see how far filmmaking has come, a history lesson for cinema.

“For me, the history of cinema, the watching of it, and the way that TCM presents it are incredible resources because they really make me understand how far we’ve traveled,” Cox added. “But also how far we haven’t traveled. You know, we’ve traveled technically, but in terms of the truth of acting, there are no more true players than Spencer Tracy or Katherine Hepburn. And you see them together in what they create, so the cinema has always been vital to me. Absolutely vital.”

The Washington Post reported Actress J. Smith-Cameron who added, “It’s a free film education.”

Her husband, Kenneth Lonergan, also commented, “The curation is fantastic. They don’t just show the old movies. They talk about the whole culture of the movie, the impact it had, how it related to other films, how it related to other things that were going on in society.”

In addition, Author and Journalist Mark Harris said, “This very, very small business occupies a special place within this very, very large company. It’s not just a basic cable channel. TCM is the single element in Warner Bros. Discovery that says we are a company that cares about its own 100-year history, and we are a company that cares about the 100-plus-year history of the medium that built this company.”