#ben mankiewicz

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August 7, 2023

By Maureen Lee Lenker

(Entertainment Weekly) — We'll always have Paris, but for a time, it seemed as if we might not always have Turner Classic Movies.

Since 1994, TCM has aired films, uncut and commercial-free, 24 hours a day, all enhanced by monthly themed and curated programming, hosted introductions and conclusions (known as outros), conversations with filmmakers and talent, and original content. In its nearly 30 years of existence, the network has expanded beyond its already estimable remit as a cable network-meets-film-school, with fan events including a film festival and cruise.

The brand also plays a key role in global film preservation efforts. Restorations of bigger studio titles are typically done by the studios themselves, but TCM is more often than not the showcase for such work — both on air and at the annual film festival. TCM won a Peabody Award in 2008 for its "commitment to film preservation and restoration." 

In 2023 alone, TCM partnered with the Film Foundation and the studio to restore 10 classics for the Warner Bros. 100th anniversary, including 1932's One Way Passage, 1941's The Strawberry Blonde, 1959's Rio Bravo, and 1955's East of Eden, all of which screened at the film festival and aired on the network. Last year, TCM celebrated its expanded partnership with the Film Foundation with the premiere of a 4K restoration of the Elizabeth Taylor/James Dean/Rock Hudson epic Giant at the 2022 festival. (Going even further back, in 2007, TCM tracked down the rights to six "lost" RKO films, including William Powell comedy Double Harness and Ginger Rogers rom-com Rafter Romance, not seen in over 50 years).

But on June 20, all of that seemed to be in peril as news broke that the entire executive leadership team of TCM (most of whom boasted 20-plus years of experience with the network) were being laid off alongside other members of the staff. The latest round of layoffs, which network staff tell EW they were blindsided by, are part of Warner Bros. Discovery's continuing attempts to cut costs across the studio.