The Essentials (TCM)
The Essentials is a weekly film showcase on the American cable and satellite television network Turner Classic Movies airing Saturdays at 8pm EST, spotlighting a specific movie and containing a special introduction and post-movie discussion.
Hosts
The Essentials began airing in April 2001, and was originally hosted by Rob Reiner.[1] Reiner was succeeded by Sydney Pollack[2] who was succeeded by Peter Bogdanovich.[3] In May 2006, hosting duties were taken over by Robert Osborne and Molly Haskell. Carrie Fisher replaced Haskell when The Essentials returned for its new season in March 2007 following its annual "31 Days of Oscar" festival.[4][5] Rose McGowan replaced Fisher for the 2008 season starting in March after the 2008 "31 Days" festival.[6] On October 23, 2008, TV Guide reported that Alec Baldwin would replace McGowan for the 2009 season.[7] He remained on the program through the 2011 season. In March 2012, Drew Barrymore took over the role of co-host for the program's twelfth season.[8][9] In March 2015, Barrymore was replaced by Sally Field for the program's fifteenth season.[10]
Films featured in the 2001 season of TCM Essentials
- Citizen Kane
- The Producers (1968 film)
- North by Northwest
- In the Heat of the Night (film)
- Giant (1956 film)
- The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
- A Night at the Opera (film)
- Gaslight (1944 film)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)
- Elmer Gantry (film)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)
- From Here to Eternity
- The Caine Mutiny (film)
- Ninotchka
- The Defiant Ones
- The Lost Weekend (film)
- Casablanca (film)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
- Dr. Strangelove
- White Heat
- Singin' in the Rain
- Inherit the Wind (1960 film)
- Birdman of Alcatraz (film)
- Dial M for Murder
- The Bank Dick
- Paths of Glory
- Top Hat
- Yankee Doodle Dandy
- Some Like It Hot
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
- Mildred Pierce (film)
- Rocky
- Double Indemnity (film)
Films featured in the 2002 season of TCM Essentials
- High Noon
- West Side Story (film)
- Sweet Smell of Success
- Annie Hall
- Spartacus (film)
- Fail Safe (1964 film)
- American Graffiti
- To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
- The Night of the Hunter (film)
- The Caine Mutiny (film)
- Ninotchka
- The Defiant Ones
- The Lost Weekend (film)
- Paper Moon (film)
- Duck Soup (1933 film)
- Jaws (film)
- Sullivan's Travels
- The Asphalt Jungle
- A Face in the Crowd (film)
- The Searchers (film)
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
- Mildred Pierce (film)
- Double Indemnity (film)
- Rocky
Films featured in the 2003 season of TCM Essentials
- The Philadelphia Story (film)
- Bonnie and Clyde (film)
- The Wild One
- Guys and Dolls (film)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
- It Happened One Night
- Champion (1949 film)
- A Star Is Born (1954 film)
- The Shop Around the Corner
- Bringing Up Baby
- On the Waterfront
- Stagecoach (1939 film)
- Wuthering Heights (1939 film)
- The Magnificent Seven
- Touch of Evil
- Force of Evil
- Once Upon a Time in the West
- Pillow Talk (film)
- Strangers on a Train (film)
- Rebel Without a Cause
- Notorious (1946 film)
Films featured in the 2004 season of TCM Essentials
- Rebel Without a Cause
- An American in Paris (film)
- Rear Window
- Annie Hall
- Singin' in the Rain
- The Day of the Jackal (film)
- The Red Badge of Courage (film)
- Spellbound (1945 film)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
- Doctor Zhivago (film)
- Citizen Kane
- Casablanca (film)
- Bringing Up Baby
- On the Waterfront
- High Noon
- Dr. Strangelove
- Random Harvest (film)
- Tootsie
- Papillon (film)
- The Quiet Man
- To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
- Some Like It Hot
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Films featured in the 2005 season of TCM Essentials
- The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
- The Lady from Shanghai
- Adam's Rib
- The Band Wagon
- North by Northwest
- His Girl Friday
- La Grande Illusion
- Out of the Past
- Swing Time
- To Have and Have Not (film)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (film)
- Gaslight (1944 film)
- They Were Expendable
- The Lady Eve
- The Big Sleep (1946 film)
- Vertigo (film)
- Steamboat Bill Jr.
- White Heat
- It Should Happen to You
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- The Magnificent Ambersons (film)
- The Merry Widow (1934 film)
- Fort Apache (film)
- The Shop Around the Corner
- The Awful Truth
- Some Came Running (film)
- Mogambo
Films featured in the 2006 season of TCM Essentials
- The Hustler (film)
- The Quiet Man
- Brief Encounter
- Duck Soup (1933 film)
- Winchester '73
- Imitation of Life (1959 film)
- The Four Feathers (1939 film)
- A Place in the Sun (film)
- Gilda
- Ride the High Country
- Top Hat
- From Here to Eternity
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- Sunset Boulevard (film)
- The Thin Man (film)
- Black Narcissus
- Gone with the Wind (film)
- Kiss Me Deadly
- Foreign Correspondent (film)
- The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
- Jezebel (film)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
- Written on the Wind
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
- Gunga Din (film)
- Stalag 17
- Little Women (1933 film)
- Murder, My Sweet
Films featured in the 2007 season of TCM Essentials
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (film)
- Hud
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
- Fear Strikes Out
- That Touch of Mink
- The Great Dictator
- Roman Holiday
- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- The Producers (1968 film)
- My Fair Lady (film)
- Ball of Fire
- The African Queen (film)
- Take the Money and Run
- King Kong (1933 film)
- Harvey (film)
- The Lost Weekend (film)
- Dodsworth (film)
- Topper (film)
- Sorry, Wrong Number
- Pride and Prejudice (1940 film)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai
- Born Yesterday (1950 film)
- Red River (1948 film)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film)
- Notorious (1946 film)
Films featured in the 2008 season of TCM Essentials
- The Apartment
- The Music Box
- Sons of the Desert
- The Bad and the Beautiful
- The Great Escape (film)
- All About Eve
- The Night of the Hunter (film)
- The Misfits (film)
- Paper Moon (film)
- Rebecca (1940 film)
- Now, Voyager
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
- Paths of Glory
- Psycho (1960 film)
- Fanny (1961 film)
- A Face in the Crowd (film)
- Seven Samurai
- The Spiral Staircase (1946 film)
- 3:10 to Yuma (1957 film)
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film)
- You Can't Take It with You (film)
- Modern Times (film)
- Swing Time
- Woman of the Year
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)
- Dinner at Eight (film)
- Sweet Smell of Success
Films featured in the 2009 season of TCM Essentials
- A Night at the Opera (film)
- Rocky
- Cat Ballou
- Ben-Hur (1959 film)
- Take the Money and Run
- Saboteur (film)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Funny Girl (film)
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
- The Devil and Daniel Webster
- Battleground (film)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)
- The Letter (1940 film)
- The Fortune Cookie
- Random Harvest (film)
- Notorious (1946 film)
- The Mouse That Roared (film)
- Tom Jones (1963 film)
- The Man Who Came to Dinner (film)
- An Affair to Remember
- The Asphalt Jungle
- Lolita (1962 film)
- The Guns of Navarone (film)
- The Long, Hot Summer
- Wuthering Heights (1939 film)
- The Grapes of Wrath (film)
Films featured in the 2010 season of TCM Essentials
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)
- Saturday Night Fever
- White Heat
- Lawrence of Arabia (film)
- Gigi (1958 film)
- Bonnie and Clyde (film)
- Serpico
- Judgement at Nuremberg
- Strangers on a Train (film)
- The Graduate
- A Foreign Affair
- The Lion in Winter (1968 film)
- The Blue Dahlia
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)
- The Best Years of Our Lives
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
- San Francisco (1936 film)
- A Star Is Born (1954 film)
- The Snake Pit
- Meet Me in St. Louis
- My Darling Clementine
- Road to Morocco
- Black Orpheus
- Bad Day at Black Rock
- The Sea Hawk (1940 film)
- Leave Her to Heaven
- The Sting
- Kind Hearts and Coronets
- Meet John Doe
Films featured in the 2011 season of TCM Essentials
- Cool Hand Luke
- Love Me Tonight
- Hannah and Her Sisters
- Mildred Pierce (film)
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)
- Splendor in the Grass
- Ball of Fire
- Gunga Din (film)
- An American in Paris (film)
- Bicycle Thieves
- Cat People (1942 film)
- East of Eden (film)
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
- Dodsworth (film)
- The Caine Mutiny (film)
- Bringing Up Baby
- Out of the Past
- City Lights
- Fail Safe (1964 film)
- The Misfits (film)
- Kiss of the Spider Woman (film)
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)
- Stage Door
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
- A Place in the Sun (film)
- A Letter to Three Wives
- Sunset Boulevard (film)
- Miracle on 34th Street
- The Bank Dick
Films featured in the 2012 season of TCM Essentials
- Some Like It Hot
- This Is Spinal Tap
- The Razor's Edge (1946 film)
- Alice Adams (film)
- The Goodbye Girl
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
- Gilda
- The Fallen Idol (film)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- The Third Man
- Camille (1936 film)
- Les Diaboliques (film)
- Wuthering Heights (1939 film)
- Dinner at Eight (film)
- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
- Jezebel (film)
- The Way We Were
- Kramer vs. Kramer
- Rebel Without a Cause
- Sullivan's Travels
- Summertime (1955 film)
- The Band Wagon
- To Have and Have Not (film)
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film)
- Lolita (1962 film)
- Captains Courageous (1937 film)
- The Wild Bunch
- Lost in America
Films featured in the 2013 season of TCM Essentials
- Grand Hotel (1932 film)
- The Big Chill (film)
- Tootsie
- Gun Crazy
- The Lady Eve
- Lawrence of Arabia (film)
- Anna and the King of Siam (film)
- Freaks
- Giant (1956 film)
- Gold Diggers of 1933
- How Green Was My Valley (film)
- Stand by Me (film)
- Bride of Frankenstein
- Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)
- Libeled Lady
- Breathless (1960 film)
- The Palm Beach Story
- The Searchers (film)
- Auntie Mame (film)
- Key Largo (film)
- The Women (1939 film)
- Gaslight (1944 film)
- Diner (film)
- The Bad and the Beautiful
- Lifeboat (film)
- It Happened One Night
- Silkwood
- Jaws (film)
Films featured in the 2014 season of TCM Essentials
- Marty (film)
- The Sugarland Express
- The Pink Panther (1963 film)
- His Girl Friday
- Field of Dreams
- How to Marry a Millionaire
- Laura (1944 film)
- Beauty and the Beast (1946 film)
- In the Heat of the Night (film)
- Stella Dallas (1937 film)
- The Haunting (1963 film)
- The Dirty Dozen
- My Fair Lady (film)
- On the Waterfront
- To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
- I Love You, Alice B. Toklas
- Blowup
- The Champ (1931 film)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)
- Bus Stop (1956 film)
- Metropolis (1927 film)
- The Thin Man (film)
- Foreign Correspondent (film)
- Coal Miner's Daughter (film)
- Belle de Jour (film)
- Network (film)
- Twentieth Century (film)
- The Black Stallion (film)
Films featured in the 2015 season of TCM Essentials
- Roman Holiday
- The More the Merrier
- Now, Voyager
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)
- Klute
- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
- The Hustler (film)
- The Wind (1928 film)
- Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)
- I Remember Mama (film)
- The Red Shoes (1948 film)
- Ninotchka
- To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
- The Man Who Would Be King (film)
- Bullitt
- Here Comes Mr. Jordan
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy
- The Shop Around the Corner
- The Candidate (1972 film)
- Swing Time
- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
- East of Eden (film)
- The Nun's Story (film)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
- Norma Rae
- Sunset Boulevard (film)
Essentials, Jr.
A spin-off showcase, Essentials, Jr., aired in the summer months of 2007 through 2014, on Sunday nights at 8 pm ET. The featured films were chosen for their appeal to families with young children. The original host was Tom Kenny; he was replaced for the second season by co-hosts Abigail Breslin and Chris O'Donnell. John Lithgow hosted the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The program was hosted from 2011 through 2014 by Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live fame.[11][12][13][14]
References
- ↑ John Dempsey, "TCM enlists Reiner for pic series", Variety, January 14, 2001.
- ↑ Bridget Byrne, "Pollack lays out 'Essentials' of moviegoing", Associated Press in Chicago Sun-Times, April 4, 2003 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ↑ Bridget Byrne, "Bogdanovich Channels 'The Essentials'", Associated Press, March 8, 2005 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ↑ Hal Boedeker, "Carrie Fisher fills essential role for Turner Classic Movies", The Buffalo News, March 15, 2007 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ↑ Todd Leopold, "Carrie Fisher's 'Essential' new job", CNN.com, March 9, 2007.
- ↑ Phil Villarreal, "Essentially Rose", Arizona Daily Star, February 28, 2008 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ↑ Alec Baldwin to Co-Host TCM's The Essentials" TV Guide. October 23, 2008. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
- ↑ "Hosts". TCM Presents: The Essentials. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ Bobbin, Jay (February 29, 2012). "Drew Barrymore on co-hosting TCM's 'Essentials': 'I just wanted to make it happen'". Zap 2 It. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ↑ "Hosts". TCM The Essentials. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ↑ Bill Hader Joins Turner Classic Movies This Summer as Host of TCM ESSENTIALS JR. Turner Classic Movies press release (May 4, 2011). Retrieved on May 21, 2011.
- ↑ "'SNL' funnyman Bill Hader returns as host of TCM movie series". LA Times. June 1, 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ↑ Gray, Ellen (June 1, 2011). "SNL funnyman makes some serious picks for TCM". Philly.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ↑ "Meet the Hosts". TCM The Essentials Jr. Retrieved 16 March 2015.