Official "Toho-On-TV" Thread

[Terasawa]

Looks like Comet might have just been taking August a little light. They only have 2 days of September showing, but they've got Gojira (midnight ET 9/2 technically), Mothra VS. Godzilla at 2am, Ghidorah: tTHM at 10am and Rodan at noon.

Those will likely all be subtitled.

[szmigiel]

Yeah my rant may have been premature, Comet is still trying.
So far 7 Toho movies coming in September, looks like the old Classic Media Releases.
But kind of odd time slots.

9/2 Midnight Gojira
9/2 2AM Mothra Vs Godzilla
6 Hours of Infomercials
9/2 10AM Ghidorah
9/2 Noon Rodan

9/4 10AM Gojira
9/4 Noon Godzilla Raids Again

9/5 2AM Godzilla's Revenge

[Terasawa]

So far 7 Toho movies coming in September, looks like the old Classic Media Releases.

That's because those are the only films in the Janus/Criterion package for which English versions aren't available. (Thanks, Toho.) Comet has already shown "Gojira" with subtitles. It's a safe bet that the reason these other films haven't shown up on Comet before is because Toho won't allow Janus to use the existing English versions.

[szmigiel]

These have all been played on Comet TV before. These were the "standard" Showa films shown for a few years until the Criterion release. I will probably set the DVR to record the late night ones, and watch the day versions just to see which versions are played.

[Terasawa]

These have all been played on Comet TV before. These were the "standard" Showa films shown for a few years until the Criterion release. I will probably set the DVR to record the late night ones, and watch the day versions just to see which versions are played.

I stand corrected. However, except for "Gojira", these haven't played on Comet since the introduction of the Janus versions, which I think we're both trying to say.

I would be totally surprised if English versions of these are shown again. You can almost bank on these being subtitled versions.

[szmigiel]

Mon, Sep 07 Comet Labor Day Marathon
10:00 AM Gojira
12:00 PM Godzilla Raids Again
2:00 PM Rodan
4:00 PM Mothra vs. Godzilla
6:00 PM Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster
8:00 PM Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
10:00 PM Godzilla's Revenge
12:00 AM Godzilla vs. Hedorah
2:00 AM Godzilla vs. Gigan

I'm pretty sure this is the 1st time in a very long time that; Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, and Godzilla vs. Gigan have been on broadcast TV. I don't even think El-Rey was able to broadcast those when they still had their Godzilla Marathons.

[Terasawa]

I'm pretty sure this is the 1st time in a very long time that; Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, and Godzilla vs. Gigan have been on broadcast TV.

All were shown on TCM last October. Prior to that, however, Hedorah and Gigan were last seen on SciFi in 2006. The U.S. version of Sea Monster hasn't been seen since 2006 either (AMC). The export version, however, was more recently available for syndication via Sony, although I don't think it was ever picked up by a network for national broadcast. The most recent I can find are a few local markets around 2011.

[szmigiel]

All were shown on TCM last October. Prior to that, however, Hedorah and Gigan were last seen on SciFi in 2006. The U.S. version of Sea Monster hasn't been seen since 2006 either (AMC). The export version, however, was more recently available for syndication via Sony, although I don't think it was ever picked up by a network for national broadcast. The most recent I can find are a few local markets around 2011.

I'm an old timer, that's why I said broadcast TV, I didn't mean pay cable channels.

[Terasawa]

Well you mentioned El Rey, too, so...

Added in 7 days 1 hour 37 minutes 7 seconds:
Wow! All three were brand new HD scans of the English versions!

Just kidding. That would have actually been worthwhile. No, Comet just showed literally the exact same things that are available on Blu-ray (Criterion Channel for Rodan). Recommended only for those that would rather watch Rodan with nearly 40 minutes of boy scout sexual abuse lawyer commercials.

[szmigiel]

Yup all 4 movies on Sept 2nd are the subtitled Janus releases, no more Classic Media.
I wonder if that means Svengoolie will have to do new Godzilla episodes and not be able to use the Classic Media versions anymore?

[Terasawa]

I'd be surprised if Sven is able to do Godzilla at all anymore.

[Gojira-Fan]

Well you mentioned El Rey, too, so...

Added in 7 days 1 hour 37 minutes 7 seconds:
Wow! All three were brand new HD scans of the English versions!

Just kidding. That would have actually been worthwhile. No, Comet just showed literally the exact same things that are available on Blu-ray (Criterion Channel for Rodan). Recommended only for those that would rather watch Rodan with nearly 40 minutes of boy scout sexual abuse lawyer commercials.

Honestly upsets me so much that Comet has those commercials. It is triggering for some people and totally kills any enjoyment you had from watching the movie.

[szmigiel]

I can tune out commercials pretty easily, I am actually surprised that CometTV is doing 18 hour marathon subtitled.
In the end CometTV can only show what they can get the rights to show, that might be behind the reason they now show so many TV shows.

[Gomi: Ninja Monster]

I'd be surprised if Sven is able to do Godzilla at all anymore.

I actually watch Svengoolie semi-regularly, he doesn't do them often but I have caught a few Godzilla movies over the past couple years. I think the last one he did was either '56 or vs The Thing, sometime towards the end of last year. Whether he can do them now I don't know, but I don't expect to see one on his program for several months at a time, so I'm not especially concerned.

[Terasawa]

I'd be surprised if Sven is able to do Godzilla at all anymore.

I actually watch Svengoolie semi-regularly, he doesn't do them often but I have caught a few Godzilla movies over the past couple years. I think the last one he did was either '56 or vs The Thing, sometime towards the end of last year. Whether he can do them now I don't know, but I don't expect to see one on his program for several months at a time, so I'm not especially concerned.

I think it's been longer than that (2018 was the last time a Godzilla was shown on Sven that I'm aware of) but my TV provider doesn't carry Me-TV anymore so I can only keep track of what Sven shows, not watch them.

But the reason I say he'll likely not show one again for a very long time is that all rights are now with Janus. When Sven negotiated the rights to several Godzillas years ago, they were held by Classic Media's parent company. CM is no longer in the Godzilla business.

Furthermore, excluding Godzilla ('56), all of Janus' Godzillas are the Japanese versions, whereas the CM package offered seven English-language versions. Six of the Janus films have optional English soundtracks but no English visuals. Since Sven's schtick is a throwback to the golden age TV horror host, I think it's very unlikely he and his people would go after a package of mostly subtitled films.

[Gomi: Ninja Monster]

I'd be surprised if Sven is able to do Godzilla at all anymore.

I actually watch Svengoolie semi-regularly, he doesn't do them often but I have caught a few Godzilla movies over the past couple years. I think the last one he did was either '56 or vs The Thing, sometime towards the end of last year. Whether he can do them now I don't know, but I don't expect to see one on his program for several months at a time, so I'm not especially concerned.

I think it's been longer than that (2018 was the last time a Godzilla was shown on Sven that I'm aware of) but my TV provider doesn't carry Me-TV anymore so I can only keep track of what Sven shows, not watch them.

But the reason I say he'll likely not show one again for a very long time is that all rights are now with Janus. When Sven negotiated the rights to several Godzillas years ago, they were held by Classic Media's parent company. CM is no longer in the Godzilla business.

Furthermore, excluding Godzilla ('56), all of Janus' Godzillas are the Japanese versions, whereas the CM package offered seven English-language versions. Six of the Janus films have optional English soundtracks but no English visuals. Since Sven's schtick is a throwback to the golden age TV horror host, I think it's very unlikely he and his people would go after a package of mostly subtitled films.

Huh, so he didn't. Just checked the backlog of his blog posts too to confirm. Oh well, plenty of other ways to watch those I guess, and at least that theoretically clears the schedule for more obscure stuff I'd like but never look for on my own, like the Monolith Monsters.

[Terasawa]

Turner Classic Movies tonight/tomorrow morning at 3:30 AM: Red Beard, the final collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune.

Added in 3 days 51 minutes 18 seconds:
TCM tonight:

2:45 AM: Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (1973)
4:30 AM: Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974)

[Angilasman]

Happy to see Comet showing these. Godzilla versus Gigan is on right now! I think Toho's treatment of preserving the dubs is detrimental, of course, but I also think it would be awesome if more programmers normalized showing subtitled films!

[szmigiel]

I wish I could see the viewership ratings for CometTV, If showing the subtitled versions had people tuning in or out.

[Terasawa]

There are a lot of comments on their Facebook page complaining about the subtitles. And it makes sense. Americans traditionally have not enjoyed subtitled cinema. It's one thing for Turner Classic Movies to run the movies with subtitles, because they can properly contextualize them as a part of Japanese cinema. It's another for Comet TV to run them subtitled, interspersed with frequent 6-minute chunks of lawyer and insurance ads.