by Nick Somoski

Created on: May 24, 2009   Last Updated: February 29, 2012

A typical complaint with cable networks is that over their years on the air, they lose their original concept. The network they wanted to be when they first launched is not the same network they turn out to be. Usually, cable networks will turn for the worse. Countless times, this has been the case.

For TBS, it's a mixed story. I still watch TBS from time to time. Before I start rambling, perhaps I should give some background information on the network. TBS (Turner Broadcasting System) launched in 1976 as a local broadcasting station, seen minimally in the southeast United States. By 1981, Turner decided to take his network to the nationally syndicated feed. It was no longer a broadcast network, but a cable station.

They began showing their programs on what they called "Turner Time," where all shows would begin at the :05 and :35 of each hour. What seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, it received its own section in TV Guide, and purposely made viewers continue watching the schedule throughout the day, as it "would be hard to turn the channel 5 minutes into the hour" as quoted by Turner. By 1996, however, Turner Time was only aired on the daytime schedule, and by 2000 it was dropped completely.

In the early '80's, TBS began programming sitcoms, which they are to this day known for. They took pride in airing reruns that no other network was airing at the time, ranging from The Addams Family to Ozzie & Harriet to The Three Stooges.

By the late '80's, however, TBS began a change of programming. What they now aired was at the time known as "modern classics," sitcoms that were either still airing original episodes at the time of their reruns, or that had recently gone off the air. They continue this practice of programming even to this day. With the launch of Nick & Nite in 1985, and eventually TV Land in 1996, they saw no reason to go on airing the older classics when another network had taken over that job.

And by the 1990's, their selection of shows was astounding. They aired so many shows on one schedule, you couldn't count them on your hands and feet. It was truly amazing the shows they aired: All in the Family, Roseanne, Saved by the Bell, The Jeffersons, Mama's Family, Who's the Boss?, One Day at a Time, Three's Company, Growing Pains, Family Matters, Martin . . . all on one schedule. And the list didn't stop there. They were a modern heaven for any sitcom fan at the time.

But the keyword: were. They aired only the hit shows. They aired the shows

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