Saturday, November 5, 2016

The last day of Daylight Savings Time

Tonight's the night when normal people in North America turn back their clocks one hour to go from summer time to winter time. The time change, as always, presents a problem for TV schedules.

TCM's online schedule has a couple of Sissy Spacek movies as part of the prime time lineup. TCM Underground begins at the first 2:00 AM, or just as the clocks are switched back to the second 1:00 AM. As I've said in the past, I like to think of Universal Time (pretty much the same as GMT, for practical purposes like this) to keep track of things. That means that TCM Underground stars at 0600 UTC with Alone in the Dark, which runs 93 minutes. So, the next movie should begin an hour and 45 minutes later, which is 0745 UTC or 2:45 AM Eastern Standard Time. TCM's online schedule, however lists this movie, He Knows You're Alone, as beginning at 3:45 AM, although to be fair it is just an hour and 45 minutes after Alone in the Dark This one is 94 minutes, so should also fit into a 1:45 time slot.

TCM rounds out the overnight with a short and a featurette. The featurette is 1950's The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story which runs 57 minutes, while the short is the 27-minute Gang Boy. However, here is where we get into problems. TCM's online schedule lists The MGM Story as beginning at 3:47 AM. Now, they could put it in between the second feature and Gang Boy, but it would have to start sometime later, between 4:20 and 4:30 AM to get Gang Boy to start at 5:30 AM. My box guide lists Gang Boy as beginning at 4:30 AM, followed at 5:00 AM by The MGM Story.

Over on FXM, they've got The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel beginning at midnight, in a 2:35 timeslot. This would take it to the second 1:35 AM (or 0635 UTC), at which point there's an FXM Presents advertising some Fox product or other. Then, at 0700 UTC (2:00 AM Eastern Standard Time), there's The Rains of Ranchipur, which runs 104 minutes and is put in a 1:45 time slot. Just right. This leave enough time for Nine Hours to Rama to begin at 3:45 AM and be a 124-minute movie in a 2:15 time slot.

That's all according to my box guide. The online TV schedule page I use actually has The Rains of Ranchipur coming before FXM Presents. And don't even get me started on FX's site.

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