Ted Turner (1938-2026)

[flyonthewall2983]

Ted Turner

[beamish14]

Ted Turner

The “Mouth From the South”. Arguably the most important person in the American media during the second half of the twentieth century. Incredibly arrogant and unlikable, but CNN began as an incredibly innovative endeavor, and Turner Classic Movies will hopefully live on for many years to come

[Lowry_Sam]

I saw a documentary or bonus feature on Jane Fonda not long ago that shed an insight into their marriage that was interesting, but it's somehow escaping me at the moment...and don't forget his role in colorizing b&w movies too!

[JSC]

Prompting the response from Orson Welles when he learned of plans to colorize Citizen Kane.

Keep Ted Turner and his damned Crayolas away from my movie!

[MichaelB]

If I remember rightly, the mogul Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2 was essentially a mash-up of Ted Turner and Donald Trump.

[beamish14]

Prompting the response from Orson Welles when he learned of plans to colorize Citizen Kane.

Keep Ted Turner and his damned Crayolas away from my movie!

I still think that his goal was to scare consumers into thinking that unaltered films in the MGM/RKO catalog would be gone forever and then drive up demand for TCM, kind of like Disney’s “back in the vault” campaigns

Test footage of a colorized Kane exists, but Welles signed the greatest contract in Hollywood history, and they couldn’t touch it

[beamish14]

If I remember rightly, the mogul Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2 was essentially a mash-up of Ted Turner and Donald Trump.

Yes. CNN made an Armageddon scenario tape, much like what is in the film

[pistolwink]

Yes, I think Turner was a bit unfairly vilified b/c of the colorization stuff. It was dunderheaded, but he never proposed to hide the original versions, and his argument was always that it might help younger people get into classic, studio-era movies.

I think John Malone was at least as important as Turner in the development of cable TV, but he wasn't much of a public figure by comparison. He and Turner seemed to have had some competition going for how much land out West they could own. And their politics diverged pretty sharply (that's flattering to Turner).

Turner's marriage to Fonda seemed bizarre at the time and even more bizarre in retrospect.

[beamish14]

Yes, I think Turner was a bit unfairly vilified b/c of the colorization stuff. It was dunderheaded, but he never proposed to hide the original versions, and his argument was always that it might help younger people get into classic, studio-era movies.

I think John Malone was at least as important as Turner in the development of cable TV, but he wasn't much of a public figure by comparison. He and Turner seemed to have had some competition going for how much land out West they could own. And their politics diverged pretty sharply (that's flattering to Turner).

Turner's marriage to Fonda seemed bizarre at the time and even more bizarre in retrospect.

Turner’s appearances on his own channel’s Larry King Live were amazing. I still remember him discussing his regret over having too many offspring, as overpopulation was a major concern of his

He acquired more acreage in America than what is present in the state of Montana

[Lowry_Sam]

I thought his push to colorize films was to make TCM competitive with network television because people (at the time) don't want to watch B&W (according to the network heads), much in the same way films' aspect ratios would be later changed when wide-screen televisions were introduced because people don't want black bars on the sides.

[beamish14]

I thought his push to colorize films was to make TCM competitive with network television because people (at the time) don't want to watch B&W (according to the network heads), much in the same way films' aspect ratios would be later changed when wide-screen televisions were introduced because people don't want black bars on the sides.

That was probably part of it. TCM did not exist until 1994, but he was filling up the airtime on TBS and TNT

[pistolwink]

By the time TCM came around Turner had been chastened and abandoned the colorization stuff. Indeed you could see the ethos of TCM as being his attempt to correct the impression that the colorization stuff had lent. And of course by then there was the predecent of AMC, which was pretty great for its first decade or so.

[hearthesilence]

I was under the impression he learned his lesson after the colorization backlash and leaned into the opposite direction? My local library held on to their VHS collection for a pretty long time and I remember a lot of old Turner owned movies (or at the time was Turned owned) would advertise on the box that it was presented in "GLORIOUS BLACK & WHITE."

I can't say I know Ted Turner that much, but he didn't seem like he had any ambitions of destroying the planet (just the opposite) and he seemed to have a much lower profile than the massively wealthy nut jobs and sociopaths we're dealing with now.

[Roger Ryan]

I was under the impression he learned his lesson after the colorization backlash and leaned into the opposite direction? My local library held on to their VHS collection for a pretty long time and I remember a lot of old Turner owned movies (or at the time was Turned owned) would advertise on the box that it was presented in "GLORIOUS BLACK & WHITE."

I can't say I know Ted Turner that much, but he didn't seem like he had any ambitions of destroying the planet (just the opposite) and he seemed to have a much lower profile than the massively wealthy nut jobs and sociopaths we're dealing with now.

I attended an Adcrafter luncheon in Detroit in 1989 where Turner was the guest speaker (Adcrafter lunches were regular events in which Detroit-area advertising professionals schmoozed and were treated to lectures by people like Ted Turner). His topic was supposed to be the expanding opportunities for cable television advertising but he went off on a troubling tangent regarding his fear of nuclear war and never returned to the original subject. Astonishingly, as I was leaving the event, I noticed Turner himself walking next to me unaccompanied. Given that it had recently been announced that Turner was being prevented from colorizing Citizen Kane and since I was a young devotee of Welles, I did not resist being a smart aleck and asked him "So, how does it feel now that you can't colorize Kane?" Turner immediately answered "Doesn't bother me at all - I got plenty of other films I can colorize!" Already starting to feel embarrassed about my impulsive sarcastic question, I replied "Very well, sir; I hope you enjoy the rest of your day." As I stepped away, however, I could hear that Turner was continuing to talk about colorization to no one in particular as he wandered off alone among the parked cars!

[domino harvey]

Other than TCM and his other channels, Turner also gave us the inspiration for Duke Phillips

[beamish14]

Other than TCM and his other channels, Turner also gave us the inspiration for Duke Phillips

“You should see the muffin shooter.”

[flyonthewall2983]

I read in a book about the creation of MTV that he had the best weed of any millionaire in America

[Lowry_Sam]

I read in a book about the creation of MTV that he had the best weed of any millionaire in America

Because he grew his own? There was another ulterior motive in some of his real estate acquisitions?

I was joking, but then did a Google search:

Based on reports from April 2026, the only connection between Ted Turner and marijuana is that the Atlanta Police Department raided a massive illegal marijuana event held at a warehouse on Ted Turner Drive in Atlanta, Georgia.

-Fox News Atlanta

But,

37. Ted Turner

"Turner reportedly grew pot in his college dorm room."

-Top 50 Most Influential Marijuana Users

[flyonthewall2983]

“JOHN LACK: Advertisers weren’t buying into the idea. Bob McGroarty, who was head of distribution, said, “Procter & Gamble and Coke won’t sign on to this.” I’d heard that CNN wanted to launch another news network, but they needed to buy a satellite transponder. Luckily, we had an extra one. I thought we could trade them a transponder for the rights to sell CNN ad time. If we sold CNN and MTV in combination, advertisers would have to buy from us.

Ted Turner, who owned CNN, said, “I want to meet Lack face-to-face before I do this deal.” Bob McGroarty and I met him at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston. Ted said, “Johnny, let’s go upstairs. I want to smoke a peace pipe with you. I want to look in your eyes.” He’s out of his mind, Ted Turner. We went upstairs to a vacant ballroom. He said, “I want a transponder from you. I know you guys are good salespeople. You can sell our ad time for a year. If it works, you can keep selling it for us.”

Excerpt From
I Want My MTV
Rob Tannenbaum & Craig Marks
https://books.apple.com/us/book/i-want- ... d453299033
This material may be protected by copyright.

[flyonthewall2983]

In hindsight of this in what I later read in the book Ted was rather negative in his opinion of MTV later on, read it as jealousy or maybe keeping his more conservative friends happy.

Cronenberg’s story about Ted crashing into Jane at the America’s Cup was an eye raiser.