avi@pegasus.UUCP (01/31/84)
This is a followup to my own article - in which I asked about the relative
merits of HBO and Showtime. Interestingly enough, my article was held by my
news feed (hogpd) for a week and a half before it got out to the world.
Suddenly, I received six responses in one day. The responses convinced me
that Showtime was a better choice for ME at this time. I am including edited
versions of the responses I received. Everyone I quote has been asked for
permission to quote them and has granted it.
As many people have pointed out, Showtime carries The Paper Chase. HBO does
not support the PC. Thanks to everyone who pointed it out and to everyone
that answered. I found the comments useful and interesting.
Avi Gross
-----Comments from: ...!drufl!rkp Russ Pierce (AT&T Consumer Products - Denver)
R We have Showtime now and are not really pleased with it. Our main
u complaint is the hours in which it shows its movies. On the east
s coast it's not so bad, but here in the Mountain time zone, there
s doesn't seem to be a movie that starts any earlier than 8:00 pm.
Usually it's more like 9:00 or 10:00. And if it's a little skin you
P want to see, those types of movies don't start till at least 10:00.
i I guess if you have a vcr, there is no problem, but I don't have one.
e The only thing I like about Showtime is the Paper Chase (not on HBO).
r Now those come on at decent hours, but that's all. If I had my
c druthers, and if you have these channels, I would get Cinemax or The
e Movie Channel. Now, you probably don't have The Movie Channel since
it is offered by Showtime, INC., but that channel just shows movies,
^ period. Cinemax seems to have some of the more racy (read sex)
^ movies.
[A later letter from Russ contained the following additional explanation]
^ ... And I didn't explain the time differences correctly. We get Showtime
^ from a West Coast feed which runs on identical "times" with the East Coast
^ feeds. So, something on the East Coast at 8:00 is replayed on the West
^ Coast at 8:00, and we get it here at 9:00. Some of the HBO channels run
^ this way also. That's what I meant to say. (Sometimes my keyboard works
^ in mysterious ways.)
-----Comments From: ...!mh3bs!wsm Walt Morris (AT&T Technologies - Summit)
W On my cable system, both cost the same, and I subscribe to both.
a HBO has some movies that Showtime doesn't, and vice-versa (look for
l Flashdance on Showtime in Feb, not for a LONG time on HBO because of
t a five-year exclusive run contract between Paramount and Showtime).
M Also there are Broadway plays (a different one each month) called
o "Broadway on Showtime". On the other hand HBO has more stand-up comedy
r type shows (Young Comedians every Christmastime, etc).
r
i It's not an easy choice, that's why I copped out and got both.
s
-----Comments From: inuxg!burton Doug Burton (AT&T CPL - Indianapolis)
D Showtime carries Paper Chase, not HBO; for that reason alone, I recommend
o Showtime. However, there are other things to consider. I've had both, and
u I have been somewhat more satisfied with Showtime. HBO has become too
g "family oriented"; and they seem stuck on their own productions (a friend
says they've run the Terry Fox story about 100 times in the past month).
B Showtime is family oriented in that they tend not to show graphic
u violence or nudity during the day (although they ran Beastmaster during
r the day, and it has both). Showtime also likes to show lots of low budget
t R-rated movies during late night ("After Hours", they call it), which isn't
o too bad (sometimes the movies are real stinkers, but you occassionally get
n some good ones, like "Lady Chatterly's Lover"). Showtime will also be
^ carrying the Synchronicity Tour of the Police next month, so if you hurry,
^ you could catch that too.
^ In my opinion (and others I've talked too), HBO has definitely gotten
^ worse over the past two years, while Showtime has been striving toward
^ improvement. So, if you look at trends, Showtime is the one to bet on.
[A later message contained the following (partially related statements)]
B Go ahead and quote me, I don't mind. By the way, Showtime is not only
u showing the new episodes of the Paper Chase (which they commissioned),
r but they are rerunning the old episodes every Sunday at noon (EST).
t My only complaint about the new episodes is that Logan and Anderson aren't
o part of the show anymore; but they do have a woman law student (as Hart's
n girl friend, in fact), who is a 1L (the others are now 2L's) so we can
^ keep up with Contract Law under Kingsfield. The shows are good, but I
^ still like the original ones better.
-----Comments From: hou2f!pvlm Pete LaMaster(someplace in Holmdel NJ)
P ... I've kept an eye on HBO and Showtime for about a year since
e I've been considering cable for that long. My impression is that
t Showtime has a larger selection of R-rated late-night movies than
e HBO. HBO does, indeed, sometimes have concerts that aren't on Showtime,
but I'm not big on concerts. Actually, I think WHT is better than
L both of them for R-rated fare, but you don't get the advantage of
a the "free" cable stations with WHT.
M Good luck,
[Again, comments froma later message]
a ... I'd also add that I just rented one of the Playboy videotapes (it's
s sort of a magazine on video) and confirmed what I'd been told about the
t Playboy channel: Showtime probably shows "hotter" material and WHT
e definitely shows "hotter" stuff. I understand that the name Playboy
r conjures up such images that many people attacked it even though they were
^ fairly pedestrian. The furor made them back off even more so I wouldn't be
^ too sorry about not being able to receive their channel.
-----Comments From: houti!wn William Nemec (Somewhere in Holmdel NJ)
W ... Currently subscribing to both HBO & Showtime, I may be able to help
I your selection. HBO is the largest (most subscribers, cable systems),
l while SHO is second, of the movie services in the country. They both
l offer first run movies, and both also have many fine "original
i productions" and specials. SHO recently merged with "The Movie Channel"
a a to challenge HBO's standing.
m
HBO - Many "HBOnly" features, which would require your
N waiting a few months to see on SHO. While these
e are usually very "big" movies, they can also be
m commercial bombs, such as "Six Weeks".
e Good comedy specials, featuring talented young
c comedians, such as "Not Necessarily The News".
Good children's programming, such as Fraggle Rock
(Muppets).
W
i SHO - Recently made bigger push for "exclusives", an upcoming
l one being "Flashdance".
l Seem to feature more "adult" oriented material, though not
i pornographic.
a A feature is heavy "R" rated movies called "After Hours".
m Also has excellent comedy specials, and series, such as
Bizarre, with John Byner.
N "Broadway On Showtime", containing special productions
e of Broadway plays.
m
e Overall, I have found that when I'm without one of them, as I was
c recently when I removed HBO for financial reasons, I see what seems
to be more shows I'd like to see listed for the "other" channel. It's
^ probably just a case of " the grass is always greener ... ".
^ My solution is to have both channels, although there is a lot of
^ repetetiveness among them. I guess I'm just a "video junkie".
-----Comments From: ittvax!ittral!malloy William P. Malloy (ITT?)
B First the Paper Chase is on Showtime, not HBO. I know I've watched it.
i You are right about them being about the same thing. However because HBO
l is so much bigger, it has quite a few HBOnly specials, either
l self-produced, or they buy exclusive cable rights. In addition because of
the large size of it's customer base it can pay less (per subscriber) then
M the other's, and still make the major studios sell them movies because
a it's so much money. As far as I've heard they always pocketed the money
l they made that way. Maybe they lowered the fee because of the merger of
l Showtime & the Movie Channel.
o
y I'd probably go with HBO, just because it has a lower price there, there's
really nothing different between them.
B p.s. consider yourself lucky. Out here in the wilds of Raleigh, our
i Cable system has 12 channels, which includes off air tv stations, one
l channel of snow and FM sound, one bulletin board, and only HBO. It's
l really depressing after 45 channels up in Quincy, MA. And worst of all
no MTV! This is what happens to people who will only work on Berkley UNIX.
M We have to travel all over the place.
-----For those of you still with me, this is the end of the comments I got.
I have a few additional ones of my own. I am not sure what the definition of
using a VCR for your own use is, according to the Supreme Court. I plan on
keeping just Showtime, and finding a friend who gets HBO and also has a VCR.
This way, we can record (and exchange) those few movies that are shown only
by one of them. I am not oriented toward "family oriented" viewing these
days, so HBO does not sound so great. Maybe when my fiance'e and I have kids
of TV viewing age, then ..... :-)
On a related issue, I am having problems with my cable channel selector. I
got a new TV from Milwaukee which receives cable on channels 6 AND 12,
rather than 3! (In MKE, the only regular stations are 4,6,12,18) The unhappy
result is that My cable box now shows everything in the wrong place. Channel
2 can be seen on channel 3, and channel N shows channel (N-1) for N <=37.
Channel 37, naturally, is shifted out of sight. Any suggestions?
--
-=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241
suggested paths: [ihnp4, allegra, cbosg, utcsstat, hogpc, ...]!pegasus!avi