TV Guide Channel
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The TV Guide Channel is a television channel that provides, on the bottom half of the screen, a scrolling grid that lists television channels and the television programs and films currently showing on them. On the top half of the screen are featured short programs (often as little as 30 seconds to a minute long) usually featuring movie previews, celebrity news, and commercials.
The Prevue Guide (the scrolling grid) physically ran off of Amiga hardware and software. The guide was known to crash at times, leaving the Amiga "Guru Meditation" error overlayed on top of the listings. Other errors included a C-Band listing fallback, and a red box where the listings would normally be, simply stating that local listings would appear soon.
Ever since TV Guide bought the Prevue Channel in February of 1999, the channel has changed drastically. 'Shows' have been added to the TV Guide Channel (see bottom). Shows can last from a few seconds to a couple hours (the longer shows take up the whole screen, making the scrolling grid smaller). Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa Rivers provide coverage for television award events like The Emmy Awards and The Academy Awards. During the time around the Emmys, shows that have been nominated are highlighted in gold. Same goes for the Oscars, except only movies that have won in the past.
Current Shows
- Watch This!- A three-minute segment at :57 every hour (except Tuesdays) that shows the best shows to watch in the next hour.
- TV Watercooler- A weekly recap of TV's noteworthy shows and moments.
- The 411- Weekend show that shows the highlights from the past week. Lasts an hour.
- InFANity- A comprehensive look at a particular TV series, featuring cast interviews; set visits; stars' off-screen activities; fans' questions; and plot previews.
- Ready, Set, Change!- A home modification show in the spirit of Monster House. The owner's homes are changed into the theme of their favorite TV show.
- TV Candy- A lucky person gets to get a makeover to look like their favorite TV Show character.
- Look-a-Like- Same thing as TV Candy, only the person gets a makeover to look like a celebrity.
- Seeing Stars- Hypnotist Ricky Kalmon 'hypnotises' people into believing that they are going to meet a celebrity or into thinking they are a certain celebrity.
- Open Call- Marki Costello, a professional casting director trys to cast 'the next big television icon'.
- Square Off- A weekly series presenting news and views about television. Included are panel discussions of TV issues.
- Sushi TV- Shows the most bizarre moments in Japanese Television, while the host give possibly wrong descriptions of whats going on.
- TV Guide Close Up- Informative and fun one hour biographies on your favorite tv and film stars.
- Hollywood on Set- Set visits and behind-the-scenes info on the latest movies, profiling three each show.
- Reality Chat- Weekly talk show dedicated to the reality TV phenomenon.
- Idol Tonight- A preview of each week's American Idol, and highlights (and lowlights) of the previous show, featuring analysis of the judging and fashions as well as the performers and performances. Also: interviews with defeated contestants.
- What's on DVD- A preview of upcoming releases on DVD.
Former Shows
- Music News'
- TV Talk
- Hollywood Insider
- The Screening Room
- Movie Profile
- TV Guide Insider
- Entertainment News
- TV Close-Up
- Movie Close-Up
- Pay-Per-View Close Up
Logos
References
[link] Archive.org cache of the National Cable and Telecommunication Association's TV Guide Channel handbook.[link] Archive.org cache of a gallery of Prevue Guide crashes.
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