Tuesday, July 16, 2019

When MTV Meant Something: The Big Picture (1988)

As the 80's were drawing to a gradual close, MTV was expanding its programming catalogue to include a show about movies. No, they didn't repurpose the PBS series, Sneak Previews, but, rather, developed their own show in conjunction with Premiere, a then-emerging movie magazine that sought to do for movies what Rolling Stone was doing for pop culture in general.

The Big Picture premiered in 1988, airing as memory serves on weekends. Premiere senior editor Chris Connelly, now with ESPN, served as host. Sorry to say, there's no Wikipedia entry that tells us how long the show actually lasted. It was pretty much a half hour infomercial for Premiere, which probably contributed to its short shelf life on the air.

Following is a sample episode from the fall of 1988.



Rating: A.

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