Captain America Marathon on Syfy Today!

[Philip Portelli]

Today, Friday 7/22, Syfy is showing the two Captain America TV movies from the 70s and the (apparently very bad) film from the 80s from 2 PM to 8 PM EST.

[Jason Marconnet (Pint sized mod)]

I planned to go home and set my DVR and then forgot about it. darn.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

I have them on tape at home. Only Odin knows why.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Yesterday I watched the first Reb Brown Captain America TV movie for the first time since it was originally aired in… 1978? I didn’t remember anything about the plot, but I did remember that this Steve Rogers wasn’t the comic book Cap, but rather the son of the original (who wasn’t the comic book Cap, either). I remembered the motorcycle (with its “whisper silent” running mode), the clear plastic shield with red stripes, the corny costume he wore, and that he didn’t get to wear the original costume until the closing minutes of the movie. The costume he did wear looks more like Silver Star’s, but I didn’t remember he didn’t wear even that until an hour and a half in.

Other than that, this Captain America positively screams 1970s TV movie: same generic soundtrack, same generic directing, same generic acting. There were a lot of vehicle chases, mostly boring, although I must admit “Wendy” (the scientist/girlfriend) looked really good in her black bathing suit. I find it extremely difficult to believe SyFy rated the movie “PG.” I do remember making a conscious decision not to watch the sequel when it aired, but now that the origin is out of the way, perhaps the second one is better?

I plan to watch the sequel soon, but give me a couple days to recover.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I find it extremely difficult to believe SyFy rated the movie “PG.”

It was rated PG for "violence" (supposedly), but if it was rated PG for anything it should have been unintentional homosexual innuendo. This movie should have been featured on MST3K.

[ClarkKent_DC]

But was SyFy using the MPAA ratings for theatrical films, or the FCC television content ratings? They aren't the same.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I have no idea. I was using common sense if-it-was-okay-for-broadcast-TV-in-the-70s-it-oughtta-be-okay-for-cable-today ratings. Seriously, it's pretty tame as far as any "violence" is concerned.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Yeah, but I bet a lot of stuff that was made before the content ratings came along might be flagged for all kinds of things, if those standards were applied to them.

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I wonder what kind of rating the Three Stooges would get under those standards?

[ClarkKent_DC]

Looking at the descriptions of the rankings, likely TV-PG, with the V added for moderate violence. I don't think The Three Stooges would rate the lower TV-Y7-FV, because what they do wouldn't come under "fantasy violence." Their slapping, kicking, pinching, punching, etc., are things any kid can do to anyone else.

[Henry R. Kujawa]

Jeff of Earth-J wrote:

"if it was rated PG for anything it should have been unintentional homosexual innuendo"

 

Really? Well, that was in the comics anyway...  (One friend of mine some years back said he thought AVENGERS #4 was "the gayest comic-book he had ever read".)

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...This rather dovetails into the discussion about ratings I started a ways ago , which stayed mostly on comics , though I wanted to discuss US YV and movie ratings , as well as other countries' !

  Clark , are the modern-day US TV ones - TV-PG , etc. - made up by the FCC ?

  I believe that they're self-imposed , and I doubt whether the FCCC would LITERALLY " come up with " such ratings .

  The Three Stooges have been showing in the wee smalls/early-earlies on AMC lately , I think I saw with a TV-G !!!!!

[ClarkKent_DC]

The Wikipedia article I linked to describes things fairly well: The television content ratings were created by the Federal Communications Commission and are applied "voluntarily" by broadcast and cable networks. News and sports channels are exempt, as are infomercials.