Longtime Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne began taping new segments this week after a month’s absence from the network, a TCM spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. When he returns to the air on Oct. 1 Osborne will be cutting back his hosting duties to spend more time on TCM’s non-broadcast activities.
Starting Oct. 5, most movies shown in primetime on Friday nights will be introduced by Ben Mankiewicz, who has hosted the network’s classic movie showings on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons for nearly a decade. There will be guest programmers on some Fridays, the spokesperson said.
Mankiewicz will also be hosting the three films following the Osborne and Drew Barrymore-hosted “The Essential” on Saturday nights, as well as the two films shown after around midnight Eastern on Sunday nights.
In October, Mankiewicz will host a Tuesday night series of films about characters with disabilities on Tuesday nights — with introductions filmed during Osborne’s vacation — as well as his first regular Friday night series, devoted to political films with guests like CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Mankiewicz, 45, has been filling in for vacationing Osborne, 80, since Osborne’s last new segment aired on Aug. 29. Various guest programmers and Mankiewicz temporarily replaced Osborne when he took a five-month leave in 2011 after appearing on air every day since TCM’s founding in 1994.
“Both Robert and Ben’s responsibilities have grown as the network has grown and we have expanded both their roles,” said the TCM spokesperson. “Part of what we want more from Robert is direct engagement with fans at events like the TCM Classic Cruise, The Road to Hollywood screening series and TCM Film Festival and other events, and this allows us to do that.”
Like most television programs, TCM tapes its introductions in advance, with Osborne, who lives in New York, typically filming around a month’s worth during a week at TCM’s Atlanta studios.
“Robert took off his week in August, which in TCM time meant he was off the air for the entire month of September,” explained Mankiewicz. “Robert’s not going anywhere, he’s still the Walter Cronkite of TCM.”
“I’m incredibly grateful that my role has expanded,” says Mankiewicz, who is known for his puckish, self-deprecating wit.
“I think of the TCM audience the same way I think of women I’ve wanted to date — initailly they have no interest in me, but eventually I wear them down. One reason I think there was hestitation [when I first started] was fans’ desire to protect the network. We’re taking care of movies, we’re the guardians of these films, there are no commercials…and this young guy is coming in and what does it mean for Robert? Robert is Turner Classic Movies. It just took [the fans] a while to realize that everything is going to be the same.”