The Essentials (TV program)


The Essentials is an American weekly film-focused television program broadcast on Turner Classic Movies, with TCM hosts and special guests introducing and discussing some of the best movies ever made.

Overview

In 2001, Turner Classic Movies launched The Essentials with actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner as the host, who delivered an introduction to explain why the following film is culturally and artistically significant. Reiner then returned with an outro segment. Tom Karsch, then-executive vice president and general manager of TCM, told Variety he had expected the series to "provide a road map" to the movies will help to "attract a broader and younger group of people" to watch the network. The first installment was Citizen Kane, which aired on Sunday, April 1, 2001 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and continued with another film for the next 26 weeks.
In 2003, filmmaker and actor Sydney Pollack hosted the series' third season, beginning with The Philadelphia Story on Sunday, April 6. Pollack compiled his list of essential films in collaboration with Tom Brown, TCM's vice president of program production, and Charlie Coates, the series' writer-director.
In 2005, filmmaker and historian Peter Bogdanovich was announced as the series' third host. He personally selected 27 classic films to give introductory and closing segments for. Among his selections were Steamboat Bill, Jr., La Grande Illusion, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Vertigo. At this point, The Essentials began airing on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET.
The next year, The Essentials was revamped with TCM primetime host Robert Osborne in conversation with a guest host. The 2006 season featured film historian and critic Molly Haskell. In an interview, Haskell recalled: "They enlisted me and they sent me a list of—I didn't actually choose the 30 films that we did aren't necessarily my all-time favorites—but they sent a list of 60 and I chose 40 and then they whittled it down to 30. That's what we came up with."
The 2007 season featured Osborne and actress Carrie Fisher, beginning with their broadcast of Breakfast at Tiffany's on March 10. The selected films were chosen from an initial group of 50 which Fisher selected from TCM's film library. From there, Osborne selected 30 of these. After watching the films, their conversations about the films were taped. When asked why none of her mother Debbie Reynolds's films were included in the lineup, Fisher joked: "I didn't get to pick them. It's not my fault."
The 2008 season featured actress Rose McGowan as the co-host, beginning with The Apartment on March 8. McGowan had previously co-presented The [Night of the Hunter |The Night of the Hunter] during a broadcast of TCM Guest Programmer a year before, which led to her selection as a co-host for The Essentials.

The 2009 season featured Alec Baldwin as the new co-host opposite Robert Osborne, beginning on March 7 with A Night at the Opera. Baldwin had previously appeared on TCM Guest Programmer, and in 2008, hosted the TCM special Role Model: Gene Wilder, in which he interviewed the actor. Baldwin returned for another two seasons in 2010 and 2011.
Drew Barrymore co-hosted the 2012 season of The Essentials, starting with Dinner at Eight on Saturday, March 3.
Sally Field co-hosted with Osborne the 2015 season of The Essentials, which premiered on Saturday, March 7, with a broadcast of Roman Holiday. In 2016, TCM announced a second season of The Essentials with Sally Field had experienced a "production delay" because of Osborne's poor health.
Following Osborne's death in March 2017, Alec Baldwin was named as the new host of The Essentials, with the new season premiering on Saturday, May 6. His guests included David Letterman, his 30 Rock co-star Tina Fey, and William Friedkin.
In 2019, The Essentials was revived with new primetime host Ben Mankiewicz joined with director Ava DuVernay. The 17th season premiered on May 4 with Marty. A year later, Mankiewicz was joined with director Brad Bird, who hand-picked 20 of his favorite films for the 2020 season of The Essentials. The season premiered on May 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET. with Singin' in the Rain.

Hosts

For the program's first five seasons, a single individual hosted the program. From 2006 to 2015, a guest host was paired with the principal host of TCM, Robert Osborne.

2001 season

A spin-off showcase, Essentials, Jr., aired in the summer months of 2007 through 2014, on Sunday nights at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. The featured films were chosen for their appeal to families with young children. The original host was Tom Kenny; he was replaced for the second season by co-hosts Abigail Breslin and Chris O'Donnell. John Lithgow hosted the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The program was hosted from 2011 through 2014 by Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live fame.