Fox Television Classics provides programming to Australians with a focus on series from the 1950s to 1970s. The classic shows are advertisement free and also provide movies and miniseries in the evenings. Bill Collins provides background information and offers the viewer with trivia concerning the movies. Fox Television Classics became a 24 hour channel as of 2004. Fox Television Classics comedies offered include “I Love Lucy”, “M*A*S*H”, “The Golden Girls”, “Hogan’s Heroes” and “The Benny Hill Show”. Of note, “I Love Lucy” offers the Fox Television Classics viewer the six seasons of shenanigans of the Ricardo’s and the Mertz’s. Lucille Ball’s clowning and physical comedy continues to keep the viewer laughing out loud to this day.
There are many westerns provided by Fox Television Classics including “Gunsmoke”, “The Big Valley”, “Bonanza”, and “The Virginian”. The television hit “Bonanza” continues to keep viewers interested in the trials and tribulations of Ben Cartwright. He assists his three sons from three different marriages through issues arising on and round the Ponderosa. If solving a crime is of interest, Fox Television Classics airs “Diagnosis Murder”, “Walker Texas Ranger”, “Murder She Wrote”, and “China Beach”. “Murder She Wrote” ran out 12 seasons of episodes with mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher solving murder mysteries at Cabot Cove, Maine and during her travels.
Fox Television Classics sister channels include The Comedy Channel, Fox8, The Lifestyle Channel, Lifestyle Food, Lifestyle Home, Lifestyle You, SoHo, and TV Hits all of which are owned by Foxtel Networks. Fox Television Classics had been aired after the morning broadcast of Fox Kids in Australia.
