''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

For a sixteen-year period from 2001 to 2017 excepting 2016, the program aired each Saturday night at 8:00 PM Eastern Time from March to January of the following year. For the first five seasons, a single individual hosted the program; for the remaining seasons, a main host would be paired with a guest. For the balance of the program's broadcast, a full decade from 2006 to 2015, a guest host was paired with the principal host of TCM, Robert Osborne. The program was suspended in 2016 due to the poor health of Osborne, and continued following the death of Osborne in 2017, having

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

paired with a sequence of guests. The program was not programmed by the network after the sixteenth season ended in January 2018. It was revived in May 2019 with new host Ben Mankiewicz.

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. * Rob Reiner (2001−2003) *

Sydney Pollack Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film ''Out ...

(2004) * Peter Bogdanovich (2005) * Robert Osborne (2006−2015) * Molly Haskell (2006) * Carrie Fisher (2007) * Rose McGowan (2008) *