WHAT HAPPENED TO NETWORK MOVIES, DO WE NEED THEM BACK ?

[gregg75]

Would you like to see much of reality TV replaced by network movies? Here is a list of all the network movies in 1973 from wikipedia. Are they due a come back? I know we have a lot more channels and choices now, but we also have a lot more movies. I would think movies (already made) would be cheaper for the networks than reality shows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973–74_United_States_network_television_schedule

SUNDAY
ABC MOVIE 8:30-10:30
NBC MOVIE 8:30-10:30
MONDAY
NBC MOVIE 9-11PM
TUESDAY
ABC MOVIE 8:30-10PM
CBS MOVIE 9:30-11PM
WEDNESDAY
ABC MOVIE 8:30-10PM
NBC MOVIE 8:30-10PM
THURSDAY
CBS MOVIE 9-11PM
FRIDAY
CBS MOVIE 9-11PM
SATURDAY
ABC MOVIE 8:30-10PM
NBC MOVIE 9-11PM

 

[TexasTom]

Remember that in 1973, the only way to see movies once they fell out of first run (other than the rare theatrical re-release) was to watch them when they were broadcast on TV. There were no DVDs, Blu Ray disks, prerecorded VHS tapes, pay movie channels, pay per view movies, or streaming video as alternative sources to see those movies. Except for a very small number of households with industrial grade video tape recorders at home, no one was able to record and archive broadcasts of movies for re-watching in the future.

Consequently, when a movie showed up on network TV, it was a very big deal -- and the box office blockbusters translated to huge ratings. Today, it's a very different matter...there are so many different places to see movies that there is nothing special about a movie being shown on broadcast television. And that's reflected in the ratings, which generally aren't all that good when theatrical films run on broadcast networks.

So, no, we probably aren't going to get those movie nights back...although I tend to agree that they'd be an improvement over the reality shows. But then I'd personally consider signing off for transmitter maintenance to be an improvement over most reality television.

 

[bpatrick]

And you won't see much except the occasional CBS Hallmark specials.

What was really sad was the decline and fall of the miniseries. Remember
in the '70s and '80s when those things were real events that seemed to
hook the entire country: "Rich Man, Poor Man," "Roots," "Holocaust," "Shogun,"
"The Winds Of War," "The Thorn Birds," "Lonesome Dove"? Classic television
all. But there were also a fair share of forgettable ones (anyone remember "A.D."?)
and a problem: if the miniseries didn't attract a large audience the first night, forget it;
few people were going to join them in progress. And I don't think you could get people
to commit to as much as seven or eight nights anymore (part of the reason for the success
of "Roots," aside from the story, was cold and snow in the eastern half of the country that
week, Jan. 23-30, 1977, but there weren't the alternatives we have now).

 

[LKellerIII]

You must not be watching basic cable. Networks like FX run a fair number of theatrical films. Personally, I never watch. Why would I want to see "edited for content and time" films with commercial interruptions when I can see them in their original uncensored form without commercials - via so many other sources?

As for mini-series, they were given up by the major networks a couple of decades ago as too costly to produce. They have been replaced by many fine short series (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, etc.) on the basic cable channels.

Count me as one vote for the way TV is today, not 30 years ago.

 

[SteveRichards]

And because of all the commercials now, a movie takes forever to watch on TV. Most movies that would have been allotted a 2-hour time slot 15 or 20 years ago now have to run 2 1/2 hours to get in all the spots. And then there is all the editing, etc. Watching a movie on TV just isn't that pleasant anymore.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Seems like a fair number of the timeslots in the first post were made-for TV, like the ABC Movie Of The Week, which was on Tuesday and Wednesday. Also, wasn't Sunday night NBC's Mystery Movie (Columbo, McCloud, McMillan & Wife, etc)?

 

[gregg75]

Looks like they were still counting them as movies though.

THIS-TV seems to be making a lot out of the older movies and seeing as they have the
most affiliates of any sub-channel, there must be an audience (although older) for them.

The networks now run an occasional SPECIAL MOVIE with some quite current. I'd think
if ABC had one of those every Wednesday it could become popular again. But they'd probably
have to move some reality series to make room. Everybody always wants to do what everybody
else is doing. Is there no counter programming anymore?

 

[therealjm12]

I know, back in the day, ABC was very successful with the Tuesday and Wednesday Movies of the week. They were able to attract such hungry producers as a very young Steven Spielberg, Arron Spelling David Wolper, among others. It was the start of Kolchak the Night Stalker -one of my all time favorites. It was a formula that worked and might work today but would be a gamble. Reality shows are cheaper to produce and attract pretty much brainless audiences -which work for the nets.
Those movies have pretty much disappeared. I have never seen them packaged and rerun.

 

[searadiofreak]

I think the point has been made we are dealing with a totally different television era back in the 60's/70's, as it applies to movies. The landscape is totally different due to technology, as has been mentioned.

However, kudos to TMC, who STILL runs movies uninterupted, and they are still on many cable systems. They have been slow to move to newer titles (and by newer I mean 80's/90's!) but I still appreciate this channel, and still appreciate cable operators that run this channel on their basic lineup.

 

[johnnyu]

ABC is showing Harry Potter tonight.

 

[radioman148]

Anything is better than Reality TV, but Network movies are commercial ridden. Hardly watchable.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Anything is better than Reality TV, but Network movies are commercial ridden. Hardly watchable.

I agree--plus particularly during the late '80s to the mid-'90s (or whenever the network movies fell out of fashion) it seemed like few of them were heavily edited versions of theatrical films--most of them seemed like stuff that would air on Lifetime/Lifetime Movie Network ad nauseum nowadays.

 

[KeyTimes950]

Actually, ABC has been running all of the Harry Potter movies on Saturday nights. A nice summer alternative but also probably ties in to "Deathly Hallows Part 2." (Ironically, I just saw "Part 1" on DVD a couple weeks ago.) Also, it's been a chance to plug the network's current reality show ("Take The Money And Run") and some of the fall schedule ("Pan Am," "Once Upon A Time").

 

[LKellerIII]

Harry Potter on ABC is really an exception. With the final chapter of the series in theaters, it will get higher ratings than any regular movie, it gives people a chance to catch up on any in the series they might have missed, it's being run during the summer when networks need exciting content to attract viewers, and the Potter films require very little "editing for content" - perhaps none at all .

 

[mjlarochelle]

ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX all seem to show movies from time to time. I remember FOX aired several Star Wars movies around Christmas a couple years ago.

Movies on broadcast TV in Canada still seems more common than in the United States. The new CTV Two network is scheduled to air movies Saturdays at 9pm and Sundays at 8pm. CBC airs movies fairly frequently, especially in summer when there is no hockey.

 

[Ultimajock]

However, kudos to TMC, who STILL runs movies uninterupted, and they are still on many cable systems. They have been slow to move to newer titles (and by newer I mean 80's/90's!) but I still appreciate this channel, and still appreciate cable operators that run this channel on their basic lineup.

...from the wording here, I assume you're actually talking about TCM, Turner Classic Movies. "TMC" usually refers to The Movie Channel, Showtime's second-tier pay-cable sister...

 

[searadiofreak]

Yes, my mistake, TCM, not TMC.

 

[gregg75]

Now that is really a great place to catch a movie because of no commercials.

Why do they need only limited commercials when someone like FOX must have
commercials galore?

 

[TexasTom]

I know, back in the day, ABC was very successful with the Tuesday and Wednesday Movies of the week. They were able to attract such hungry producers as a very young Steven Spielberg, Arron Spelling David Wolper, among others. It was the start of Kolchak the Night Stalker -one of my all time favorites. It was a formula that worked and might work today but would be a gamble. Reality shows are cheaper to produce and attract pretty much brainless audiences -which work for the nets.
Those movies have pretty much disappeared. I have never seen them packaged and rerun.

Some of those old TV movies will occasionally show up on low budget LPTV networks. Apparently, many of these old TV movies were never copyrighted and are in the public domain as a result. Those TV movies were cheap to produce, were typically run twice on the network, then went into syndication where they were used as filler (overnight movies and that kind of thing) -- but they really didn't seem to have a lot of residual value, and quickly faded into obscurity.

 

[searadiofreak]

Yes, and some of these movies were groundbreaking...I remember one with Bill Bixby tackling being a gay father in the early 70's. Can't remember the title, but it was an ABC made for tv movie that attracted a lot of attention at the time. Wonder what ever happened to that.