Movies Made for Television
From LoveToKnow Movies
Before there was a movie house on every corner, TV networks would create and produce original feature-length movies made for television.
The Beginning of an Era
The ever popular movie of the week was seen on many television stations as a part of a weekly weekend special like the Wide World of Disney show which many grew up on. Saturday evenings, families would sit around to enjoy a feature film presented by Disney and made specifically for the television audience. Over time the practice changed slightly; networks would rent movies and then broadcast them. This practice is still done today. After popular movies have run their course in the theaters, on on-demand, pay cable and rental companies we can expect them to come to TV.
Howard Hughes, owner of RKO, ran his studio into near bankruptcy. As a way to make money, RKO began to sell their older movies to be shown on an indie NY television station. By the end of the 1950's there were over 4,000 possible titles that could be bought or rented by television stations. This happened because other studios followed RKO's lead. MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros. and more saw a profit.
The 50's saw the first of many programs that featured full-length movies made for television with Late Show and then Saturday Night at the Movies during the 60's. In the late 80's and 90's many would remember Up All Night on USA Network. Many personalities began to emerge as hosts from these shows, including Vampira, Elvira, Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Shear. Needless to say, this was big business and a great way to earn ad dollars and to introduce a new crowd to classic movies.
In 1964 NBC produced the first made for television movie called See How They Run which starred John Forsythe. Two years later they inked a deal with Universal to produce a running series of exclusive TV movies with Fame is the Name of the Game being the first. The early 70's proved that the made for TV market was here to stay and was a substantial money maker as production on these films averaged out to be 750k instead of millions for theatrical released films.
The Popularity of Movies Made for Television
Over the last 40 years there have been many movies of the week that have captured the hearts of millions. Many of us can still remember those campy Columbo movies or the first ever appearance of the "Six Million Dollar Man" and the "Bionic Woman." Many of these movies spawned their own TV series as well.
First and foremost the movies were a ratings powerhouse as millions of television viewers watched Brian's Song in the beginning of the 70's. Other movies followed suit with high numbers including The Waltons’ Thanksgiving Story in '73, Women in Chains in '72 and A Case of Rape in '74. These films, exclusive to their television networks, outdrew their theatrically released counterparts leaving Goldfinger and The Graduate. Movies of the week, as they became to be known, were able to have much deeper meanings.
Subject matter which was considered too controversial, yet topical, but still too real for normal television series was able to be addressed by a movie of the week. One of the regular movies of the week specials that showed before primetime and addressed topical as well as controversial issues was After School Special. Soon the miniseries was created so that longer stories could be told over several nights, making it impossible to not tune in. Movies like Holocaust, Thorn Birds, Lonesome Dove and V: The Miniseries were some of the most popular but none shined more than 1977's Roots.
The grandest creation had to be ABC's Winds of War which debuted in 1983. This miniseries required 40 million dollars to produce and ran on six consecutive nights for what amounted to 18 hours of total television viewing time. The production took 200 days to shoot and the script was almost 1000 pages, but it paid off as all of the advertising, at $300k per minute, was sold out.
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