60-578: The ABC Movie of the Week was an American weekly television anthology series featuring made-for-TV movies that aired on the ABC network in various permutations from 1969 to 1975 . In the 1960s, movie studios viewed television as a second-rate medium but also as a threat to their theatrical revenue, so they charged high fees for the privilege to broadcast their films. The networks experimented with having films made specifically for TV to lower expenses. NBC created
120-464: A Richard Matheson short story from Playboy , was director Steven Spielberg 's first feature film, catapulting his career and enabling him to move from television to theatrical films. ABC earned four Emmys , a Peabody Award and citations from the NAACP and American Cancer Society for an airing of Brian's Song in 1972. The 1971–72 season of the series finished as the fifth highest rated series of
180-642: A double agent that the West wants to plant high in the KGB . Starring: Robert Horton , Jill St. John , Sebastian Cabot , Eric Pohlmann , Dudley Foster , Eleanor Summerfield A racist commando must lead an all-African-American squad of misfits on a secret mission in Nazi Germany . Starring: Stephen Boyd , Robert Hooks , Susan Oliver , Roosevelt Grier **, Moses Gunn **, Richard Pryor **, Billy Dee Williams **, Glynn Turman **, Paul Stewart ** A documentary tracing
240-474: A pacifistic hippie draftee . Starring: Darren McGavin , Jan-Michael Vincent , Earl Holliman Three of the gang reunite to help a geriatric comrade, especially after he becomes marshal of Waco and has to face down bank robbers. Starring: Walter Brennan , Edgar Buchanan , Chill Wills , Andy Devine , Fred Astaire **, Parley Baer , Walter Burke , Lana Wood Two notorious outlaws work to earn amnesty , but their former gang has other plans for
300-410: A $ 2 million diamond from a tycoon, but they find they have competition. Starring: Patrick Macnee , Connie Stevens , Herbert Lom , Marty Allen Double-crosses abound as various people try to get $ 38,000 that was embezzled from a Santa Fe bank. Starring: Roger Davis , Pete Duel , Walter Brennan , Joan Hackett , Wally Cox A man blinded by guilt comes home to live with his sister, but
360-417: A cab driver. Starring: Jason Evers , Judy Pace , Zalman King , Tom Fielding, Anjanette Comer *, Keenan Wynn *, James Shigeta *, Richard Pryor *, Dick Bass *, Michael Parks **, George Macready ***, Louise Latham ***, Barry Atwater ***, Georg Stanford Brown *** Former government assassin turned private investigator John Smith finds himself caught in a web of deceit involving a notebook containing
420-411: A call, Sayers mentions that he gave Piccolo a pint of blood while he was in critical condition. Piccolo dies with his wife by his side. The movie ends with a flashback of Piccolo and Sayers running through the park, while Halas narrates that Piccolo died at age 26 and is remembered not for how he died but for how he lived. The musical theme to Brian's Song , "The Hands of Time", was a popular tune during
480-501: A collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Greek Anthology . Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express. Many popular old-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such as Inner Sanctum Mysteries , the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of
540-664: A different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse , employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One , began on radio and then expanded to television. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία ( anthología , "flower-gathering"), from ἀνθολογέω ( anthologéō , "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος ( ánthos , "flower") + λέγω ( légō , "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος ( στέφανος ( stéphanos , "garland")) to describe
600-547: A dying billionaire after his blood is found to provide almost miraculous healing and life extension properties. Starring: Christopher George , Carol Lynley *, Barry Sullivan *, Jessica Walter *, Ralph Bellamy * Four elderly Texas Rangers come out of retirement to oust the corrupt crime boss mayor of a frontier town. Starring: Walter Brennan , Pat O'Brien *, Edgar Buchanan *, Chill Wills *, Edward Andrews *, Jack Elam *, Andy Devine *, Gypsy Rose Lee *, Ricky Nelson * Unlicensed private investigator Gus Monk
660-520: A famed gunslinger gives up violence but has to find a way to save a frontier town. Starring: Lloyd Bridges , John Beck , Ed Begley, Sr. , Edd Byrnes , Pernell Roberts , Susan Howard After breaking up with Moondoggie, Gidget becomes a United Nations tour guide and begins a love affair with an older Australian agriculture consultant. Starring: Karen Valentine , Edward Mulhare , Paul Peterson , Warner Anderson **, Bob Cummings **, Nina Foch **, Paul Lynde ** Independent scholars try to find
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#1732876946250720-470: A handbuilt glider . Starring: Doug McClure , Rene Auberjonois , Richard Basehart **, Max Baer Jr. **, Chuck Connors **, Tom Skerritt An ESP researcher investigates mysterious happenings surrounding a widow to find out if she is being gaslighted by someone with psychic powers. Starring: Alex Dreier , Stefanie Powers **, Pat Hingle , Louise Latham , Steve Ihnat , Brenda Scott , Chris Robinson Death takes human form and falls in love with
780-414: A kidnapped scientist who has developed a biological agent that can turn humanity into mindless slaves. Starring: Christopher George , Avery Schreiber , Marlyn Mason *, William Windom *, John Vernon *, William Schallert *, Gloria Grahame * An OSS officer tasked with smuggling a nuclear physicist out of Nazi Germany plots to fly themselves out of a POW camp located in a mountain castle using
840-402: A lead-in from 7:30 to 8:30, bringing the younger demographic . The shorter running time of the film freed the 10 p.m. time slot for a full 60-minute program, initially Marcus Welby, M.D. during the first season. Starting earlier at 8:30 could also prevent viewers from switching to competing movies at 9:00. Beginning with the 1971 season, ABC added a second MotW on Saturday night and adjusted
900-547: A list of names of spies. Starring: Robert Horton , Jill St. John , Sebastian Cabot , Lee Montague , Eleanor Summerfield , Barbara Shelley Struggling wedding consultants desperately try to get three couples legally married after finding out they accidentally had an actor officiate the original weddings. Starring: Michael Callan , Ann Prentiss , Eve Arden **, Ruth Buzzi **, Christopher Connelly ,** Bill Daily **, Elinor Donahue **, Herb Edelman **, Paul Ford ,** Elsa Lanchester ** After nearly shooting an innocent,
960-462: A long lost Spanish galleon while an unscrupulous, wealthy thief shadows them to get the treasure for himself. Starring: Keir Dullea , Bradford Dillman , France Nuyen , Aron Kincaid , Lana Wood , Jacques Aubuchon , Paul Hampton , Ricardo Montalbán ** Former government agent turned private investigator John Smith agrees to participate in a scheme to be captured by the Soviets and exchanged for
1020-593: A motorhome on a journey of self-discovery to a hippie music festival , where he falls in love with gravely ill girl. Starring: Carl Betz , Vera Miles , Jeff Bridges , Ruth McDevitt , Michael Anderson, Jr. *, Howard Duff *, Kim Hunter *, Renne Jarrett *, Sal Mineo *, Tyne Daly An African American sheriff tries to prove that a racist raped a young black girl. Starring: Ossie Davis , Kaz Garas , Kyle Johnson , John Marley *, Edward Binns *, Lynda Day George *, Ruby Dee *, Moses Gunn *, Ross Martin *, Brenda Sykes * A famed escape artist has to find
1080-442: A mysterious boarder may be trying to kill him. Starring: Anthony Perkins , Julie Harris , Joan Hackett , Kent Smith , Robert H. Harris A man with a steel plate in his skull sees everyone else in a town he is visiting leave in a trance -like state every night. Starring: James Franciscus , Lee Grant , Leslie Nielsen **, Tisha Sterling . An elderly man sees a close friend beaten to death, but all witnesses contradict him,
1140-554: A new type of anthology format in the U.S. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons, but playing different roles—in an echo of the Four Star Playhouse format. The success of American Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such as American Crime Story and True Detective . Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within
1200-405: A rarity during the racial strife at the time. Piccolo is afraid that he did not make the team, but Sayers makes the point that "if you didn't make the team, we wouldn't be placed together as roommates." Their friendship flourishes, in football and in life, quickly extending to their wives, Joy Piccolo and Linda Sayers. Sayers quickly becomes a standout player, but he injures his knee in a game against
1260-512: A weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956. Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company. American television networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsold television pilots . Beginning in 1971, the long-run Masterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television. In 2011, American Horror Story debuted
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#17328769462501320-417: A woman who was supposed to die, so people stop dying. Starring: Yvette Mimieux , Monte Markham , Myrna Loy , Bert Convy , Melvyn Douglas Anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio , television , film , or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode , season , segment, or short . These usually have
1380-428: Is entangled in a scheme involving a Mob-connected lawyer who claims his boss is out to kill him. Starring: George Maharis , Janet Leigh , Rick Jason , Carl Betz *, Jack Albertson **, Raymond St. Jacques ***, William Smithers , Jack Soo , Mary Wickes A Boston attorney leaves to take control of a legal aid program staffed by students. Their first case is to defend two Black men accused of robbing and beating
1440-408: Is sent to a hospital for a diagnosis. Soon after, Halas tells Sayers that Piccolo has cancer and will have part of a lung removed. In an emotional speech to his teammates, Sayers states that they will win the game for Piccolo and give him the game ball. When the players later visit the hospital, Piccolo teases them about losing the game, laughing that the line in the old movie wasn't "let’s blow one for
1500-634: The ABC Friday Night Movie and the ABC Sunday Night Movie . The Tuesday Movie of the Week would later be incorporated as part of ABC Late Night , a replacement of ABC's Wide World of Entertainment that ran from 1976 to 1982; the late-night version would mainly feature repeats of movies, both made for television and traditional theatrical releases, that were previously seen on ABC and other networks. ABC continued to premiere new TV films on Sunday nights in prime time until 2005. During
1560-497: The Golden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such as The United States Steel Hour and The Philco Television Playhouse . Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, Four Star Playhouse , with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with Desilu studio. Powell had intended for
1620-615: The National Football League . The film chronicles the evolution of their friendship, ending with Piccolo's death in 1970. The production was such a success on ABC that it was later shown in theaters by Columbia Pictures with a major premiere in Chicago ; however, it was soon withdrawn for lack of business. Critics have called the movie one of the finest television movies ever made. A 2005 readers' poll taken by Entertainment Weekly ranked Brian's Song seventh in its list of
1680-674: The San Francisco 49ers . To aid in Sayers's recovery, Piccolo brings a weight machine to his house. In Sayers' place, Piccolo rushes for 160 yards in a 17–16 win over the Los Angeles Rams and is given the game ball. Piccolo challenges Sayers to a race across the park, where Sayers stumbles but wins. Piccolo wins the starting fullback position, meaning both he and Sayers will now be on the field together, and both excel in their roles. Piccolo starts to lose weight and his performance declines, so he
1740-579: The Variety article had effectively placed the concept into the public domain , ABC continued to develop it without Huggins' permission or involvement. ABC consoled Huggins by allowing him to produce several films, including The Young Country, precursor to Alias Smith and Jones . Michael Karol repeated the claim in his book The ABC Movie of the Week Companion: A Loving Tribute to the Classic Series that
1800-502: The 1970s, ABC's local owned-and-operated stations ( in a few of the nation's biggest cities ; at the time, they all broadcast on channel 7) featured The 4:30 Movie on weekday afternoons (the actual time varied by city, but generally after ABC's morning/midday game shows and soap operas); it featured mainly major Hollywood theatrical releases, but some installments of the Movie of the Week were also rebroadcast here. A man flees from
1860-573: The Gipper." After a game against the St. Louis Cardinals , Sayers visits Joy, who reveals that Piccolo has to have another surgery for his tumor. After he is awarded the "George S. Halas Most Courageous Player Award", Sayers dedicates his award to Piccolo, telling the crowd that they had selected the wrong person for the prize and saying, "I love Brian Piccolo, and I'd like all of you to love him, too. And tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him." In
ABC Movie of the Week - Misplaced Pages Continue
1920-515: The Movie of the Week was Diller's idea, but this was based on hearsay. The shorter format allowed a smaller budget than two-hour TV movies. At $ 350,000 per film, it was less than half the budget of NBC's World Premiere movies. It featured the work of producers like Aaron Spelling , David Wolper and Harve Bennett (all of whom later developed hit series of their own), and was produced by different production companies such as Bing Crosby Productions and
1980-683: The United States by the Learning Corporation of America. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 85% of 13 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The site's consensus is that "Buoyed by standout performances from James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, Brian's Song is a touching tale of friendship whose central relationship transcends its standard sports movie moments." In his 2016 book co-written with Alan Sepinwall titled TV (The Book) , television critic Matt Zoller Seitz named Brian's Song as
2040-400: The Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo ( James Caan ), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer , focusing on his friendship with teammate Gale Sayers ( Billy Dee Williams ). Piccolo's and Sayers's sharply differing temperaments and racial backgrounds made them unlikely to become friends but they did, becoming the first interracial roommates in the history of
2100-444: The Week ). The title sequence was designed by Harry Marks and animated by Douglas Trumbull using the slit-scan process that he had created for 2001: A Space Odyssey . The accompanying theme music was an orchestral version of "Nikki", a song composed by Burt Bacharach and named for his daughter. The theme was chosen by Marks and arranged by Harry Betts . Over the music was narration voiced by Dick Tufeld . "The Movie of
2160-520: The Week. Presenting the world premiere of an original motion picture produced especially for ABC (or 'for the Movie of the Week' in some seasons)." That would be followed by a promotional teaser for the movie. The opening for the Saturday Movie of the Weekend featured footage of a silhouetted "rotating cameraman " operating a 35 mm movie camera ( [1] ). This footage would later be incorporated into
2220-694: The actors in non-recurring roles appeared only once or twice in the series. Notable exceptions who appeared in three or more films as different characters include Doug McClure , Darren McGavin , Dennis Weaver , Clint Walker , Earl Holliman , Leonard Nimoy , Robert Culp , Barbara Eden , Larry Hagman , Elizabeth Montgomery , Donna Mills , Ed Nelson , Ken Berry , Connie Stevens , Lee Majors , James Brolin , Lloyd Bridges , Cloris Leachman , Ricardo Montalbán , Richard Anderson , Lesley Anne Warren , Janet Leigh , John Marley , William Schallert , Karen Valentine , Ben Murphy , Barra Grant , Myrna Loy , Carl Betz , Henry Jones and William Windom . Many of
2280-427: The ball, and Sayers flips it to him. Before Sayers meets with coach George Halas in his office, Piccolo tells him – as a prank – that Halas has a hearing problem, and Sayers acts strangely at the meeting. Sayers pranks him back by placing mashed potatoes on his seat while Piccolo is singing his alma mater 's fight song. During practice, Piccolo struggles while Sayers shines. Sayers and Piccolo are placed as roommates,
2340-523: The bank where they are employed. Starring: Pete Duel , Ben Murphy , Forrest Tucker , Susan Saint James , James Drury , Jeanette Nolan , Earl Holliman ** Cold War intrigue with traitors trying to steal top secret anti-ballistic missile controls being tested on a U.S. nuclear submarine. Starring: Leonard Nimoy *, Joseph Cotten *, William Windom *, Keenan Wynn *, Lloyd Haynes *, Dewey Martin *, Malachi Throne , Ron Masak A medical intern visiting his home town comes to believe his mentor ,
2400-653: The blame on ABC's overreliance on the MotW, which had suffered from ratings fatigue and a perceived drop in quality despite some notable films. The latter was symptomized by an increased number of pilots as well as remakes and variations of established intellectual properties, such as The Swiss Family Robinson, The Mark of Zorro , The Hatfields and the McCoys and Matt Helm. After that, ABC's made-for-TV movies were aired either as stand-alone specials or shown in time slots that included both original and theatrical movie presentations, notably
2460-610: The earliest such programs was The Collier Hour , broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932. As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials from Collier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post . Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in
ABC Movie of the Week - Misplaced Pages Continue
2520-511: The early 1970s and has become a standard. The music for the film was by Michel Legrand , with lyrics to the song by Alan and Marilyn Bergman . Legrand's instrumental version of the theme song charted for eight weeks in 1972, peaking at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 . It also won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition . The film received acclaim and is often cited as one of
2580-454: The fifth greatest American TV-movie of all time, stating that the film was "The dramatic and emotional template for a good number of sports films and male weepies (categories which tend to overlap a bit)", as well as "an influential early example of the interracial buddy movie." Filmink magazine said the film "has a deserved reputation for the definitive guy cry movie – cancer, race, football, stoicism." Thirty years after its original airing,
2640-403: The first weekly umbrella for such films with their World Premiere Movie in 1966, running in a two-hour time slot. Until the late 1960s, ABC ran a distant third behind rivals CBS and NBC , leading to jokes about it coming in fourth among the three networks or about its acronym meaning "Almost Broadcasting Company". Desperation and a looser corporate structure allowed ABC to consider plans that
2700-499: The greatest television films ever made, as well as one of the greatest sports films. The film was the most watched movie on U.S. television during 1971 and the most watched made-for-TV movie ever with a Nielsen rating of 32.9 and an audience share of 48% until it was surpassed by The Night Stalker in January 1972. Beginning in Fall 1972, the film was made available to schools all over
2760-513: The horror genre to have a franchise with an anthology format, such as with the Halloween franchise where the third film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch , was meant to be the beginning of a series of anthology horror films, but due to negative reception that plan was shelved. Anthology video games have been very rare since the 1980s. Brian%27s Song Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of
2820-495: The magazine. Radio anthology series provided for science fiction , horror , suspense, and mystery genres (all produced in the US, unless noted): The final episode of Suspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era. However, genre series produced since 1962 include: In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during
2880-623: The network's own ABC Circle Films . Spelling was particularly prolific, producing films under his own credit as well as through Spelling-Goldberg Productions and Thomas-Spelling Productions (partly owned by Danny Thomas ). The MotW provided ABC with a ratings hit and, along with Monday Night Football , helped establish the network as a legitimate competitor to rivals CBS and NBC . The films themselves varied in quality and were often escapist or sensationalistic in nature ( suspense , horror and melodrama were staples), but some were critically well received. For example, Duel (1971), based on
2940-685: The opening of ABC's New York City television station WABC-TV 's various movie umbrellas beginning around 1972–73, including and especially their weekday afternoon movie showcase The 4:30 Movie . The series was often used as a platform to show pilots for possible series for the network. It allowed the network to air pilots that it had already commissioned and paid for but had not ordered as regular series. As well, pilots that had already been sold as ongoing series or were being tested such as Kung Fu , The Six Million Dollar Man , Starsky and Hutch , Longstreet , Toma , Alias Smith and Jones and Get Christie Love! premiered here and returned on
3000-451: The other two networks would not. Barry Diller , then a junior executive at ABC and later a co-founder of the Fox network, is often cited as the creator of the Movie of the Week (MotW), although the concept was actually originated by producer Roy Huggins . Huggins reasoned that many older theatrical films ran shorter than 90 minutes so requiring a 120-minute time slot was unnecessary. His proposal
3060-550: The police won't believe him and his son suspects him of paranoia . Starring: Edward G. Robinson , Diane Baker , Ruth Roman , Percy Rodrigues , Sam Jaffe , Martin Balsam **, Edward Asner , Martin E. Brooks , Virginia Christine A woman who has inherited an old Georgetown manor learns that her family property is a breeding ground for the supernatural. Starring: Barbara Stanwyck , Richard Egan , Michael Anderson Jr. , Kitty Winn A Marine drill instructor comes to respect
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#17328769462503120-481: The political life and career of Robert F. Kennedy . Starring: John Huston (narrator) Conflict and crises at a hospital run by a medical patriarch and his three sons – all doctors – including a cholera outbreak and a movie star with kidney failure . Starring: Gary Collins , John Dehner , Susan Howard , Gordon Pinsent , Dan Ferrone, Wally Cox *, Sam Jaffe *, Terry Moore *, Sharon Farrell ** Suave con artist Dudley Jerico and his sidekick scheme to steal
3180-437: The program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea , and Rosalind Russell . When Russell and McCrea backed out, David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952. It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating with Amos 'n' Andy . It was successful enough to be renewed and became
3240-580: The regular schedule after minor to major alterations to the premise and/or cast. Other programs are sometimes mistakenly believed to have aired under the Movie of the Week banner. Marcus Welby, M.D. , for example, premiered after Seven in Darkness and was the lead-out for the Tuesday installment. Still others, like Earth II and Robert Conrad 's version of Nick Carter were actually shown on other movie series, such as The ABC Sunday Night Movie . Most of
3300-492: The telefilms had actors credited as guest stars , special guest stars and "special appearance by", even if the movie was not a pilot for a series. Death Race and The Weekend Nun billed their lead actors as special guest stars. In the unusual case of Assault on the Wayne , all of the first-billed cast members were credited as guest stars. The series proper ended in 1975 as ABC's ratings collapsed that season. Analysts laid part of
3360-641: The titles of the shows to the Movie of the Week and Movie of the Weekend . The following season, the Saturday installment was moved to Wednesday night, and the titles were adjusted to Tuesday Movie of the Week and Wednesday Movie of the Week . During the 1973–74 season, ABC added another movie on Saturday nights to their schedule, this time titled the ABC Suspense Movie , and usually consisting of thriller, mystery and horror type films (some of which were reruns of movies which had originally aired as Movie s of
3420-608: The top "guy-cry" films. The movie is based on Sayers's account of his friendship with Piccolo and coping with Piccolo's illness in Sayers's 1970 autobiography, I Am Third . The film was written by William Blinn , whose script one Dallas television critic called "highly restrained, steering clear of any overt sentimentality [yet conveying] the genuine affection the two men felt so deeply for each other." The movie begins as Chicago Bears rookie running back Gale Sayers arrives at team practice as an errant punt lands near him. Fellow rookie running back Brian Piccolo goes to retrieve
3480-568: The town's doctor, is murdering troublesome residents with poison. Starring: Bing Crosby , Frank Converse , Blythe Danner **, Barnard Hughes , Bethel Leslie Insurance investigator Mike Longstreet searches for the culprit who bombed his home, killing his wife and leaving him blind . Starring: James Franciscus , Martine Beswick *, Bradford Dillman *, John McIntire *, Jeanette Nolan *, Barry Russo A college dropout convinces his parents and grandmother to join him in an old bus converted into
3540-600: The year. The series was documented by Michael Karol in his 2005 book, The ABC Movie of the Week Companion: A Loving Tribute to the Classic Series , which was updated in 2008 ( ISBN 1-60528-023-2 ), and by Michael McKenna in The ABC Movie of the Week: Big Movies for the Small Screen . The MotW originally aired on Tuesday nights at 8:30 pm Eastern /7:30 pm Central . Established series The Mod Squad acted as
3600-599: Was rejected by NBC and CBS but became the subject of a cover story in the March 21, 1968 issue of Variety magazine. ABC executives read the article and contacted Huggins, who did not want to sell the idea but could produce the series through Universal , where he was under contract. Universal demanded a larger budget than ABC wanted to spend, as well as the exclusive right to produce all future TV movies for ABC, conditions that pushed ABC to control production on their own, purchasing films from various studios and production companies. As
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