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59-572: Whatever Love Means is a television film about Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles . Directed by David Blair and starring Olivia Poulet and Laurence Fox , it premiered in December 2005 on ITV1. The story centres on Charles and Camilla's relationship in the early 1970s until 1981. In 1971, Camilla Shand ( Olivia Poulet ) meets Charles, Prince of Wales ( Laurence Fox ) at a polo match. They get to know each other and begin dating. The relationship fizzles out when Charles travels overseas to join

118-527: A multiple-camera setup , but are written to be easily broken up into individual 30- or 60-minute episodes for syndication . Many such movies relocate the cast of the show to an exotic overseas setting. However, although they may be advertised as movies, they are really simply extended episodes of television shows, such as the pilots and the finales of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager . Most of these are made and shown during sweeps period in order to attract

177-505: A 1960 Hallmark Hall of Fame Macbeth filmed in color on location in Scotland , and, as early as 1954, a musical version filmed in color of Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol telecast on CBS's Shower of Stars —the film generally regarded as the first made-for-television movie was See How They Run , directed by David Lowell Rich and starring John Forsythe and Senta Berger . It first aired on October 7, 1964, and ushered in

236-584: A 90-minute programming time slot (including commercials ), later expanded to two hours, and were usually broadcast as a weekly anthology television series (for example, the ABC Movie of the Week ). Many early television movies featured major stars, and some were accorded higher budgets than standard television series of the same length, including the major dramatic anthology programs which they came to replace. In 1996, 264 made-for-TV movies were made by five of

295-417: A film which deals with abortion in three different decades (the 1950s, the 1970s and the 1990s) became a huge success, and was HBO 's highest rated film on record. If a network orders a two-hour television pilot for a proposed show, it will usually broadcast it as a television movie to recoup some of the costs even if the network chooses to not order the show to series. Often a successful series may spawn

354-419: A film's expenses would be lessened by filming using video , as the movies were contracted by television studios, these films were required to be shot on 35 mm film . Various techniques are often employed to "pad" television movies with low budgets and underdeveloped scripts, such as music video -style montages, flashbacks, or repeated footage, and extended periods of dramatic slow motion footage. However,

413-531: A large television audience and boost viewership for a show. Crossover episodes containing a number of episodes of the characters of individual series interacting with characters across different shows (as has been done with the CSI , NCIS and Chicago franchises, along with between Murder, She Wrote and Magnum, P.I. , Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder , and Ally McBeal and The Practice ) also play as films, encouraging tune-in among all

472-505: A rape victim in the drama A Case of Rape (1974). My Sweet Charlie (1970) with Patty Duke and Al Freeman Jr. dealt with racial prejudice, and That Certain Summer (1972), starring Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen , although controversial, was considered the first television movie to approach the subject of homosexuality in a non-threatening manner. If These Walls Could Talk ,

531-527: A series of other TV movies over the years, aired on NBC under the title NBC World Premiere Movie . Many of the made-for-television movies on NBC would become TV series in their own right during the late-1960s and early-1970s. One of the more famous examples was Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966), which ultimately served as the pilot episode for the 1968–71 series The Name of the Game . Saturday Night at

590-559: A spin-off from a TV series including The Incredible Hulk Returns , The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and The Death of the Incredible Hulk . Occasionally, television movies are used as sequels to successful theatrical films. For example, only the first film in The Parent Trap series was released theatrically. The Parent Trap II , III and Hawaiian Honeymoon were produced for television, and similarly,

649-424: A television movie sequel after ending its run. For example, Babylon 5: The Gathering launched the science fiction series Babylon 5 and is considered to be distinct from the show's regular run of one-hour episodes. Babylon 5 also has several made-for-TV movie sequels set within the same fictional continuity. The 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica began as a two-part miniseries that later continued as

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708-593: A weekly television program. Another example is the Showtime movie Sabrina, the Teenage Witch , which launched the sitcom of the same name that originally aired on ABC, and used the same actress ( Melissa Joan Hart ) for the lead role in both. The term "TV movie" is also frequently used as vehicles for "reunions" of long-departed series, as in Return to Mayberry and A Very Brady Christmas . They can also be

767-469: Is generally acknowledged to be See How They Run , which debuted on NBC on October 7, 1964. A previous film, The Killers , starring Lee Marvin and Ronald Reagan , was filmed as a TV-movie, although NBC decided it was too violent for television and it was released theatrically instead. The second film to be considered a television movie, Don Siegel 's The Hanged Man , was broadcast by NBC on November 18, 1964. These features originally filled

826-565: Is now in his early 30s and his family and the British media begins calling him out to find a suitable bride. He meets Lady Diana Spencer ( Michelle Duncan ) who the media falls in love with and they eventually get engaged. Although everyone is happy Charles is about to settle down, Charles and Camilla are not due to their feelings for each other, however, they end their relationship. The story ends with Charles and Camilla getting ready for his wedding in 1981 , both looking grim while dressing up for

885-585: Is the High School Musical series , which aired its first two films on the Disney Channel . The first television movie was so successful that a sequel was produced, High School Musical 2 , that debuted in August 2007 to 17.2 million viewers (this made it the highest-rated non-sports program in the history of basic cable and the highest-rated made-for-cable movie premiere on record). Due to

944-622: The Midnight Run sequels have all been released as made-for-TV movies despite the first having a strong run in theaters. These types of films may be, and more commonly are, released direct-to-video ; there have been some films, such as The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (a prequel to the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard ) and James A. Michener's Texas , which have been released near simultaneously on DVD and on television, but have never been released in theatres. Made-for-TV movie musicals have also become popular. One prime example

1003-520: The Jesse Stone CBS television movies, "broadcast networks aren't investing in made-for-TV movies anymore". The slack has been taken up by cable networks such as Hallmark Channel , Syfy , Lifetime and HBO, with productions such as Temple Grandin and Recount , often utilizing top creative talent. High-calibre limited programming which would have been formerly scheduled solely as a two-hour film or miniseries also has been re-adapted to

1062-520: The Royal Navy in early 1973. Camilla immediately marries her ex-boyfriend Andrew Parker Bowles (Simon Wilson). Though Charles is hurt upon hearing about her marriage, they remain friends. Throughout their friendship Charles and Camilla hide their feelings for each other until 1979 when Lord Mountbatten ( Richard Johnson ) is murdered and Charles visits her more for emotional support. They re-ignite their romantic relationship during this period. Charles

1121-532: The opening credits and bumpers , mainly at NBC Studios in Burbank . In later years, those duties alternated among Stanley, Donald Rickles , Peggy Taylor , and Victor Bozeman . Near the end of the show's run, opening credits (for the series, not for the films themselves) were handled by the network's New York announcing staff , which included Fred Collins and Howard Reig ; but the Burbank staff announcers still handled bumpers. NBC broadcast Saturday Night at

1180-442: The 1930s through the 1950s for short-term showings in movie theaters, usually as a double bill alongside a major studio release. Like made-for-TV movies, B movies were designed as a disposable product, had low production costs and featured second-tier actors. ABC 's Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World premiered to an audience of over 60 million people on September 17, 1978. The most-watched television movie of all time

1239-480: The 1940s and early 1950s, premiered in the fall of 1955. In 1957, ABC broadcast Hollywood Film Theater , which also featured some pre-1948 films produced by RKO Radio Pictures . RKO decided to sell some of their better pre-1948 movies to ABC while other films would be syndicated to local TV stations. Films in both series were shown in a ninety-minute time slot, which meant that some of the films had to either be severely edited or shown in two parts. NBC Saturday Night at

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1298-456: The 1963–64 season, was to have been a new version of Ernest Hemingway 's The Killers , with a cast that included Lee Marvin , Angie Dickinson , and future US president Ronald Reagan , whose last film this was before entering politics. However, NBC deemed the film too violent for television, so it was released in theaters instead. Although there had been filmed feature-length television specials—such as The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957),

1357-470: The 1970s and 1980s before realizing that the proceeds from his first theatrical film, A Christmas Story (released in 1983), far exceeded anything he had ever done in television. Nonetheless, notable exceptions exist of high production quality and well-known casts and crews that even earned awards, such as The Diamond Fleece , a 1992 Canadian TV film directed by Al Waxman and starring Ben Cross , Kate Nelligan and Brian Dennehy . It earned Nelligan

1416-405: The 1970s were a source of controversy, such as Linda Blair 's 1974 film Born Innocent and 1975's Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic , as well as 1976's Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway and its 1977 sequel , Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn , which were vehicles for former Brady Bunch actress Eve Plumb . Another significant film was Elizabeth Montgomery 's portrayal of

1475-455: The 1980s. Up until then, local stations had to settle for inexpensive 16mm prints of such relatively recent films as Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) or Prince Valiant (1954), rather than good "theater-quality" prints as seen on the networks. The demand for televised movies increased during the 1960s. Made-for-television films were soon created by NBC, along with some help from now- sister company Universal . The first, created during

1534-407: The 1993 Gemini Award for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series". Occasionally, a long-running television series is used as the basis for television movies that air during the show's run (as opposed to the above-mentioned "reunion specials"). Typically, such movies employ a filmed single-camera setup even if the television series is videotaped using

1593-558: The Candelabra (which featured established film actors Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in the lead roles) and a limited range of scene settings and camera setups. Even Spielberg's Duel , while having decent production values, features a very small cast (apart from Dennis Weaver, all other actors appearing in the film play smaller roles) and mostly outdoor shooting locations in the desert. The movies typically employ smaller crews, and rarely feature expensive special effects . Although

1652-460: The Movies attracted sufficient ratings so that NBC and its competitors added more movie series to the prime time schedule. ABC , then a distant third in the ratings, immediately added another movie series, Hollywood Special , as a mid-season replacement; however, the series, under its new title The ABC Sunday Night Movie , did not become a regular television program until 1964. CBS was leading

1711-475: The Movies until October 1978. Several other movie series were canceled by the end of the decade. However, some continued well into the 1980s and beyond. Changes in television viewing habits, though, seemed to spell the end for many of these series. Loss of ratings for them has been attributed to increased competition from cable television, especially pay movie channels that were able to show movies uncut and without commercial interruptions. Other factors that led to

1770-497: The Movies was the first network movie anthology series to run two hours (and occasionally longer), so that almost all of the films could be shown in one evening, the films being edited (especially in later years) only to remove objectionable content. For its 1961–62 television season, NBC obtained the rights to broadcast 31 post-1950 movie titles from 20th Century Fox , although only 30 were actually telecast that season (one film, The Seven Year Itch , not being televised until

1829-596: The United States and Canada. The 1971 made-for-TV movie Brian's Song was also briefly released to theatres after its success on television, and was even remade in 2001. In some instances, television movies of the period had more explicit content included in the versions prepared to be exhibited theatrically in Europe. Examples of this include The Legend of Lizzie Borden , Helter Skelter , Prince of Bel Air and Spectre . Many television movies released in

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1888-426: The close of the program. The remaining time was filled up with theatrical trailers of upcoming films scheduled to be shown on the series in the next two or three weeks. By about 1968, this was no longer necessary, as films and commercial breaks had become longer. The three major commercial networks did not show worn-out 16mm prints of films, as was then the usual practice on local TV stations. The films which aired on

1947-533: The decline of the TV network movie presentations include the advent of home video and video rental, pay-per-view, and video-on-demand. The NBC Saturday Night Movie has been periodically broadcast on Saturdays 8:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m. since 2000, and originally had hosted continuity by Ryan Seacrest . It was replaced by coverage of the XFL in 2001, but returned the next year without host continuity. By 2006,

2006-472: The first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television . That film was made in Technicolor , a first for television, which ordinarily used color processes originated by specific networks. Most "family musicals" of the time, such as Peter Pan , were not filmed but broadcast live and preserved on kinescope , a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor – and

2065-597: The invariable full screen television aspect ratio of the time.) That initial deal with Fox ended up lasting three seasons (1961–1964) and involved about 90 films, including those run on Monday nights beginning in February 1963. When Fox found greener pastures over at rival ABC , NBC negotiated releases from other studios, such as MGM and Paramount , that were eager to provide content. Because commercial breaks then were shorter than today (running from one to two minutes), films running less than two hours sometimes ended before

2124-466: The late 1950s. To avoid competition, the top studios had an unwritten agreement that limited the exhibition of films made after 1948, which excluded most films shot in CinemaScope and color – features that audiences had come to expect. Nevertheless, by the late 1950s, the major studios started to loosen their stance and began releasing more recent movies on television. During the early 1970s, there

2183-551: The late 1970s, competition from cable television and home video led to a decline in viewership. During the early days of television, the major studios were hesitant to release their films on TV. The movies that did make it to television were usually low-budget B movies or older black-and-white academy ratio films that had already lost their value in theaters, with the notable exceptions of some of Walt Disney 's films and The Wizard of Oz (1939). These films were mostly aired on local TV stations or during non-prime time schedules by

2242-450: The less expensive digital 24p video format has made some quality improvements on the television movie market. Part of the reason for the lower budgets comes from the lack of revenue streams from them; whereas a theatrical film can make money from ticket sales, ancillary markets , and syndication, most television films lacked those revenue streams, and the films are seldom rerun . Raconteur Jean Shepherd produced several television films in

2301-562: The made-for-television movie". Network-made television movies in the United States have tended to be inexpensively-produced and perceived to be of low quality. Stylistically, these films often resemble single episodes of dramatic television series. Often, television films are made to "cash in" on the interest centering on stories currently prominent in the news, as the films based on the "Long Island Lolita" scandal involving Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher were in 1993. The stories are written to reach periodic semi- cliffhangers coinciding with

2360-509: The most valuable prime time slots available for programming, so syndicators of independent television films had to settle for fewer television markets and less desirable time periods. This meant much smaller advertising revenues and license fees compared with network-supplied programming. The term "made-for-TV movie" was coined in the United States in the early 1960s as an incentive for movie audiences to stay home and watch what

2419-464: The network decided to only occasionally air theatrical films during sweeps weeks in various time slots, so the Saturday movie has been completely discontinued. In 2009 and 2010, Walmart and Procter & Gamble purchased some Friday- and Saturday-night time on NBC and Fox to broadcast television films they produced and would distribute on DVD the week after, such as The Jensen Project , although

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2478-418: The network movie anthology series (as well as annually-telecast specials such as The Wizard of Oz ) were 35mm prints, invariably in excellent condition. With the advent of cable television, VHS, and DVD, the idea of always showing films – even very old ones – in pristine, remastered condition on television has become the norm; but aside from films shown on the three major networks, this was simply not done before

2537-631: The network's Saturday night schedule. It was almost always connected to an NBCUniversal property's vertical integration involving an upcoming theatrically-released film. In 2020, for instance, the eighth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise , The Fate of the Furious , aired to connect to the later-delayed release of F9 , with Trolls airing in March to promote the upcoming release of Trolls World Tour (which would eventually be released as

2596-569: The network-scheduled times for the insertion of commercials , and are further managed to fill, but not exceed, the fixed running times allotted by the network to each movie "series". In the case of films made for cable channels, they may rely on common, repetitive tropes (Hallmark Channel, for example, is notorious for its formulaic holiday romances, while Lifetime movies are well known for their common use of damsel in distress storylines). The movies tend to rely on smaller casts, one such exception being those produced for premium cable , such as Behind

2655-478: The newer "limited series" format over a period of weeks (rather than the consecutive days usually defined by a miniseries) where a conclusion is assured; an example of such would be The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story , and these are most often seen on cable networks and streaming services such as Netflix . In a 1991 New York Times article, television critic John J. O'Connor wrote that "few artifacts of popular culture invite more condescension than

2714-581: The occasion. This article related to a TV movie of the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Television film Precursors of "television movies" include Talk Faster, Mister , which aired on WABD (now WNYW ) in New York City on December 18, 1944, and was produced by RKO Pictures , and the 1957 The Pied Piper of Hamelin , based on the poem by Robert Browning , and starring Van Johnson , one of

2773-555: The only (relatively inexpensive) method of recording a television program until the invention of videotape . Many television networks were against film programming, fearing that it would loosen the network's arrangements with sponsors and affiliates by encouraging station managers to make independent deals with advertisers and film producers . Conversely, beginning in the 1950s episodes of American television series would be placed together and released as feature films in overseas cinemas. Television networks were in control of

2832-431: The other networks in the ratings at that time and did not immediately add a prime time movie series. However, over the next few years, each of the three networks added weeknight movies to the schedule; and by 1968, there was a prime time network movie for every night of the week: The popularity of these movie broadcasts also provided a windfall profit to the movie studios, since competitive bidding for popular movies raised

2891-430: The popularity of the first two films, the second HSM sequel, High School Musical 3: Senior Year , was released as a theatrical film in 2008 instead of airing on Disney Channel; High School Musical 3 became one of the highest-grossing movie musicals. Television movies traditionally were often broadcast by the major networks during sweeps season. Such offerings now are very rare; as Ken Tucker noted while reviewing

2950-436: The price for broadcast rights. This, in turn, made it cost-effective to produce "made for TV" movies . As with the other movie anthology series of the time, there was no host for the program. Although an announcer's voice was heard at the beginning, the program itself simply consisted of the showing of the film and perhaps a movie trailer afterward. For years, Don Stanley served as the show's main announcer and recorded

3009-399: The ratings for these films were well below regular programming. The P&G/Walmart series of films was eventually discontinued, with Walmart eventually being one of the main sponsors of NBC's live musical event The Sound of Music Live! in December 2013. As of 2020, NBC Movie Night , as it was now known, had Chick-fil-A as the film's presenting sponsor and was still very occasional on

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3068-429: The reason, it highlights the evolution of the film industry and its response to changing audience preferences. Between 1954 and 1972, a theatrical motion picture (even a relatively recent one) had to wait as many as 12 years (as in the case of the 1959 Ben-Hur ) before it turned up on the home screen. A short-lived black-and-white ABC-TV series entitled Famous Film Festival , which featured British films made in

3127-484: The run up and aftermath of a nuclear war. The two are often compared on aspects such as realism. Another popular and critically acclaimed television movie was 1971's Duel , written by Richard Matheson , directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Dennis Weaver . Such was the quality and popularity of Duel that it was released to cinemas in Europe and Australia , and had a limited theatrical release to some venues in

3186-581: The series crossed over to effectively create a multiple-hour plot that plays as a film when watched as a whole. NBC Saturday Night at the Movies NBC Saturday Night at the Movies was the first television show to broadcast in color relatively recent feature films from major studios. The series premiered on September 23, 1961, and ran until October 1978, spawning many imitators. Television stations had previously only been able to show older, low-budget, black-and-white films. In

3245-413: The six largest American television networks at the time (CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, and UPN ), averaging a 7.5 rating. By 2000, only 146 TV movies were made by those five networks, averaging a 5.4 rating, while the number of made-for-cable movies made annually in the U.S. doubled between 1990 and 2000. In several respects, television films resemble B movies , the low-budget films issued by major studios from

3304-673: The start of the 1963 season). On September 23, 1961, Saturday Night at the Movies premiered with the 1953 Marilyn Monroe – Lauren Bacall – Betty Grable film How to Marry a Millionaire , presented "In Living Color". Some of the other movies shown were The Day the Earth Stood Still (March 3, 1962) and No Highway in the Sky (March 24, 1962). (Having been filmed in Cinemascope , a Fox specialty from 1953 to 1967, many of these films had to be severely panned-and-scanned to fit

3363-609: Was ABC 's The Day After , which premiered on November 20, 1983, to an estimated audience of 100 million people. The film depicted America after a nuclear war with the Soviet Union , and was the subject of much controversy and discussion at the time of its release due to its graphic nature and subject matter. The BBC 's 1984 television film Threads earned a similar reputation in the United Kingdom as it followed two families and workers of Sheffield City Council in

3422-442: Was a significantly longer period of time between when a movie was initially shown in theaters and when it was first broadcast on television. This delay was more pronounced compared to previous years, indicating a shift in the distribution and consumption of films during that time. Perhaps, this change in release schedules was due to a growing demand for films on TV or the emergence of alternative modes of film distribution. Regardless of

3481-500: Was promoted as the equivalent of a first-run theatrical film. Beginning in 1961 with NBC Saturday Night at the Movies , a prime time network showing of a television premiere of a major theatrical film release, the other networks soon copied the format, with each of the networks having several [Day of the Week] Night at the Movies showcases which led to a shortage of movie studio product. The first of these made-for-TV movies

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