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Amazon
The ABC Movie of the Week Companion
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Category:
Arts/Entertainment
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN-10: 1605280232
Pages: 212
Copyright: November 13, 2008
ISBN-13: 9781605280233
Movies made for television were in their infancy when ABC came up with a novel idea: a weekly series of films made exclusively for the small screen. The ABC Movie of the Week became a great success and a cultural touchstone for a generation of Americans.In this loving tribute to the classic series of TV films, more than two hundred films in the series are reviewed, including well-remembered titles such as Duel, Tribes, The Six Million Dollar Man, Go Ask Alice, Brian's Song, The Night Stalker, Bad Ronald, Starsky and Hutch, Trilogy of Terror, That Certain Summer, and Killdozer. In addition, choice bits of trivia about the actors and films and exclusive pictures are sprinkled throughout the book.So bit back, relax, and return to a time when the counterculture was in full swing and you could tune in every week for one or more original films made just for you.
When I came up with the idea for this book in early 2004, I knew there would be a few other fans of The ABC Movie of the Week, but I never reckoned on the power of baby boomer nostalgia. With very minor publicity and no marketing, this little book took off on its own and late in 2007 was designated an Editor's Choice selection and an iUniverse best seller: the company then made it a Star title, which meant a redo.
As a result, most of the reviews have been added to or updated. In many cases, I added excerpts from interviews with MOTW stars. There’s another important difference: this edition has pictures, and the welcome participation of Jim Pierson of Dan Curtis Productions. He supplied the cover photo, a still shot—a frame from the actual film—of the Zuni fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror, one of the best-remembered films of the series, and more, including his support of the project. I cannot thank him enough.
I found several films that eluded me the first time around, although one ardent fan assured me that, with one exception, the dates for missing movies in the 1st edition Appendix were exactly right, because he had kept his own detailed TV diary of the entire era (now that’s a couch potato!); it turns out those were in fact dates when the Movie of the Week was preempted, repeated, or replaced with other programming. I’ve noted which films or programming ran on every one of the formerly “missing” dates in the new Appendix.
I’ve added more trivia to entries where possible (for example, the many big-screen clones of the Cloris Leachman thriller, Dying Room Only), and rewritten some of the text, but kept it all in the spirit of my original goal: to fondly salute (and sometimes tweak) these films that obviously left a strong imprint in the memories of many.
In the first edition, there was a separate chapter on those MOTWs that were pilots for projected series. In this edition, all films have been placed in their proper season and pilots are marked with an asterisk (*). Film (pilot) sequels are listed under the original title. And, of course, there are now pictures included to help jog your memories even further.
So, once again, here we go: It’s the late 1960s. The counterculture is in full swing, and you’re getting ready to be entertained by a new viewing choice: the movie made specifically for television.
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