Television Films - Examples

Examples

Possibly the most-watched TV movie of all time was ABC's The Day After, which aired 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. Five years earlier, ABC's Battlestar Galactica premiered to an audience of over 60 million people on September 17, 1978.

Another popular and critically acclaimed TV 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 cinema release to some venues in the United States. The 1971 made-for-TV Brian's Song was also briefly released to theatres after its success on television, and was even remade in 2001. In some instances TV 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 1970s TV movies were a source of controversy, such as Linda Blair's Born Innocent (1974) and Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), as well as Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976) and its sequel, Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (1977), which were vehicles for former Brady Bunch actress Eve Plumb. Another renowned film was Elizabeth Montgomery's portrayal of 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 TV movie to approach the subject of homosexuality in a non-threatening manner. If These Walls Could Talk, a film which deals with abortion in three different decades (1950s, 1970s, and 1990s) became a huge success, and HBO's highest rated film ever.

Often a successful series may spawn a TV movie sequel after ending its run, and TV movies may also be used as the first episode of a series, otherwise known as a pilot. 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 sequel TV movies set within the same fictional continuity. The 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica begin as a two-part miniseries that later continued as a television show. Another example is the TV movie Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which launched the TV show of the same name, 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.

Occasionally TV 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 IV were TV-movies, and similarly, the Midnight Run sequels have all been TV movies despite the first having a strong run in the cinema. 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), which have been released near simultaneously on DVD and on television, but have never been released in theatres.

TV movie musicals have become popular. One prime example is the High School Musical series which aired on the Disney Channel. The first TV movie was so successful that it came out with a sequel High School Musical 2 in 2007 which has since become the highest viewed cable broadcast and in 2008 its second sequel High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in theaters instead of on Disney Channel. It became one of the highest grossing movie musicals.

TV movies traditionally were often broadcast by the major networks during sweeps season. Such offerings now are very rare; as Ken Tucker noted while reviewing the Jesse Stone CBS TV 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.