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M*A*S*H, Finest KindEvery Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn’t be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.
Out today from Shout! Factory is The Patty Duke Show: Season Three
I get a lot of e-mails from people asking me about television shows, made-for-TV movies or miniseries they remember from years or decades past. I try to answer each question as best I can. Every now and then I like to dig through my inbox and pull out a few choice e-mails to answer here at Television Obscurities for everyone to read. Keep reading for today’s questions and answers.
-Patrick
The start of the 2010-2011 television season is only weeks away and if you haven’t been seeing plenty of promotional spots for “hot” new shows, you’re not watching television this summer. NBC seems to be focusing on The Event and The Chase while CBS appears to be favoring $#*! My Dad Says. Personally, I’m most looking forward to ABC’s No Ordinary Family, which is also getting a heavy promotional push.
I wrote about “The NBC Primetime Preview Show” a few weeks ago and at the time it was the only fall preview special I was aware of. As of today, however, all of the networks with the exception of FOX have announced plans for fall preview specials, although only CBS will be airing its special during prime time. NBC, The CW and ABC will make their specials available to individual affiliates, so check your local listings. NBC and The CW already have their specials online as well. Thanks to frequent commenter DuMont for some of the following information.
NBC – “The NBC Primetime Preview Show” is available for viewing online and has been/will be broadcast on individual affiliates over the next few weeks — not to mention a variety of cable channels. Read the official press release at the futon critic. No network prime time airing has been announced.
The CW – The “2010 CW Fall Preview Special,” hosted by Kristoffer Polaha and Robert Buckley, can be watched online at The CW’s website and will be shown on local affiliates during the next few weeks. No network prime time airing has announced.
CBS – The “CBS Fall Preview” will be broadcast by CBS on Monday, September 6th, 2010 from 8:30-9PM with Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi as hosts. The special will also be available On Demand through a variety of cable providers while individual affiliates will have the opportunity to repeat the special and make it available on their websites. It may also be made available online. Read the whole press release at the futon critic.
ABC – The network will have two specials this year, one focusing on new and returning sitcoms and another spotlighting the network’s new dramas. They will both be broadcast on individual stations and might also be made available online. No network prime time airings have been announced.
FOX – No information about a fall preview special has been released by FOX.
For the record, if anyone is wondering why I write about current fall preview specials here at Television Obscurities, I admit that while the programming isn’t obscure the concept of a fall preview special has fallen out of a favor to such an extent that even though the networks still produce them, not many people actually know they exist.
Nancy
By Jack Pearl
First Published in December 1970
Published by Pyramid Books
191 Pages
When I published my article about Nancy almost exactly a year ago I mentioned that one tie-in novel based on the series was published and expressed interest in reading it. I bought a copy a few months ago and finally got around to reading it. The NBC sitcom, which was created by Sidney Sheldon, ran for 17 episodes during the 1970-1971 season. It starred Renne Jarrett as Nancy, the daughter of the United States president and John Fink as Adam, a veterinarian. The two meet, fall in love and during the course of the series get married.
Jack Pearl’s novel was set after the marriage; Adam and Nancy are living at Adam’s farm/animal hospital in Iowa with Adam’s uncle Everett and Nancy’s social secretary Abby. Nancy’s Secret Service agents, Turner and Rodriguez, also live at the farm where they can keep an eye on the First Daughter. According to a small note on the first page, this was intended as “the first in a sequence of NANCY novels” but by the time it was published in December of 1970 the series had already been canceled. The final episode aired on January 7th, 1971.
After putting together broadcast logs for several NBC movie nights broadcast during the early 1960s, I realized that there might be some confusion over when each movie night aired. I’ve put together the following rough summary as a guide but do keep in mind that it is based solely on official fall schedules and thus doesn’t reflect any last minute changes and only a handful of mid-season shifts. I’ve also opted to stick with the basic NBC [Day] Night at the Movies title rather than try to determine what the network actually called each of its movie nights over the decades.
When NBC introduced The NBC Saturday Night at the Movies in September of 1961, network television would never be the same. That’s only slightly an exaggeration. Movie nights soon began popping up all over the place on all three networks. NBC introduced its own second movie night on Monday evenings in February of 1961. The Monday Night at the Movies returned for the 1963-1964 season, then, for the 1964-1965 season, the network moved its second movie night to Wednesday and The NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies was born. It, in turn, became the The NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies for the 1965-1966 season.
Things remained stable until the 1968-1969 season when NBC introduced a third movie night by bringing back The NBC Monday Night at the Movies. The NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies ended after the 1970-1971 season and NBC was back to just two movie nights. The NBC Saturday Night at the Movies ran through the 1977-1978 season and NBC shifted its original movie night by reviving The NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies for the 1978-1979 season.
Both The NBC Monday Night at the Movies and The NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies returned in September of 1979; The NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies would become The NBC Friday Night at the Movies in the spring of 1980. In September of 1980 The NBC Friday Night at the Movies became The NBC Thursday Night at the Movies. At that point, it seems as if NBC began moving its second movie night around every few months. At one point during the mid-1980s the network had three movie nights again before finally settling on Sunday and Monday.
The NBC Monday Night at the Movies went off the air following the 1996-1997 season, I believe, while The NBC Sunday Night at the Movies stayed around through the 2000-2001 season or so. If I’ve made any mistakes please note them in the comments. And if anyone knows of an authoritative account of NBC’s movie nights be sure to let me know. My focus has always been on scripted network television programming so I haven’t always paid much attention to movie nights, not even made-for-TV movies.
Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn’t be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.
There’s only one release of interest out today: Father Knows Best – Season Five. You won’t find it in stores, though, it can only be purchased online through Shout! Factory’s Shout! Select program. Included are all 38 episodes from the 1958-1959 season. According to TVShowsOnDVD.com the set includes two episodes of Windows on Main Street, which Robert Young starred in after Father Knows Best. Only one season remains and it seems likely that Shout! Factory will release it through the Shout! Select program as well. After that, perhaps all thirteen episodes of Windows on Main Street?
Shout! Factory released the previous four seasons, with Season Four coming out this past March, but apparently sales were too low to continue in the traditional manner. Making the set available for purchase through Shout! Select is a way of getting the episodes to viewers and that’s really all that matters. Perhaps the only drawback is that a certain segment of the DVD buying population may not be aware that Season Five can be purchased at Shout! Factory’s website so if you know any fans of Father Knows Best be sure to let them know. Amazon.com has a placeholder page for the release, which could be confusing, but you can only buy it at Shout! Factory’s website.
NBC premiered The NBC Saturday Night at the Movies in September of 1961. It was the first regularly-scheduled network movie night. The network added The NBC Monday Night at the Movies as a mid-season replacement in February of 1963 and it returned for the 1963-1964 season. In September of 1964, NBC shifted its second movie night to Wednesdays from 9-11PM. The NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies premiered on September 16th, 1964 and ran for 29 weeks, ending on March 31st, 1965, followed by several months of summer repeats. Several of the summer repeats were actually movies that had premiered on The NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.
The October 7th, 1964 broadcast, See How They Run, is generally considered to be the very first made-for-TV movie. The November 18th, 1964 broadcast, The Hanged Man, is said to be the second. In September of 1965, NBC replaced The NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies with Bob Hope Presents and I Spy and began The NBC Tuesday Night at the Movie.
| Season One: 1964-1965 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep. # | Movie Title | Airdate | Format |
| 1. | To Catch a Thief | 09/16/1964 | Color |
| 2. | Career | 09/23/1964 | B&W |
| 3. | Green Mansions | 09/30/1964 | Color |
| 4. | See How They Run (made-for-TV movie) | 10/07/1964 | B&W |
| 5. | Torpedo Run | 10/14/1964 | Color |
| 6. | Beau James | 10/21/1964 | Color |
| 7. | But Not for Me | 10/28/1964 | B&W |
| 8. | Gaby | 11/04/1964 | Color |
| 9. | Sad Sack | 11/11/1964 | B&W |
| 10. | The Hanged Man (Made-for-TV Movie) | 11/18/1964 | Color |
| 11. | The Rack | 11/25/1964 | B&W |
| 12. | Cry Terror | 12/02/1964 | B&W |
| 13. | We’re No Angels | 12/09/1964 | Color |
| 14. | Julie | 12/16/1964 | B&W |
| 15. | Atlantis: The Lost Continent | 12/23/1964 | Color |
| 16. | Elephant Walk | 12/30/1964 | Color |
| 17. | This Could Be the Night | 01/06/1965 | Color |
| 18. | Hell is for Heroes | 01/13/1965 | B&W |
| 19. | The Brothers Karamazov | 01/20/1965 | Color |
| 20. | Detective Story | 01/27/1965 | B&W |
| 21. | The Angry Hills | 02/03/1965 | B&W |
| 22. | Naked Jungle | 02/10/1965 | Color |
| 23. | Submarine Command | 02/17/1965 | B&W |
| 24. | Key to the City | 02/24/1965 | B&W |
| 25. | Fancy Pants | 03/03/1965 | Color |
| 26. | The Catered Affair | 03/10/1965 | B&W |
| 27. | Fear Strikes Out | 03/17/1965 | Color |
| 28. | The Last Voyage | 03/24/1965 | Color |
| 29. | Hot Spell | 03/31/1965 | B&W |
| PRE-EMPTED: Presidential Address | 04/07/1965 | ||
| *Summer Repeats Begin* | |||
| REP | Houdini* | 04/14/1965 | Color |
| REP | The Last Hunt | 04/21/1965 | Color |
| REP | Cry Terror | 04/28/1965 | B&W |
| REP | Sad Sack | 05/05/1965 | B&W |
| REP | Last Train from Gun Hill* | 05/12/1965 | Color |
| REP | Julie | 05/19/1965 | Color |
| REP | Hell is for Heroes | 05/26/1965 | B&W |
| REP | Bad Day at Black Rock* | 06/02/1965 | Color |
| REP | We’re No Angels | 06/09/1965 | Color |
| REP | The Caddy* | 06/16/1965 | B&W |
| REP | Beau James | 06/23/1965 | Color |
| REP | This Could Be the Night | 06/30/1965 | Color |
| REP | Fear Strikes Out | 07/07/1965 | Color |
| REP | The Hanged Man (Made-for-TV Movie) | 07/14/1965 | Color |
| REP | Fancy Pants | 07/21/1965 | Color |
| REP | Key to the City | 07/28/1965 | B&W |
| REP | The Angry Hills | 08/04/1965 | B&W |
| REP | See How They Run (made-for-TV movie) | 08/11/1965 | Color |
| REP | Hot Spell | 08/18/1965 | B&W |
| REP | Adam’s Rib* | 08/25/1965 | B&W |
| REP | Torpedo Run | 09/01/1965 | Color |
| REP | Elephant Walk | 09/08/1965 | Color |
| *Originally aired as installments of The NBC Saturday Night at the Movies | |||