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The ''ABC Movie of the Week'' was a weekly television Anthology Series , featuring Made-for-TV Movies , that aired on the ABC network in various permutations from 1969 to 1976. HISTORY The series was the brainchild of young executive Barry Diller , then head of Prime Time programming at ABC (and later a cofounder of the FOX network). Operating on a small budget but featuring the work of talented producers like Aaron Spelling and David Wolper (both of whom would "graduate" to develop hit series of their own), the ''Movie of the Week'' helped energize the made-for-TV movie format with punchy stories, veteran TV actors, and a groundbreaking title sequence animated with a Slit-scan process. DESCRIPTION The ''Movie of the Week'' provided ABC (long a distant third in the ratings) with a bona fide 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 instance, the "alphabet" network earned five Emmys , a prestigious Peabody Award , and citations from the NAACP and American Cancer Society for an airing of '' Brian's Song '' in 1972. The 1971-1972 season of the series finished as the fifth highest rated series of the year. ORIGINAL AIRTIME ''.]] The ''Movie of the Week'' originally aired on Tuesday nights at 8:30 pm ET . Beginning with the 1971 season, ABC added a second ''Movie of the Week'' on Saturday night and adjusted 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 both shows' titles were adjusted to ''Tuesday Movie of the Week'' and ''Wednesday Movie of the Week.'' TV SERIES PILOTS The series was often used as a platform to show pilots for possible series for the network. Shows such as '' The Six Million Dollar Man '', '' Starsky And Hutch '', '' Longstreet '', and '' Marcus Welby, M.D. '' premiered here. END The series proper ended in 1976. After that, ABC's made-for-TV movies were either aired as stand-alone specials or shown in series that included both original and theatrical movie presentations. The series was documented by Michael Karol in his book, ''The ABC Movie of the Week Companion''. TRIVIA The theme music was provided by Burt Bacharach 's instrumental cut "Nikki", named for his daughter. FILMOGRAPHY WATCH EXTERNAL LINKS |
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