A television movie (also known as a television film, TV film, TV movie, TV-movie, feature-length drama, made-for-TV movie, original movie, movie of the week (MOTW or MOW), single drama, telemovie, or telefilm) is a film that is produced for and originally distributed by a television network. A television network is a distribution network for Television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many Television stations

Origins and history

Though not explicitly labelled as such, there were early precedents for "TV movies," such as the 1957 version of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, starring Van Johnson, one of the first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television. Charles "Van" Johnson (born August 25, 1916) is an American film and television actor and dancer Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic (Most "family musicals" of the time, siuch as High Tor, were broadcast live and preserved on kinescope, which is not precisely the same as film or even videotape. High Tor is a made-for-television musical fantasy broadcast March 10, 1956 on the CBS Television network as an episode of the series Kinescope (ˈkɪnɨskoʊp originally referred to the Cathode ray tube used in Television receivers as named by inventor Vladimir Zworykin in 1929 Videotape is a means of recording images and sound onto Magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. ) Hundreds of live, feature-length dramas aired on television from the 1940s through the 1950s, including such famous productions as 1956's Requiem for a Heavyweight by screenwriter Rod Serling; as was typical but not universal, this live broadcast was preserved on kinescope for rebroadcast. "Live TV" redirects here For the British TV station formerly known by this name see L!VE TV. Requiem for a Heavyweight was originally a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the Live television show Playhouse 90 Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling ( December 25, 1924 &ndash June 28, 1975) was an American Screenwriter, best known These were not, strictly speaking, films, as they were originally telecast live.

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 was promoted as the equivalent of a first-run theatrical motion picture. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Beginning in 1961 with NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, a prime time network showing of a television premiere of major studio film, the other networks soon copied the format with each of the networks having several "___ Night At The Movies" that led to a shortage of film studio product. NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, was the first continuing weekly prime time network series to show relatively recent feature films from major studios in color The first of these made-for-TV movies is generally acknowledged to be See How They Run, which debuted on NBC on 7 October 1964. See How They Run is a 1964 chase film broadcast on NBC. It is generally regarded as the first movie made for television The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. 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 Killers, sometimes marketed as Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, is a 1964 Crime film released by Universal Studios. Lee Marvin ( February 19, 1924 &ndash August 29, 1987) was an American Film actor

These features originally filled a 90-minute time slot (including commercials), later expanded to two hours, and were usually broadcast as a weekly anthology series (for example, the ABC Movie of the Week). 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 Many early TV movies featured major stars, and some were accorded higher budgets than standard series television programs of the same length, including the major dramatic anthology programs which they came to replace.

Notable examples

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 American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. The Day After is an American Television movie which aired on November 20 1983, on the ABC Television Network Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) 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. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Another popular and critically acclaimed TV movie was 1971's Duel directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Dennis Weaver. Duel is a 1971 Television movie about a motorist (played by Dennis Weaver) on a remote and lonely road being stalked by a large Tanker truck Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. William Dennis Weaver ( June 4[[ 924]] &ndash February 24 2006) was an Emmy Award -winning American Actor, best known for 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. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. 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. Brian's Song is a 1971 made-for-TV movie recalling the details of the life of Brian Piccolo (played by James Caan) a white A " remake' " is a term used to described something that has been done again sometimes with better Quality, and usually with more features However, many 1970s TV movies were a source of controversy, such as Linda Blair's movies Born Innocent and Sarah T. Linda Denise Blair (born January 22 1959 is an American actress most famous for her role as the possessed child Regan in the 1973 film For the Redd Kross album see Born Innocent (album. Born Innocent was a Television movie which was first aired - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, as well as Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway and Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn, which were vehicles for former Brady Bunch actress Eve Plumb. Dawn Portrait of a Teenage Runaway is an NBC made-for-television movie. Alexander The Other Side of Dawn was a NBC made-for-television movie, first telecast May 16 The Brady Bunch is an American Television Situation comedy based around a large blended family. Not to be confused with Eve's Plum, the rock group Eve Aline Plumb (born April 29, 1958) is an American actress

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. My Sweet Charlie is an award-winning American Television movie directed by Lamont Johnson. Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (born December 14, 1946) is an Academy Award - three-time Emmy Award - and two-time Golden Globe Albert Cornelius "Al" Freeman Jr (born March 21, 1934, in San Antonio Texas) is an African-American Actor and director That Certain Summer is a 1972 American Television movie directed by Lamont Johnson. Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook Jr (born February 17, 1925) is an American Actor. Martin Sheen (born Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez on August 3, 1940) is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning American Actor who earned Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. 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. For the episode of The Outer Limits see If These Walls Could Talk (The Outer Limits.

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. A sequel is a work in Literature, Film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work A television pilot is a test episode of an intended Television series. 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 The Gathering is the pilot movie of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created produced and largely written by J Babylon 5 also has several sequel TV movies set within the same fictional continuity. 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. Sabrina The Teenage Witch is a movie Adaptation from the Archie comics Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18 1976 is an American Actress and director best known for playing Sabrina in Sabrina the Teenage Witch The tern "TV-movie" is also frequently used as vehicles for "reunions" of long-departed series, as in Return to Mayberry and A Very Brady Christmas. Return to Mayberry was a Television movie made in 1986 on NBC. A Very Brady Christmas is a 1988 Television movie based on the television series The Brady Bunch, featuring all of the original actors

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 (1961 is a Walt Disney Productions Feature film starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith The Parent Trap is a Film series made from 1961 - 1989 with Hayley Mills as the twins. The Parent Trap II, III and IV were TV-movies. The Parent Trap II is a Made-for-TV Sequel to The Parent Trap that first screened on ABC's "Disney's Sunday Movie" in The Parent Trap III is the second sequel to the 1961 film The Parent Trap. The Parent Trap IV Hawaiian Honeymoon is the third and last TV Sequel of The Parent Trap.

TV movies are often broadcast on major networks during sweeps season or on cable networks that specialize in producing them such as Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, and HBO. The Hallmark Channel is a Cable television network that broadcasts in over 100 countries Lifetime Television is an American Television network devoted to movies, sitcoms and Dramas all of which are either geared toward

Production and quality

It has been said that "few artifacts of popular culture invite more condescension than the made-for-television movie". ^[1] Network-made TV movies in the USA have tended to be inexpensively-produced and low quality; stylistically, they often resemble single episodes of dramatic television series. Often they are made to "cash in" on the interest centering on stories currently prominent in the news, as the Amy Fisher films were. Amy Elizabeth Fisher (born August 21 1974) dubbed the " Long Island Lolita " by the press is an American woman who was convicted The stories are written to reach periodic semi-cliffhangers coinciding with the network-scheduled times for the insertion of commercials; they are further managed to fill, but not exceed, the fixed running times allotted by the network to each movie "series". A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a Plot device in which a movie, Novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending often leaving A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced The movies tend to rely on small casts and a limited range of settings and camera setups, and tend to progress in a literal, linear fashion. Even Spielberg's Duel, while a well-crafted film, features a very small cast (apart from Weaver, all other acting roles are bit-parts) and mostly outdoors shooting locations in the desert. The movies are typically made by smaller crews, and they rarely feature expensive special effects. The illusions used in the Film, Television, Theater, or Entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called Often they are recorded in less expensive video rather than the preferred motion picture medium of film. Video is the technology of electronically capturing, Recording, processing storing transmitting and reconstructing a sequence of Still images Various techniques are often employed to "pad" TV 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 (sometimes taken to ridiculous extremes as in the USA Network thriller Wheels of Terror). A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics Slow motion is a technique in film-making whereby Time appears to be slowed down USA Network (commonly referred to as USA) is an American Cable television channel with about 89 million household subscribers as of 2005 However, the digital 24p video format has made some improvements on the TV movie market.

HBO's made-for-television movies, however, have been generally praised as being of high quality, some critics even going so far as to say that they surpass current theatrical offerings, and have won many Emmy Awards. Among recent notable HBO films are Something the Lord Made, Warm Springs and The Gathering Storm. Something The Lord Made is a 2004 Emmy Award and 2005 Peabody Award -winning HBO biopic about the legendary black cardiac pioneer Vivien Warm Springs is a 2005 Television movie about American President Franklin D The Gathering Storm is a BAFTA and Emmy award winning BBC - HBO co-produced Television biographical movie All three are biopics. A biographical motion picture &mdash often shortened to biopic &mdash is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people

Some would claim that over the last twenty years or so, the quality of the typical made-for-TV film has hit a new low, with many of them being "quickie" productions based on tabloid-like headlines such as the Amy Fisher incident, which generated not one, but three TV-films. Amy Elizabeth Fisher (born August 21 1974) dubbed the " Long Island Lolita " by the press is an American woman who was convicted Typical recent plots associated with the genre include "disease of the week" movies or films about domestic violence. A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or spousal abuse) occurs when a family member partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate Sexual abuse is also a common theme, though not always the focus of the storyline. Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual acts by one person upon another

Movie-length episodes of TV shows

Occasionally, a long-running television series is used as the basis for TV 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 TV series is videotaped using a multiple-camera setup, but are written to be easily broken up into individual thirty- or sixty-minute episodes for syndication. The single-camera setup (aka single-camera mode of production is a method of shooting films and television programs The multiple-camera setup (aka multiple-camera mode of production is a method of shooting films and television programs In Broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast Radio shows and Television shows to multiple individual stations without going through Many such movies relocate the cast of the show to an exotic overseas setting, such as Europe or Australia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. However, although they may be advertised as movies, they are really simply extended episodes of TV shows, such as the final episode of M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H was a Medical drama / Black comedy produced by 20th Television Fox for CBS. Most of these are made and shown during sweeps period in order to attract a large TV audience and boost television ratings for a show. Nielsen Ratings are audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research to determine the Audience size and composition of television

See also

• Direct-to-video
• Miniseries
• Television special

References

Further reading

• Kerry Segrave (1999). Movies at Home: How Hollywood Came to Television. McFarland & Company, 139. ISBN 0786406542.  

• Maj Canton (1994). The Complete Reference Guide to Movies and Miniseries Made for TV and Cable. Adams-Blake Publishing, 410. ISBN 1883422442.  

• Alvin H. Marill (1980). Movies Made For Television. Arlington House Publishers.   (This book chronicles made-for-TV movies released from 1964 to 1979, with brief synopses of films released by year. )