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 with video from the collection of Jeff Vilencia
The films themselves varied wildly in quality, but the promos used to lure audiences to the couch stand today as state of the art examples of superlative advertising. In addition, the animated opening sequence to the ABC Movie of the Week was a magnificent graphic achievement and a precursor to modern computer animation techniques.
Ironically, it was NBC and Universal that pioneered the made-for-TV movie. Universal Studios had an entertainment factory going full trottle, but the market for small, inexpensive films was drying up by the mid-sixties. NBC and Universal reasoned they could produce original films for the same amount of money the studios were charging just for the broadcast rights to major motion pictures. STORY CONTINUES - AFTER THIS AD FOR VIDEO DOWNLOADS:
In October, 1964, the first full-length film produced especially for home delivery debuted - 'See How They Run' starring John Forsyth. Several more popular tele-films followed on NBC. The network also discovered they could use their big event two-hour TV movies as pilots for potential series. 'Fame Is The Name Of The Game' starring Tony Franciosa was the first such pilot to earn a regular series slot on the network (as The Name of The Game).
Because of the limited budgets (between $400,000 - $450,000 each) Universal declined to partner with ABC for Diller's folly. Lean and hungry independent producers like Aaron Spelling, Quinn-Martin and David Wolper eagerly jumped in, resulting in a more raw-edged product than the blanderized Universal telefilms. That freshness became a key component to the initial success of the overall project. To open the Tuesday Movie Of The Week, an impressive theme was produced to pull the audience in and give the feeling of big time entertainment.
CBS used this method recently for their year 2000 prime-time logo 'bumpers.'
In 1971-72, 18 of the 23 top-rated films broadcast on television were ABC MOTWs, thanks in no small part to the fast-paced, 30-second promotional teasers that forever redefined motion picture advertising.
Familiar faces in unfamiliar circumstances (Harriet Nelson being killed in an interstate pile-up, for instance) proved a winning formula for Nielsen gold.
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It
was a daring concept for an uncertain time; a weekly
series of original movies produced especially for television. But this
expensive gamble delivered top-ten ratings for several years beginning
in 1969.
In
the 1950s, anthology programs like 
Watching the success NBC was having with their TV-movie specials, ABC's
Barry Diller realized the time was right to update the old anthology
format, but with a twist. He scheduled a weekly series of original movies
for fall, 1969 - with shorter running times (90 minutes) and strict
budgetary restraints to make the productions commercially viable.
Film
historian Jeff Vilencia tells us: "That opening sequence is one
of the very first examples of computer-style animation (it's actually
shot with a device that utilizes a series of mirrors). That
animation system (called slit-scan) is still in use, I saw a recent
IMAX film that used it - it was very cool! It kinda looked like that
old ABC Movie of the Week logo."
With
the Tuesday Movie of the Week a solid ratings smash, the network
added a Wednesday night version three years later. Like NBC, ABC also
utilized the forum as an effective platform to audition possible TV
series - The Young Lawyers and The Immortal were tested
in 1969 and both were given a regular slot in fall, 1970.
After
Bewitched ended in 1972, Elizabeth Montgomery shed her wholesome,
sitcom image and became the queen of the TV-movies, playing roles like
(supposed) ax murderer Lizzie Borden, a rape victim and a battered wife
that fights back.
Taking
her lead, forgotten big screen stars and out-of-work TV actors found
employment again as telefilm production kicked into high gear.
