... then you’re as big a TV nerd as I am. I used to love me some “ABC Movie of the Week.” Who’s with me?
Remember “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”? (Especially the bit with the flashbulbs?) How about “The Girl Most Likely to...”? (Written by Joan Rivers, this one provided Stockard Channing her first starring role.)
I remember “The Feminist and the Fuzz.” (Even before my first hard-on, I was totally into Barbara Eden.) “Shirts/Skins.” (Turns out this was written by Bruce Paltrow... who returned to the subject of basketball with “The White Shadow.”) “It Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Guy.” (A comedy about a man raped by a woman at gunpoint.)
Wasn’t there one where a guy was trapped inside a department store all night with some pissed-off Dobermans? I think James Brolin was the star. Hang on, lemme check IMDb right quick...
Yep. Brolin. It was called “Trapped.” (U.K. title: “Doberman Patrol.”)
Can’t remember whether I actually saw “Killdozer” or just heard so many other kids talk about it.
Anyway, that “Movie of the Week” theme music... always loved it.Just found out it was written by Burt Bacharach. A tune called “Nikki.”
Now for a treat. Click here to hear on my Vox blog Mr. Bacharach’s own version of “Nikki”... originally released on his 1971 solo album.
“Nikki” was named after Bacharach’s daughter with Angie Dickinson. Sadly, Nikki Bacharach committed suicide in 2007.
Ahhh, yes! The "Movie Of The WeeK"! Also the ABC Novel For Television. And you're so right about Barbara Eden. Did she have an ass on her, or what? Uh, oh, now I gotta make a return trip to the "booty-poppin'" tutorial!
ReplyDeleteUBM, a few years back I remember hearing that song on a Burt Bacharach collection from Rhino Records and having a major "ABC Movie of The Week" flashback-- remembering "Trilogy of Terror" with Karen Black; "Duel" with Dennis Weaver; "Dr. Cook's Garden" with Bing Crosby... and the movies were usually 90 minutes long, right?
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! I am not alone. Others love this opening too. I remember being at my grandma's house in NOLA. She lived uptown and I used to have to share a sofa bed with her and my aunt when I spent the night. I seemed to always be there when I heard this theme... good find.
ReplyDeletechacha... 90 minutes, yep. So when one occasionally turns up on DVD (like "Girl Most Likely to..."), the running time is like 73 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI never did see "Duel." Must've seen "Trilogy of Terror," but my memories may be mixed with "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark."
I loved Barbara Eden's "A Howling in the Woods" with Larry Hagman, but that was a made for TV movie for NBC. Gosh, I don't know how I remembered that.
ReplyDelete^ Never heard of that one, GG. How could it have escaped me? I kept an eye out for anything with Barbara Eden in it.
ReplyDeleteI even remember when she was featured on "This Is Your Life." If I remember right, host Ralph Edwards surprised her while she was rehearsing for a TV variety show... hotly singing "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets."
(Yes, I will not be out-nerded when it comes to '70s TV!)
Awww man! The days when television watching was an event. ABC kicked butt with making a big deal on that little screen. "Wide, Wide World of Sports" was another intro I loved!!! And "Monday Night Football." sigh!
ReplyDeleteWas it a movie of the week when the woman gets this African doll and it comes to life and tries to kill her.
ReplyDeleteUndercover, If you are a fan of Richard Matheson you must watch Duel and Trilogy of Terror. you would have most certainly remembered watching the Zuni Doll in "terror".
ReplyDeleteI agree "Trilogy of Terror" and "Duel" were THE movies of the week. I loved that shit, too. I used to love that NBC mystery sheeit, too, with Columbo, McMillan and Wife, etc., too.
ReplyDeleteHar! Good times, good times! And don't forget the "ABC After School Special," ably satirized in the Comedy Central show "Strangers With Candy."
ReplyDeleteWhat do the kids have to watch today? "Jersey Shore?" Sheeeeit!
Top 4 Movies of the Week:
ReplyDeleteBrian's Song
Duel
The Night Stalker
Trilogy of Terror
Dan Curtis could bring it!
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ReplyDeleteWhat asshole spelled and wrote that shit I had to delete? He didn't got to Howard University.
ReplyDeleteTop 4 Movies of the Week list by Anon. I can respect that. There were a couple more that were scary as hell. Can't recall the titles. There was one with Anthony Perkins where he blind until they removed this scar. The other one, one of the scariest I've ever seen, involved this woman with this weird Pilgrim/Puritist shit going on. I believe Hope Lange was in it.
That Barbara Eden shit. Was that when she poured a heapful of salt in her food and the baby had two hearts?
That Movie of the Week shit was off the chain. HBO before HBO.
And still had a grammatical error. What an asshole.
ReplyDeleteHere's another one I remember. It wasn't a "Movie of the Week," though. This one aired on PBS in 1973.
ReplyDeleteAnybody remember "Steambath"?
Big thing I remember about it is... Valerie Perrine's naked titties. Yep, nipples and all. On TV!!
Messed me up for life.
OH, the happiness! The Girl Most Likely To... was my favorite. Wasn't Bad Ronald a movie of the week, too? I think Ronald was sealed in the basement of a house and after his family died, another moved in? It was creepy and I remember I couldn't sleep afterward.
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteI remember this one! I had to look it up to be sure, but it was Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) as the guy who got the treatment!
Don V.
^ Yep, Don, that's "It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy." Paul Sorvino as rape victim.
ReplyDeleteUBM! I keep coming back to this joint... it soooooo triggers back such goo memories of NOLA for me
ReplyDelete