# Favorite Made for TV Movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532 "2009-04-09T17:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/21 "2009-04-10T00:38:10Z")
Fire in the Sky, a TV movie about a comet hitting Phoenix, AZ. Came out in the late 70s IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/22 "2009-04-10T00:43:07Z")
_The Day After_ (again) and its half-sibling _Special Bulletin_. _V_ if mini-series count. ---
**Author:** ![Mitijea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mitijea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mitijea)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/23 "2009-04-10T14:10:02Z")
If mini-series, the bbc’s **Jekyll**. Definitely second the **Librarian** movies. Very entertaining and imo on par with some of the Indiana Jones movies. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/24 "2009-04-10T15:32:47Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Trilogy of Terror. Karen Black and that little Zuni doll with the teeth. That doll terrified me, but it was soooo cute with its big flappy head and Cousin It dialect. That last scene with her squatting, tapping the knife into the floor and smiling that weird-teeth smile is something that really stuck with me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/25 "2009-04-10T15:35:30Z")
[How I Spent My Summer Vacation](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061788/) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/26 "2009-04-10T17:45:37Z")
[The Four Feathers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076047/), starring Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour, was actually more faithful to the book than any of the theatrical films I have seen. [Spectre](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076745/), one of Gene Roddenberry’s wierder creations. The SciFi Channel occasionally shows this in late-night or early-morning, although their copy seems to be missing the second-to-last reel. [KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077788/) is rumored to be one of the worst movies ever made. In a class with Ed Wood and Ewe Boll movies. However, when I was nine years old, I enjoyed it. ETA: The Jack Palance version of _Dracula_ ETA: The Louis Jordan version of _Dracula_ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/27 "2009-04-10T18:01:40Z")
I’m pretty fond of [_The Fifth Missile_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Missile), a cold-war thriller about a nuclear sub crew gone mad. ---
**Author:** ![Morgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Morgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgis)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/28 "2009-04-10T18:12:51Z")
It’s a miniseries, but I love _The 10th Kingdom_. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/29 "2009-04-10T18:19:22Z")
I have seen four made-for-TV-movies which have had a lasting impact on me. Unfortunately, I can remember the name of only one of them, _Duel_, which has already been mentioned. I’ll describe the other three; maybe someone will be able to identify them. One, which I saw about 30 years ago, was based on a true story and concerned an American who was enamoured of the Communist Revolution and in the early 1930s took his family with him to live in the USSR. The movie deals with his disallusionment and the subsequent 20 year struggle to be allowed to leave and return to the US. The second, which starred Robert Mitchum, I saw about 20 years ago. It, too, was based on a true story and dealt with a man who was broken out of prision by his three teen-age sons and their subsequent pursuit by the police. It was moving and tragic. The third one I saw about five years ago and dealt with a commerical passenger plane, flying over the Pacific, which loses communication with the ground and is then tracked by the US Air Force which has orders to shoot it down. The tension was unblievable! ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/30 "2009-04-10T18:31:34Z")
If mini-series count, _The Stand_. _Born Innocent_, in which Linda Blair of _Exorcist_ fame portrays a misunderstood delinquent teenager. Another vote for _Duel_. - [Tribes.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066490/) \* ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/31 "2009-04-10T18:57:36Z")
[Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321416/) is really good, and partly fills a void Hollywood had (although we still need the \*feelgood \*movie about Benedict Arnold). I also fondly recall [The Dropout Father](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083855/) although I haven’t seen it in 27 years. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/32 "2009-04-10T19:22:30Z")
I’ll add another vote for Trilogy of Terror which was the very first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title. I remember blubbering to **Death Be Not Proud** ; a real tear jerker starring the ever so dreamy (to my 9 year old self anyway)Robby Benson. And who can forget John Travolta as **The Boy in the Plastic Bubble**. I can still remember the commercial they showed umpteen times where an angsty bubble boy says “I just want to be like a man”. Oy. If we’re going for miniseries, I nominate **Roots**. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/33 "2009-04-10T19:37:37Z")
Dang! I forgot _Sunshine_, a 1973 Canadian made-for-TV movie, and the greatest tearjerker of all time! It’s about a young mother dying of cancer who records a kind of audio journal on cassettes for her very young daughter to remember her by. At one point, a burglar breaks into their home and steals the tapes (among other things) and she goes on TV to beg him to return the tapes. So there I am, sitting a biker bar, crying my ass off when the burglar returns the tapes, and there’s these big, hairy, mean-looking men all around staring at me like I’d gone crazy. Currently it’s only available on bootleg discs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/34 "2009-04-10T19:51:13Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > The second, which starred Robert Mitchum, I saw about 20 years ago. It, too, was based on a true story and dealt with a man who was broken out of prision by his three teen-age sons and their subsequent pursuit by the police. It was moving and tragic. [A Killer in the Family](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085791/) (1983). Based on the true story of the Tison gang’s 1978 crime spree. Quite an impressive cast. There’s a true-crime book, _The Last Rampage_, that tells the full story. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/35 "2009-04-10T19:57:14Z")
\*The Night Stalker \*and its sequel, _The Night Strangler_, which introduced us to Darren McGavin’s Carl Kolchak. Before I forget, does anyone else remember _The Sole Survivor_, with William Shatner? The ghosts of a WWII bomber crew haunt the wreckage of their plane in the Libyan desert, waiting for someone to find their remains… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/36 "2009-04-10T19:59:59Z")
How quickly you forget **Shogun**! I was also going to mention **The Thorn Birds** and **The Stand**. They’re remaking **It** into a feature film, rated R, so let’s see how far they get away with that (Beverly’s gangbang may not translate well into film.) And I got my first Patrick Swayze crush from **North and South**. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/37 "2009-04-10T20:04:35Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I have very fond memories of **Evil Roy Slade**. > I have no doubt if I watched it today I’d wonder why I ever found it funny… No, you wouldn’t. I rented it from Netflix and it holds up well! I came to post ERS and Duel. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/38 "2009-04-10T20:09:14Z")
The _Inspector Morse_ series. Although each episode was originally broadcast in the USA by PBS in 2 parts, they were originally TV movies and eventually A&E aired them that way. Damn good series, and John Thaw and Kevin Whately were perfect casting choices. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/39 "2009-04-10T20:10:54Z")
[Guyana Tragedy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080832/), with Powers Boothe as Jim Jones. I saw this when it came on. I would have been a young teen so I can’t imagine (or remember) why my parents let me watch it. I second _The Stand_ if mini-series count. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/40 "2009-04-10T20:18:46Z")
Martin Sheen made a string of good television movies back in the early seventies: _The Andersonville Trial_, _Goodbye, Raggedy Ann_, _Mongo’s Back in Town_, _Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol_, _No Drums, No Bugles_, _That Certain Summer_, _Letters from Three Lovers_, _Message to My Daughter_, _The Execution of Private Slovik_, _The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd_, _The California Kid_, _Sweet Hostage_, _The Last Survivors_, and _The Missiles of October_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532.md?page=3)