# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/41 "2009-04-10T20:27:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **[Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067966/)**. Great little story about a returning Vietnam vet who discovers his home town has been completely erased from existence. He suspects a government plot, but the answer is much more interesting. Damn, that sounds interesting. Wish they’d release more of these on DVD. Some that stuck with me: [Birds of Prey (1973)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069787/). David Janssen as a WWII veteran pilot, flying a traffic helicopter, who doggedly pursues bank robbers whose getaway vehicle is also a helicopter. This one is available from Netflix, but sadly without the song “Thwee Widdie Fishies”; there’s generic jazz in its place, even though Janssen is singing along to the song you’re not hearing. Great ending. [Shirts/Skins (1973)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070686/). Maybe it’s because I was 12 at the time, but I loved this movie; I’d like to see a good remake. [Thursday’s Game (1974)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072289/). Good comedy with Gene Wilder and Bob Newhart. [Haunts of the Very Rich (1972)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068682/). I wonder if this is one of the many influences in creating the show _Lost_. [Steambath (1973)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167415/). Bill Bixby, half-nekkid Valerie Perrine, and a host of others find themselves in the afterlife in the form of a coed steambath. Jose Perez may or may not be God. [The Cube (1969)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0291118/). Amazing this is still in my memory after 40 years. Surrealist, allegorical, or whatever you’d call it; seemed pretty freaky to me when I was 8. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/42 "2009-04-10T23:00:04Z")
**blondbear** got my first choice, _How I Spent My Summer Vacation_. Robert Wagner tries to out-cool Peter Lawford. I’d love to see it again to find out if it makes any more sense to the grown-up me. I nominate [All Together Now](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072628/), or as I like to call it, _Party of Five Minus One, Twenty Years Earlier_. Features a _very_ young Helen Hunt. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/43 "2009-04-10T23:18:53Z")
_Brian’s Song_, an American classic, really. Football, man love, and death. It’s a thing of beauty. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/44 "2009-04-10T23:34:15Z")
**I’ve Been Waiting For You Stephen King’s The Shining A Muppet Family Christmas** ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/45 "2009-04-10T23:47:59Z")
Three way tie: **Gormenghast Lonesome Dove Shogun** ---
**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 11, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/46 "2009-04-11T01:28:45Z")
Two more that have never been released on DVD: [_The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080792/) (1980) - I don’t think this one even got a VHS release. [_The Man in the Iron Mask_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074853/) (1977) - This is the version with Richard Chamberlain not Leonardo DiCaprio. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/47 "2009-04-11T01:38:06Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > 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.) Are they remaking The Stand or It? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/48 "2009-04-11T01:46:59Z")
[IT.](http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/stephen-kings-it-is-getting-a-theatrical-remake) ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/49 "2009-04-11T01:57:22Z")
[Satan’s Triangle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073662/) with Kim Novack and Doug McClure. Totally creeped me out ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/50 "2009-04-11T02:47:21Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > _V_ if mini-series count. Came in to post about **V**. The first time Diana gobbled that guinea pig, I nearly fainted. I actually saw the miniseries in the “4 for $20” bin at Blockbuster this afternoon! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/51 "2009-04-11T02:49:46Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > _Brian’s Song_, an American classic, really. Football, man love, and death. It’s a thing of beauty. That was a TV movie?!? Holy cow. I’m impressed. I think that’s when my Billy Dee Williams crush started… ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/52 "2009-04-11T03:27:59Z")
[The Winds of War](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085112/) and [War and Remembrance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096725/) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/53 "2009-04-11T03:34:35Z")
Most of mine have already been posted. I’m old enough to have seen all of these when they originally aired: Sybil Special Bulletin The Day After Trilogy of Terror Brian’s Song The Execution of Private Slovik The Boy in the Plastic Bubble Roots Duel The Legend of Lizzie Borden (btw, I don’t think Lizzie did it, but it was an interesting theory, and how can you go wrong with Elizabeth Montgomery?) I haven’t seen this one mentioned yet: [QBVII](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071039/) - based on a Leon Uris novel. > [@](#): > > Adam Kelno has made it to England in the days following World War II. Having escaped from a death camp in Nazi Europe, he finds that his identification with anti-communists in Poland has made him a target of the Soviet Government, which brings up war crime charges against him in England. When the witness is unable to identify him as one of the doctors who castrated him, he is released. Kelno takes his wife and young son to Arabia where he labors for years upgrading public health standards. Upon his return to England he is Knighted. Twenty years have passed and he has just begun to enjoy his life of renown when a book is published that names him as a willing participant to Nazi medical experiments on Jews in the camps. He sues for defamation and finds that not only can he not escape his past, but that the plaintiff a defamation case has his own reputation on trial. QB VII refers to the courtroom in which the trial is held, Queen’s Bench, Room 7 I remember this as being gripping, fascinating and very moving. What a cast too! Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron, Lee Remick, Juliet Mills, Anthony Quayle, John Gielgud. I also really loved Cicely Tyson in [The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071175/). > [@](#): > > Story of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. It’s been decades since I’ve seen it, but just going from my memory, I think the old age makeup in that TV movie was better than some feature films now! Probably not very good, but I loved these at the time because I was a huge Elizabeth Montgomery fan: [Mrs. Sundance](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071868/) [A Case of Rape](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071286/) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/54 "2009-04-11T04:27:00Z")
The Lizzie Borden one had Elizabeth Montgomery’s lower-back dimples and stopped just short of coinslot. I remember nothing else of it but, having been a prepubescent when _Bewitched_ premiered, I had somehow known from an early age that I wanted to see that and more. Valerie Prine in _Steambath_? By then Playboy had told me that there was more of her to see than was shown only momentarily onscreen, moments I could savor (we didn’t have VCRs or rewind then), so I let i pass by and relished that God could b a Puerto Rican janitor. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/55 "2009-04-11T04:34:31Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > I think that’s when my Billy Dee Williams crush started… Being outnumbered when my parish Friday Night Movie Club began I had to accept Chick Flicks, Inspirational Shit, and other films I’d never see on my own, but I had to put my foot down on the two films at which guys are allowed to cry: _Ol’ Yeller_ and _Brian’s Song._ One must do all he can to maintain his composure. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/56 "2009-04-11T05:14:36Z")
“Gargoyles” on ABC’s Monday Night at the Movies. I don’t know why, but I thought it was great as a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/57 "2009-04-11T09:39:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Valerie Prine in _Steambath_? Valerie Perrine. Elizabeth Montgomery was also in a pretty good tv movie about [Belle Starr](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0080424/). ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/58 "2009-04-11T11:45:34Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > That was a TV movie?!? Holy cow. I’m impressed. I think that’s when my Billy Dee Williams crush started… Mine too! Disney remade it recently with Mekhi Phifer as Gale Sayers. I usually like Mekhi Phifer, but come on, he is NO Billy Dee. When I checked wikipedia to confirm the remake was Disney, I noticed that it says the original _Brian’s Song_ made for TV movie was so successful that it went on to be shown in theaters. That’s got to be pretty rare. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/59 "2009-04-11T11:48:37Z")
Lars von Trier’s [The Kingdom](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108906/). Perhaps not the best, but it’s pretty darn good, and the only one I can remember right now. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532/60 "2009-04-11T13:37:01Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > “Gargoyles” on ABC’s Monday Night at the Movies. I don’t know why, but I thought it was great as a teenager. Gargoyles was great. Believe it or not we’ve gone this long without mentioning [The Homecoming](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067209/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-made-for-tv-movies/492532.md?page=4)