# TVMs: The Best, The Worst, Your Favorite(s) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953 "2018-12-31T01:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/21 "2018-12-31T17:13:18Z")
_The Fighting Men_. Two Canadian soldiers, one Anglophone, one Francophone, hate each other’s guts. But, when their plane crashes in the middle of the wilderness, they have to work together to survive. _The Four Feathers_, starring Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour. More faithful to the book than any of the theatrical films. Another vote for Louis Jordan in _Count Dracula_. Low-budget, with shoddy special effects, but still good. _Vampire_. Jason Miller and E.G. Marshall hunt a vampire played by Richard Lynch. _Blood Ties_. A film about the Carpathian-American community. (Don’t call them vampires. That’s an ugly racial slur.) _Doctor Strange_ is also one of my guilty pleasures. Of all of Marvel’s attempts at live-action movies in the 1970s, this is one of the least bad. Considering what a limited budget they had to work with, they made a valiant attempt to film Steve Ditko’s astral realms. And in this film, Wong is not a stereotype! ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/22 "2018-12-31T21:11:00Z")
_The Killers_ (1964) - A remake produced for TV, but released theatrically owing to violence. Reagan plays the bad guy and it’s his greatest performance as an actor until becoming president. _Nightmare in Chicago_ (1964) - Originally shown in two parts on _Kraft Suspense Theater_, this is a tense and very effective location shot thriller about a serial killer and the police manhunt for him. Directed by Robert Altman. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/23 "2018-12-31T21:28:59Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I love, “_Killdozer_.” There, I’ve said it. Dude! :eek: _I shit you not-_ I moused over the thread title to find out what TVMs was, and after reading the first sentence, immediately thought _“Killdozer”._ Were we separated at birth or something? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/24 "2018-12-31T22:50:51Z")
^ What are you waiting for, Gato? You’ve got other faves–spill it! Or sucky ones! You’re among friends! I know this can’t be, but it seemed to me a big chunk of network TVMs from late '60s to mid '70s were horror, SF, mystery; I don’t remember a lot of comedies. E.g.: Moon of the Wolf Crowhaven Farm Something Evil When Michael Calls Scream, Pretty Peggy Dead of Night (1977) The Norliss Tapes She Waits ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/25 "2018-12-31T23:52:40Z")
I’m trying not to hog the thread, but no one has mentioned _The Day After_. A big deal in its day. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/26 "2019-01-01T00:09:42Z")
I have no idea whether it still holds up, and I’m guessing it doesn’t, but when I was a kid, I was mesmerized by [The Electric Grandmother](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083876/). I guess it couldn’t have been that bad, as it 7.8 on IMDB, and even won a Peabody award. How ‘bout that? I don’t think I’ve seen it since the mid-80s. Looks like it came out in 82, when I would have been 7, but I’m sure I had seen it shown again a couple of times in the 80s. ETA: Oh, wow, had no idea it was based on a Ray Bradbury story, either. I just remember the ol’ electric grandmother pouring milk out of her finger! ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/27 "2019-01-01T01:13:15Z")
I remember back in 1993 there were three different TV movies about the Amy Fisher case: _Casualties of Love: The “Long Island Lolita” Story_—aired on CBS with Alyssa Milano as Amy Fisher. _The Amy Fisher Story_----aired on ABC with Drew Barrymore as Amy Fisher. _Amy Fisher: My Story_----with Noelle Parker as Amy Fisher. For those not familiar: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy\_Fisher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Fisher) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/28 "2019-01-01T09:04:45Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’m trying not to hog the thread, but no one has mentioned _The Day After_. A big deal in its day. Yeah, but do you classify it as “the best”, or “the worst”? (I missed it, and from what my friends told me about it afterwards, I don’t really regret missing it. People’s opinions on it seemed to depend entirely on their political views before they watched it.) ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/29 "2019-01-01T13:07:47Z")
Peter O’Toole and Jodie Foster in Svengali. It doesn’t hold up well, but the scene where O’Toole says “When I make love to a woman, I UNWRAP her,” is a panty dropper. Him with those blue bedroom eyes. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/30 "2019-01-01T13:09:21Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I’ll be the first to post an obvious one: > > [_Duel_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067023/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_46) (1971) Can you wring terror and suspense out of a car, an old truck, and a lonely stretch of highway? Steven Spielberg can. > > _[Tribes](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066490/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_75)_ (1970) What happens to a hippie marine recruit (hint: its’ not a jolly as Stripes)? Darren McGavin and Jan-Michael Vincent give top notch performances. > > And one that has stuck in my mind a long time, mainly because it has two Linda Ronstadt songs (available nowhere else as far as I can tell) in the soundtrack. > > [_Maybe I’ll Come Home In The Spring_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066062/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_214) (1971) A somewhat balanced picture of the “hippies vs. straights” split and what it did to families. Sally Field, still struggling to break out of the Gidget stereotype and David Carradine as the siren call boyfriend. > > eta: Ninja’d by **El Kabong** Oh, Tribes! It was great, could not remember the name ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/31 "2019-01-01T13:24:25Z")
Let’s go back to the very beginning: [_The Borgia Stick_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borgia_Stick) and _[The Mask of Sheba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mask_of_Sheba)_. Both starring Inger Stevens. Then there’s _[Evil Roy Slade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Roy_Slade)_ of course. A favorite of many Dopers. On the musical side there’s _[The Point!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point!#Animated_film)_. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/32 "2019-01-01T14:37:38Z")
If I can throw in an ESPN movie, _The Junction Boys_ was a sports movie about Bear Bryant’s first training camp as Texas A&Ms head coach (no, I’m not an Aggie.) It starred Tom Berenger as was about their “camp from hell” that year. A very well-done adaptation of the book. Edit: > [@ftg](#): > > On the musical side there’s _[The Point!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point!#Animated_film)_. I thought I was the only one who enjoyed _The Point!_ ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/33 "2019-01-01T15:40:30Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Yeah, but do you classify it as “the best”, or “the worst”? (I missed it, and from what my friends told me about it afterwards, I don’t really regret missing it. People’s opinions on it seemed to depend entirely on their political views before they watched it.) I’m afraid I have to decline; I watched it on tape a year or so later and the only part I really remember was the people and towns being vaporized. > [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Peter O’Toole and Jodie Foster in Svengali. It doesn’t hold up well, but the scene where O’Toole says “When I make love to a woman, I UNWRAP her,” is a panty dropper. Him with those blue bedroom eyes. It’s 8:00 in the morning; I haven’t had my Rice Krispies and BP meds yet! Could you and Anton Ego get a room? 😃 😉 Oh, yes, _Tribes_ was a winner. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/34 "2019-01-01T18:11:33Z")
_Special Bulletin_ - the first time NBC aired it, it went to great lengths to make it clear that it was a movie (“DRAMATIZATION” appeared on the screen whenever there was a “live news report,” and there was a disclaimer at the end of every commercial break). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/35 "2019-01-02T00:24:54Z")
I keep meaning to mention: _[Five Desperate Women](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067102/?ref_=nv_sr_1)_ - This was the first thing I saw Robert Conrad in post-“Wild Wild West” and he (James West) was my hero at the time. The movie wasn’t very good, despite the five women of the title being kinda popular actresses at the time. The ending The remaining women fix Conrad (the murderer)'s wagon,brought me close to tears (I was young), which was hardly the point of the movie. Lotsa cryin’ ladies; the tears flowed freely. Skip it. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/36 "2019-01-02T02:26:22Z")
[Buried Alive](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099188/). His wife and her boyfriend doctor don’t quite kill him dead enough, so he digs himself out of his cheap coffin, and seeks revenge. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/37 "2019-01-02T02:29:40Z")
Of course _Special Bulletin_ and _The Day After_ come to mind, but here’s one appropriate for the season that we just rewatched: [The Homecoming - A Christmas Story](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067209/). If it doesn’t sound familiar, it’s because it’s often labelled as _The Waltons_ pilot episode, although the series was ordered only after the success of the TV movie. It stands well as a stand-alone story, bringing in lots of sentimentality in the midst of the depression, but also lots of (minor) crime and goofy characters. I especially like Cleavon Little’s being a reverend at the black church and seeing a different yet still delightful Christmas Eve program. I recall watching it (as a teen) in 1971, wishing I could know more about these characters, which I think is one of the marks of a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/38 "2019-01-02T02:48:59Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > [Buried Alive](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099188/). His wife and her boyfriend doctor don’t quite kill him dead enough, so he digs himself out of his cheap coffin, and seeks revenge. Directed by Frank (“Walking Dead”) Darabont? I gotta find it. Thanks. An aside: if you can find it, Darabont’s _The Woman in the Room_ is superb (based on the Stephen King short story and co-stars my favorite supporting actor–Brian Libby). > [@JohnGalt](#): > > Of course _Special Bulletin_ and _The Day After_ come to mind, but here’s one appropriate for the season that we just rewatched: > > [The Homecoming - A Christmas Story](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067209/). If it doesn’t sound familiar, it’s because it’s often labelled as _The Waltons_ pilot episode, although the series was ordered only after the success of the TV movie. > > It stands well as a stand-alone story, bringing in lots of sentimentality in the midst of the depression, but also lots of (minor) crime and goofy characters. I especially like Cleavon Little’s being a reverend at the black church and seeing a different yet still delightful Christmas Eve program. I recall watching it (as a teen) in 1971, wishing I could know more about these characters, which I think is one of the marks of a good movie. This made me think of _[Sunshine](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070751/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3)_ (1973) - A really good TVM that spawned a really good, though short-lived, TV series–one of the first “dramadies,” a comedy-drama with no laugh-track. Also begat the TVM, _Sunshine Christmas_, which was also first-rate. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/39 "2019-01-02T03:05:18Z")
^ I misspelled “dramedy.” It’s been a long day. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953/40 "2019-01-02T05:03:10Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > [Gargoyles](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068622/): cheesy but enjoyable B-movie complete with meme-worthy slo-mo effects. This was the first thing I thought of when reading the OP. A long-time favorite. And recently aired on _Svengoolie_, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tvms-the-best-the-worst-your-favorite-s/826953.md?page=3)