The CBS Late Movie
The CBS Late Movie was a CBS television series (later known as CBS Late Night) from the 1970s and 1980s, that ran in most American television markets from 11:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. or later, on weeknights. A single announcer (in the early years, CBS staff announcer Norm Stevens) voiced the introduction and commercial bumpers for each program, but there was no host per se, or closing credits besides those of the night's presentation. (The bumpers announcing the stars of the movie notably rotated names, two or three at a time, so more of the players would be mentioned.)
The theme music was So Old, So Young by Morton Stevens, which also served as the theme music for CBS's prime-time movies until 1978.[1]
A memorable aspect to the show's commercial breaks was the frequent appearance of public service announcements, from the Ad Council and other organisations, that often dealt with "mature" topics such as venereal disease, sexual and violent crimes, and abuse of hard drugs. Announcements also ran in much greater proportion than during prime time, with commercial breaks lasting longer; it was not uncommon for the second portion of the show to start at 12:05AM or 12:40AM.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1972–1976
First airing on February 14, 1972, the series originally featured repeats of made-for-TV movies previously seen on CBS and other networks (including some that first appeared as an ABC Movie of the Week), and movies not well-suited for prime time due to content. (Violence was often the main factor, with true crime stories and police drama, and occasionally controversial subject matter, or strong suspense, horror, or sci-fi themes.) Among these were The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, The Valley of Gwangi, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. Richard Burton's Doctor Faustus and Monty Python and the Holy Grail made their network television debut on this series.
Well-known theatrical movies were also occasionally featured, such as the 1951 Show Boat (which had made its network TV debut on NBC in 1972, and was shown on CBS as both a Thanksgiving and Fourth of July special), the David Lean Great Expectations (1946), and a severely edited 75-minute version of the David Lean Oliver Twist (1948). Some films were seen in two parts over two nights, such as The Dirty Dozen.
In 1975, repeats of episodes from the NBC Mystery Movie were added to the mix; the first of these was Banacek, which made its CBS Late Movie debut on January 7, 1975.
[edit] 1976–1984
After 1976, the show also featured back-to-back reruns of different one-hour television series, some popular (Barnaby Jones, Kojak), some lesser known (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Black Sheep Squadron, Dan August), and some originally made for British television (The Avengers and The New Avengers, Return of the Saint, The Prisoner). Repeats of several of the network's situation comedies were also shown in rotation during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including M*A*S*H, Alice, Archie Bunker's Place and WKRP In Cincinnati.
The original series Behind the Screen was part of CBS Late Night from October 1981 to January 1982. [2]
The Late Movie time slot was also at times taken over by tape-delayed sports events, such as NBA playoffs and finals games.
[edit] 1985–1989
TV movies from other networks (Cage Without a Key, Something for Joey, Birth of The Beatles) began to appear during the 1980s, and in 1985 the series was retooled as CBS Late Night. The expansion of cable and satellite television during the 1980s took over much of the show's movie fare, and it became mostly a place for repeats of Magnum, P.I. and other popular CBS shows. Night Heat, a production of Canada's CTV network, also aired on CBS Late Night, becoming the first Canadian-produced drama to appear on American television. Adderly, Hot Shots and Diamonds, other Canadian-filmed shows, later appeared. In 1987, CBS aired an Americanised version of the BBC's long running pop music show, Top of the Pops, hosted by Nia Peeples and featuring some performances from the BBC version of the program, alongside those taped in Hollywood. The show was presented on late Friday nights, and lasted almost a year.
[edit] 1989–1993
In 1989, CBS Late Night was replaced by The Pat Sajak Show. A year later, CBS Late Night returned after The Pat Sajak Show was shortened from 90 minutes to 60 minutes in February 1990. CBS continued to show reruns of their primetime shows like Wiseguy and other networks' shows, including FOX's 21 Jump Street and NBC's Stingray. There was also original programming on the line up. Overtime... with Pat O'Brien, The Kids in the Hall and The Midnight Hour were among them. In March 1991, CBS retooled their late night by airing original series under a new umbrella title of Crimetime After Primetime. The timeslot was finally taken over by Late Show with David Letterman on August 30, 1993.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Dead Pictures: "ALL NIGHT TELEVISION: THE PICTURES IN MY HEAD", December 31, 2011.
- ^ Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present (4th edition). New York, Ballantine Books, 1988. Page 70.
[edit] External links
- An article on "The New Avengers" being released on DVD, with mentions of the CBS Late Movie/Late Night (where the series originally aired in the US)
- The CBS Late Movie at epguides.com
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
