Television film: Difference between revisions
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{{Redirect|Telefilm|the Canadian government's film and television funding agency|Telefilm Canada}} |
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{{Redirect|Motw|the American band commonly abbreviated as such|maudlin of the Well}} |
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{{Article issues|article=February 2009 |
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|essay=November 2007 |
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|date=March 2009}} |
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A '''television movie''' (also known as a '''television film''', '''TV film''', '''TV movie''', '''TV-movie''', '''feature-length drama''', '''made-for-TV movie''', '''made-for-television''', '''original movie''', '''movie of the week''' ('''MOTW''' or '''MOW'''), '''single drama''', '''telemovie''', or '''telefilm''') is a [[feature film]] that is produced for and originally distributed by a [[television network]]. |
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==Notable examples== |
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Possibly the most-watched TV movie of all time was [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[The Day After]]'', which aired on [[November 20]], [[1983]], to an estimated audience of 100 million people. The film depicted America after a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] with the [[Soviet Union]], and was the subject of much controversy and discussion at the time of its release. |
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Another popular and critically acclaimed TV movie was 1971's ''[[Duel (movie)|Duel]]'' directed by [[Steven Spielberg]] and starring [[Dennis Weaver]]. Such was the quality and popularity of ''Duel'' that it was released to cinemas in [[Europe]] and [[Australia]], and had a limited cinema release to some venues in the United States. The 1971 made-for-TV ''[[Brian's Song]]'' was also briefly released to theatres after its success on television, and was even [[remake|remade]] in 2001. However, many 1970s TV movies were a source of controversy, such as [[Linda Blair]]'s movies ''[[Born Innocent]]'' and ''[[Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic]]'', as well as ''[[Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway]]'' and ''[[Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn]]'', which were vehicles for former ''[[The Brady Bunch|Brady Bunch]]'' actress [[Eve Plumb]]. |
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''[[My Sweet Charlie]]'' (1970) with [[Patty Duke]] and [[Al Freeman, Jr.]] dealt with racial prejudice, and ''[[That Certain Summer]]'' (1972), starring [[Hal Holbrook]] and [[Martin Sheen]], although controversial, was considered the first TV movie to approach the subject of [[homosexuality]] in a non-threatening manner. ''[[If These Walls Could Talk]]'', a film which deals with abortion in three different decades (1950s, 1970s, and 1990s) became a huge success, and HBO's highest rated film ever. |
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Often a successful series may spawn a TV movie [[sequel]] after ending its run, and TV movies may also be used as the first episode of a series, otherwise known as a [[television pilot|pilot]]. For example, ''[[Babylon 5: The Gathering]]'' launched the [[science fiction]] series ''[[Babylon 5]]'' and is considered to be distinct from the show's regular run of one-hour episodes. ''Babylon 5'' also has several sequel TV movies set within the same fictional continuity. The 2003 remake of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' begin as a two-part miniseries that later continued as a television show. Another example is the TV Movie ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (film)|Sabrina, the Teenage Witch]]'', which launched the TV show of the same name, and used the same actress [[Melissa Joan Hart]] for the lead role in both. The term "TV-movie" is also frequently used as vehicles for "reunions" of long-departed series, as in ''[[Return to Mayberry]]'' and ''[[A Very Brady Christmas]]''. |
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Occasionally TV movies are used as sequels to successful theatrical films. For example, only the [[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|first film]] in [[The Parent Trap series]] was released theatrically. ''[[The Parent Trap II]]'', ''[[The Parent Trap 3|III]]'' and ''[[The Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon|IV]]'' were TV-movies. |
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TV movies are often broadcast on major networks during [[sweeps period|sweeps]] season or on cable networks that specialize in producing them such as [[Hallmark Channel]], [[Lifetime Television|Lifetime]], and [[HBO]]. |
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==Production and quality== |
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It has been said that "few artifacts of popular culture invite more condescension than the made-for-television movie".<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DB133BF932A35752C0A967958260 O'onnor, John J. "A TV Movie With a Familiar Ring". ''The New York Times''. 1 January 1991.</ref> Network-made TV movies in the USA have tended to be inexpensively-produced and low quality; stylistically, they often resemble single episodes of dramatic television series. Often they are made to "cash in" on the interest centering on stories currently prominent in the news, as the [[Amy Fisher]] films were. The stories are written to reach periodic semi-[[cliffhanger]]s coinciding with the network-scheduled times for the insertion of [[commercials]]; they are further managed to fill, but not exceed, the fixed running times allotted by the network to each movie "series". The movies tend to rely on small casts and a limited range of settings and camera setups, and tend to progress in a literal, linear fashion. Even Spielberg's ''Duel'', while a well-crafted film, features a very small cast (apart from Weaver, all other acting roles are bit-parts) and mostly outdoors shooting locations in the desert. The movies are typically made by smaller crews, and they rarely feature expensive [[special effects]]. While it would have been less expensive to film on the new media form of [[video]], as the movies were contracted by TV studios it was required that they be turned in on 35mm [[film]]. Various techniques are often employed to "pad" TV movies with low budgets and underdeveloped scripts, such as [[music video]]-style montages, flashbacks, or repeated footage, and extended periods of dramatic [[slow motion]] footage (sometimes taken to ridiculous extremes as in the [[USA Network]] thriller ''[[Wheels of Terror]]''). However, the digital 24p video format has made some improvements on the TV movie market. |
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[[HBO]]'s made-for-television movies, however, have been generally praised as being of high quality <ref>http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-04-28-warm-springs_x.htm</ref> <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/28/arts/television/28HEFF.html</ref>, some critics even going so far as to say that they surpass current theatrical offerings, and have won many [[Emmy Awards]]. Among recent notable HBO films are ''[[Angels in America]]'', ''[[Something the Lord Made]]'', ''[[Warm Springs (film)|Warm Springs]]'', ''[[The Gathering Storm (2002 film)|The Gathering Storm]]'', and its sequel ''[[Into the Storm (film)|Into the Storm]]''. The latter four are [[biopic]]s. |
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It appears that over the last twenty years or so, the quality of the typical made-for-TV film has hit a new low, with many of them being "quickie" productions based on tabloid-like headlines such as the [[Amy Fisher]] incident, which generated not one, but ''three'' TV-films. Typical recent plots associated with the genre include "[[disease]] of the week" movies or films about [[domestic violence]]. [[Sexual abuse]] is also a common theme, though not always the focus of the storyline. |
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==Movie-length episodes of TV shows== |
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Occasionally, a long-running television series is used as the basis for TV movies that air during the show's run (as opposed to the above-mentioned "reunion specials"). Typically, such movies employ a filmed [[single-camera setup]] even if the TV series is videotaped using a [[multiple-camera setup]], but are written to be easily broken up into individual thirty- or sixty-minute episodes for [[television syndication|syndication]]. Many such movies relocate the cast of the show to an exotic overseas setting. However, although they may be advertised as movies, they are really simply extended episodes of TV shows, such as the final episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''. Most of these are made and shown during [[sweeps period]] in order to attract a large TV audience and boost [[television ratings]] for a show. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Direct-to-video]] |
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*[[Miniseries]] |
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*[[Television special]] |
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*[[List of television films produced for American Broadcasting Company]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* {{cite book|title=Movies at Home: How Hollywood Came to Television|author=Kerry Segrave|pages=139|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=0786406542}} |
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* {{cite book|title=The Complete Reference Guide to Movies and Miniseries Made for TV and Cable:1984-1994:10 years of TV movies|author=Maj Canton|pages=410|date=1994|publisher=Adams-Blake Publishing|isbn=1883422442}} |
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* {{cite book|title=The Complete Reference Guide to Movies and Miniseries Made for TV and Cable:1994-2000|author=Maj Canton|pages=384|date=2000|publisher=Maj Canton Publishing}} |
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*{{cite book|title=Movies Made For Television, 1964-2004|author=Alvin H. Marill|pages=2088|date=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0810851741}} This five volume book lists 5,498 made-for-TV movies and mini-series released from 1964 to 2004, with brief synopses of films. |
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[[Category:Television films]] |
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[[Category:American television films]] |
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[[Category:Television terminology]] |
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[[de:Fernsehfilm]] |
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[[fr:Téléfilm]] |
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[[es:Telefilme]] |
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[[it:Film per la televisione]] |
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[[nl:Televisiefilm]] |
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[[nds-nl:Tillevisiefilm]] |
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[[ja:テレビ映画]] |
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[[pt:Telefilme]] |
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[[ru:Телефильм]] |
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[[sh:TV-film]] |
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[[fi:Televisioelokuva]] |
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[[sv:TV-film]] |
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[[vi:Phim truyền hình]] |
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[[uk:Телефільм]] |
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[[zh:電視電影]] |
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Revision as of 16:04, 5 October 2009
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