Anyone of a certain age, 55 or so, probably gets a bit misty eyed at the opening notes of the original ABC MOTW theme. The ABC Movie of the Week is a cultural touchstone for people who were alive and old enough to have memories of nights spent in living rooms watching TV movies with the rest of their family. Nostalgia is the painful longing for a place you can never return to.

@Nickygino

3 жыл бұрын

yes, well said and so true about "nostalgia"......But at least we have the memories........

@tnate6004

3 жыл бұрын

We used to watch these all the time. I just bought a dvd of one of the ABC M'sOTW - "Dying Room Only", with Cloris Leachman and Ross Martin. Haven't seen it since it first aired. Too bad there isn't a dvd set of the best of the M'sOTW, like Bad Ronald and Home for the Holidays.

@zorkmid1083

3 жыл бұрын

Nah, I'm more partial to the 4:30 movie theme and the other(?) Sunday movie theme, which I always associated with the start of a James Bond flick.

@Jay-vr9ir

3 жыл бұрын

Some of the movies had unique endings .

@gilbertgex6797

2 жыл бұрын

So well worded. Even your last sentence made me misty eyed. I listen to these themes over and over. Gotta time machine I can borrow? Probably won't return it.

Back then, it was almost like going to the movies because the entire family watched the same thing. Nowadays there's a TV in every room, laptops, cell phones, pads, pods, and everything else. I sure do miss the 1970s!

@mattfoley6082

3 жыл бұрын

Entire town watched the same 5 or 6 channels, that's all we had!

@alanmorris7669

3 жыл бұрын

@@mattfoley6082 Same here. We only had 5 or 6 channels, but only 3 of them came in clear.

@annastasia4403

2 жыл бұрын

And before tv the families used to gather around and listen to shows on the radio

@42NORRIS

2 жыл бұрын

@Alan Morris: Same here.

@marystea9944

2 жыл бұрын

And those were what I call movies!

RIP Burt Bacharach, the composer of this awesome tune from my childhood.

Star tunnel intro gives me chills, takes me back to my parents in the old living room. Better society and culture than today.

@danielmorse4213

2 жыл бұрын

There was a better reality then.

@douglaskrusell8058

Жыл бұрын

Same here

@douglaskrusell8058

Жыл бұрын

I know what you mean by sure do miss them years

@josephforest7605

Жыл бұрын

The Feminist and The Fuzz , was a hoot .

@frankpontone2139

6 ай бұрын

Not really. Society is much better now.

The first one takes me back to my childhood, I feel like a kid again. 😛

I still get chills and all excited when I see the first one!

@gsteffabe

4 жыл бұрын

The first one was written by Burt Bacharach and titled Nikki to celebrate his daughter. You can pull it up on youtube, but the arrangement is different.

@larciabella

3 жыл бұрын

me too!

@PJBovio

3 жыл бұрын

THE FIRST AND SECOND INTROS!! OH THE MEMORIES!!!

@jonlawrence100

2 жыл бұрын

All of ‘em take me back but the 2nd one, “The 4:30 Movie” theme, killed me and still sounds fabulous! Kind of a Lalo Schifrin vibe..

That first one still gets to me after all these years! What a world this is that people can create music that stays in your heart and mind forever!

@danielmorse4213

2 жыл бұрын

I remember the slit screen. Sitting on my Grandmas lap. Ice cream at the half point and then to bed.

I remember the intros better than most of the films! Thanks for posting.

First was the best! "ABC Movie of the Week" with Burt Bacharach-composed theme "Nikki".

@studiosinger

4 жыл бұрын

MKIVWWI I knew whoever wrote it had talent.

@JOECANDELA22

3 жыл бұрын

Phenomenal song. Bacharach wrote it in honor of his daughter, Nikki. Angie Dickinson was his wife. The catalogue of great music from this one super talented man is truly incredible!

Awwwwww,the 70's. Miss it like crazy.

I was 12 in 1972. The intro to the movie of the week gives me such a warm feeling. It symbolizes family togetherness. When I was at school sometimes we'd talk about what we saw on The Movie of the Week. Back in those days nobody got much more than a few channels on their TV sets..so if there was something good on, chances were everybody saw it. During this time you could pick up a newspaper and find anything you need in the classified column. Jobs places to live you name it. You didnt have to have a password and a username..you didnt have to have an account either..you just picked up the newspaper. This was so much easier..and identity theft wasn't an issue either.

@LannieLord

4 ай бұрын

Most talked about movie: The Night Stalker in 1972 !!

I could listen to this over and over. Brjbgs me to the living room of my grandparents house I grew up in. Im crying missing those days.

@douglaskrusell8058

Жыл бұрын

Know what you mean by

I am 60, and saw all these movie bumpers, and others, on tv, during 1970s and 1980s. The graphic art of them is still cool in 2021. During those two decades, ABC, NBC, and CBS had a movie certain nights, and just before the movie began its starting credits, these bumpers would appear onscreen as an announcement of the movie. Most of the movies had been in theaters, and we eagerly waited 2 or 4 years for them to be on tv, even during the 1980s. Some were movies made for tv. Those movie bumpers bring back cozy memories.

@vincentfisher4748

9 ай бұрын

I'm the same age too. I remember and agree with everything you said 😊.

@LannieLord

4 ай бұрын

Remember when stores were closed on Sundays ?

Such good stuff. This literally brought a tear to my eye for all the nostalgia. Thank you!

when my entire family was alive and i was a kid, now im the old man and the only one who remembers the old days.

@LannieLord

4 ай бұрын

You can talk to me anytime !

@Bojangles5-2

22 күн бұрын

Indeed, Joseph...indeed. It's not the music, it's where it takes you. Suddenly, all of your friends and family are with you again.

The voice over announcer is Dick Tufeld, famously known as the voice of the Robot in Lost in Space. I especially remember the 4:30 movie theme as Mom would have them on almost every day while she was preparing dinner...

@mattfoley6082

3 жыл бұрын

OMG, that's a really good catch! I would've never made that connection.

The first Movie of the Week was done by Doug Trumbull and his slit-scan process that was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey for the Star Gate sequence at the end of the movie.

@ianmarks4481

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry to nitpick, but the first Movie of the Week intro to which you refer was designed and produced by my father, Harry Marks, with input from his friend Doug Trumbull. I can still remember going out to Trumbull's workshop in the far reaches of the San Fernando valley as a kid, where bits and pieces of "Silent Running" gear were lying about. Pretty heady stuff for a little kid.

@Ballsarama

3 жыл бұрын

​@@ianmarks4481 Yes, Doug was hired on to do the filming. I talked to him about it a while back and he told me it was one the first things he did after getting back to the States and after Andromeda Strain in '69 and that it had utilized the Slit Scan style process he developed for Kubrick.

@ianmarks4481

3 жыл бұрын

@@Ballsarama Cool!

Music is a time traveler. It can transport you right back to a moment in time. It is a gift from the universe.

I remember watching all of them when i was kid...WOW!! Good ole times. I miss the 80’s. Thank you for posting

Burt Bacharach did the first one? Wow, what a talent that man is. I believe he is still with us and l living on Long Island. Thank you for this.

I was something like 9 or 10 back during those wonderful days.... Gone forever.... 💔

Really special. For the younger folks, before there was ABC Movie of the Week, there was no such thing as a "Made for TV" movie. Every movie shown on network TV was an airing of a theatrical film. This groundbreaking concept also spawned the miniseries, which didn't exist before the made-for-TV concept. I'm with some other commenters here: it was special for the family to gather together and watch a brand new movie every week.

I'm 56 yrs old and remember these ABC movie intros vividly , it just gave me chills to hear them again , great times back then in the 70s , I want to go back , can someone invent a time machine please

Love the announcer voice of Dick Tufeld. Aka the voice of the Robot on Lost in space

Music like this represented excellence in the broadcasting industry.

Hearing this is like stepping into a time machine to better days of far away and long ago. Oh the precious memories this intro brings of being in the warmth and safety of family in our little den. We all had our certain places to sit or sprawl out on the couch and rug. So comforting to hear this again!

@LannieLord

4 ай бұрын

It's therapy .

Brings back so much fond memories Thank you for these 😃

I love the first opening theme! It brings back so many wonderful memories from my grade school days!! 🏫 Thank You!!😃😉

@monkface

2 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure but I think it's a Burt Bacharach tune

@jeansirico1965

Жыл бұрын

Yes, it is. It’s called, “Niki’s Theme”, named after his daughter with Angie Dickinson.

I loved all these, and still do. The 1970s and 1980s used them for movies. The graphic art on them was a delight. Our CBS, NBC, and ABC came from KC, MO, but were as these. Certain evenings during those 2 decades had movies on one of those 3 channels, and those intros are now fond classics.

Gale Sayers died today...Brian's Song. Movie of the Week. There's only three titles I remember...Brians Song, Duel, and I think the movie was Sunshine, starring Kay Lenz and William Holden; Because if I remember correctly, the theme song was John Denvers Sunshine on My Shoulder.

@WhatTheFrenchToast

3 жыл бұрын

I think the Kay Lenz and William Holden film was called, "Breezy" but like you I remember, When Michael Calls...Satan School for Girls, Scream Pretty Peggy! And of course The Night Stalker!

- Thanks so much for sharing this!!!! It brings back great memories growing up in the 70's!!!

We had some fine entertainment, movies made for television...and it was FREE! Thanks for this. Still remember the ABC intro and automatically think of BRIAN'S SONG, BAD RONALD, HOW AWFUL ABOUT ALLAN and of course THE NIGHT STALKER.

I especially LOVE that 4:30 Movie theme. I hadn’t heard that since I was a young teenager in the 1970s. Most of the time I didn’t care to watch the 90 minute movie but I remember turning to channel 7 (local ABC station in NYC) most weekdays at 4:30pm just to hear that tune. It still sounds great.

Nikki - Burt Bacharach

So, many great MOTW, "Brian's Song," "Duel," "Go Ask Alice," "Tribes," with pilots for shows like "The Six Million Dollar Man," and "The Night Stalker."

@Jay-vr9ir

3 жыл бұрын

The Love War had a cool ending .

@rddav1

2 жыл бұрын

Yes...The Night Stalker! The talk of the playground on Wednesday morning!

Me and my Family in 1975 would be so Excited when the Tuesday Night Movie of the Week would come on Because we didnt have to wait for Friday or Saturday or Sunday to see a movie. We didnt have VCRS or Cable T.V. WHAT a Primitive Time.🤣

@Jay-vr9ir

3 жыл бұрын

We did not get a colour set until 74.MyDad said that he was not going to spend a small fortune to watch green faces , so we waited until the colour sets improved . He bought a Hitachi , my sister still has it . I recall in 76/77 our business teacher asking our class ,how many people owned colour sets , 3 quarters of the class put up their hands , he was surprised .

The "TUESDAY MOVIE OF THE WEEK" opening was seen from 1972 through 1975. "THE 4:30 MOVIE" opening was seen on WABC-TV in New York from 1969 through 1973.

@gregsells8549

4 жыл бұрын

There was also a "WEDNESDAY MOVIE OF THE WEEK" at that time, hence the differentiation from Tuesday, when the original "Movie of the Week" ran. Plus for only a year or so, a "MOVIE OF THE WEEKEND" on Saturdays, with different graphics but I think the same theme music.

@anthonycameron2067

2 жыл бұрын

I would get home from school on that theme

This intro was the flare shot across the bow of my childhood. We could hear it from anywhere in the house. We knew what it meant. Pepsi cola in the heavy glass bottles. Cracker Jacks, Lemonheads, Charston Chew, and Affy Tapples. We reported to the front room, sat on the area rug in front of the Zenith rabbit ear black and white. Its where I first saw " The Night Stalker" , "Bad Ronald" "Killdozer" " The Girl most likely to..." " A Howling in the Woods" and " One of my wives is missing." Thanks, Barry Diller from ABC for having the idea to make feature films for Television and how movies could be both entertaining and stories well told.

@LannieLord

4 ай бұрын

Five Desperate Women ! Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring ! Trilogy of Terror !

1st intro had strong 2001 star-gate influence !

I remember monster week on THE 4:30 MOVIE, good times.

Yeah this brings back a lot of memories this is great stuff👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟⭐⭐

@genejenkins9902

5 жыл бұрын

IT NOT GREAT THERE ANYMORE

That one from the 80's takes me back.

I wish this gorgeous rendition of Nikki with this full orchestra were available somewhere, but it was most likely just the intro theme. Bacharach probably did this arrangement, though. 🥰

Remind me when I was a kid watching TV. 😎

The world premiere! Whoaaaaa. Cheesiest low budget movies ever. But I loved the music intros. Reminds me of my childhood.

@scvandy3129

2 жыл бұрын

"John x" Oh yeah, like "Brian's Song" "That Certain Summer," "The Night Stalker," "Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring," "Tribes," "A Great American Tragedy," "The Ballad of Andy Crocker," "Duel" were 'cheesy' -- NOT. A select few were so well received the respective, producing studios released them theatrically following their celebrated debuts on ABC's "Movie of the Week." The intro's with those futuristic graphics, beautiful theme (ed. oh, those violins), familiar, male voice highlighting the accompanying, preview film clips -- "glad you found at least something to like."

@EmilyTienne

2 жыл бұрын

@@scvandy3129 You said that so beautifully. Yes, the graphics really drew me in, and the announcer’s voice was just phenomenal. You just don’t hear a voice like that anywhere today.

That's when ABC was clean. Not like today

When this came on, I knew that it was "bed - time ! ".....

When TV was great!

My childhood resurfacing.

THANK YOU. All but the last one hit me at the core and brought back WONDERFUL memories of a time in life so special - long ago but yesterday, so to speak. I truly hope there is so sort of afterlife for us.....

I miss those days so much!!!

Makes me want to be a kid again! Thank you for the memories!

The first intro reminds me of watching one of the greatest TV movies I've ever seen...in my opinion...as a 7 year old boy. The Night Stalker, with Darren McGavin.

@robertlang8275

2 жыл бұрын

I remember Crowhaven Farm with Hope Lange. I had to ask to stay up to see it to the end

@ricoz2016

2 жыл бұрын

At one point, it was the highest-rated ever. And to me, it still holds up today.

@TsukiumisGuy

2 жыл бұрын

@@ricoz2016 I just picked up the Blu-ray of THE NIGHT STALKER. It looks fantastic! Better than when I saw it when it originally aired. Everyone at school was talking about it the next day!

The song on the first one was so beautiful! Reminds me of my childhood💖

This brings back memories reminds me when I was a child stay up and watch those movies.

ALL GREAT BECAUSE THEY BRING BACK SUCH BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD. FAV IS THE 4:30 MOVIE. THANKS, THIS HIT A NERVE.

One word.... reminiscence..

James Rogers : you are spot on. I miss the 70's when this theme was on.

The first and second songs has a halcyon effect on me. 🥰🥰🥰

@Bojangles5-2

22 күн бұрын

Bonus points for using halcyon!

Recall hearing it in the other room as a tucked in tyke while mother sat alone as her cheating tv musician husband left her much of the time.

I missed the late 60s and early 70s watching TV when I was a kid especially the movie of the week.

These were a big deal back then. There was no cable. I remember when Goldfinger came to tv. It was the talk of the office the next day

@rddav1

2 жыл бұрын

In my case, it was the talk of the playground the next day! 😁

Brilliant Video Presentation!! "The Waco Nightmare" -- starring Angie Harmon will return after these messages on ABC.

good Lord! I loved the one that start about 54 second in. Wonder who wrote it. So great!

By the 2000 promo VHS was so popular and DVD were becoming popular most people were watching movies that way.

I really, really miss 1969!

When I listen and watch this siniar of the ABC Movie of the Week intro from 1972. It brings it back to the sensation of growing up in another way, while in the seventies dealing with the harsh reality of an reautarded off-the-walled abusive family situations, like I was a alabaster kid in another contemporary setting watching this movie in a more heartwarming seventies styled family and school in my imaginary childhood!

Good memory. Sitting in front of the TV and feeling that excitement about what was coming on.

I miss those days which they show this in 2023 ABC because we are not getting anywhere with this new stuff please bring it back.

I was 12 years old in 1972 brings back memories.

The first one I love. The one at 0:56 I never liked.

Groovy

Just watched an old one from 1970 with a excellent cast of actors some of these movies were quite good.

Sooooo much memories.

Miss television memories

Love the 2001 slit scan effect.

Does anyone remember the time filers between movies on hbo? It showed someone on a bicycle going down a path

most of these movies were great

Me included. It was a time when we in this country still believed in santa Clause, Christmas and more important, God.

The Saturday Movie of the Week was great also. Two favorites: 'The Deadly Dream' with Lloyd Bridges, and 'Flight of the Birdmen' with Chuck Connors.

This is abc

Man the abc logos at the start of this video looks like dagers coming after you haha

I remember the second like it was yesterday!

Seemingly started at 7P and finished at 9.

I want our America back!

I remember in the watching scary movie chiller 😊

Very haunting!

ABC 1969

There's a rumor that the intro to ABC Movie Of The Week was the inspiration for the now legendary multicolored Swirling Star intro to The Funtastic World Of Hanna-Barbera in 1985.

Included is the 4:30 Movie intro used by WABC-TV/New York. Was it used in other markets?

@lynnegreen2002

4 жыл бұрын

It was used for Detroit's WXYZ TV's 4:30 Movie as well.

@markjeffries3684

4 жыл бұрын

@@lynnegreen2002 All of the ABC-owned stations and some affiliates.

@Ballsarama

4 жыл бұрын

I remember seeing it on Chicago's Channel 7 WLS.

@dalemcilwain

4 жыл бұрын

The music was also used in WABC Late Movie.

@scvandy3129

2 жыл бұрын

@@markjeffries3684 Yet on ABC's handful of O&Os (owned and operated stations, not its 200 affiliates owned by other entities and corporations) on the west coast, KGO (San Francisco) and KABC (Los Angeles) it was sometimes the "3:30 Movie." Interesting how primetime programming start times, time periods were consistent on east (Eastern Time Zone) and west coast (Pacific Time Zone), yet daytime, network programming on the west coast was usually one hour earlier. 'Go figure.' Back to the subject of this KZread, the ABC Movie of the Week had a beautiful theme and it elicits nostalgic feelings -- as evidenced by the dozens and dozens of comments.

Wow

That was a lot of Tuesday's ago

monster week on the 4:30 movie.

The ABC Movie Of The Week , a hundred times better than The NBC Mystery Movie .

@scvandy3129

2 жыл бұрын

'Apples and oranges,' "Joseph Forest;" you're comparing 'apples and oranges.' ABC's 90-minute "MOWs" (aka 'made-fors' -- short for 'made for television movies' -- when including NBC's World Premiere (internally, Project 120, representing the running time with ads) and CBS's originals, both 90 mins. and two-hours in length, along with ABC's celebrated "Movie of the Week" that premiered Sept. 1969) were anthologies, totally different themes -- love stories, dramas, westerns (ed. - remember those?), cop / detective titles, light comedies, suspense/thriller, science fiction -- airing (usually) in the same time slot each week on the respective network. The "NBC Mystery Movie" and its various incarnations, Sunday (the original), Tuesday and Wednesday, was simply an 'umbrella' for series that ran 90-minutes and two-hours instead of the traditional one-hour length for non-sitcom programming. It was called 'a wheel' -- spinning around with a title airing every fourth or fifth week, in practice/intent. So, ABC did 26 movies its first season, 1969 - 70 -- ALL different, unique. Beginning in the early 1970s, NBC's "Mystery Movie" consisted of four to eight 'movie-length' episodes annually of "McMillan and Wife," "McCloud," "Hec Ramsey," "Banacek," "Columbo," "Tenafly," "The Snoop Sisters," "Lanigan's Rabbi," etc. It's certainly 'more fair' to compare and contrast those titles within the "Mystery Movie" umbrella than the entire "NBC Mystery Movie" format and 26 different, unrelated titles on ABC. An equivalent would be putting ABC's "Afterschool Specials" and CBS's "Schoolbreak Specials" -- strictly anthologies, usually one-hour, designed for children viewers on sporadic, weekday afternoons -- in the same category as "Saved by the Bell," "The Secrets of Isis," "Far Out Space Nuts," "Sky King" and other strictly, kid-appealing Saturday morning fare -- all regular series. Reading the dozens and dozens of comments here it's obvious the ABC "Movie of the Week" elicits warm, feel-good memories. Many of those same viewers, old enough btw, get similar 'goose bumps' hearing Henry Mancini's fantastic NBC "Mystery Movie" theme and the representative visuals of each series. Both formats had expert voice overs announcing the titles and performers' names.

What about the Million Dollar movie three song?Chills .taken from Gone With the Wind.

Networks no longer have movies or mini series .

Flashbacks

Wish networks would do this again, instead of those ignorant reality and talent shows. "The Voice"? Who's brainless enough to watch that crap?

0:56 FBS Saturday Night at The Movies (1980-1988) (fanmade)

Danger Will Robinson...