Random clicking of news and tidbits on current and past television programming in the U.S., as well as what's happening in the TV-on-DVD market. Pop culture on the tube. Reliving our childhood one disc at a time.
Showing posts with label Made-for-TV Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Made-for-TV Movies. Show all posts
November 11, 1985 - "An Early Frost" premieres on NBC, attracting an astounding 34 million viewers. It was the first made-for-TV movie to address the topic of AIDS.
"An Early Frost" was nominated for 14 Emmy Awards and won three categories including Outstanding Writing. Due to the sensitivity of the topic and general lack of information during the mid-1980s, the film's script was revised and rewritten more than ten times before NBC's Standard and Practices department accepted the version for airing.
Burton & Taylor premieres tonight on BBC America. The TV film stars English actors Dominic West (The Wire) and Helena Bonham Carter (Merlin) as the volatile yet legendary Hollywood couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The film centers around the duo's preparation for a 1983 Broadway production of the play Private Lives. Based on the time period, Burton and Taylor were already divorced (and for the second time) but the love/hate relationship that made their love affair famous still remained strong. Though Burton and Taylor were passionately in love with another, they just brought out the worst in each other when they were together. Remember, their love affair blossomed while each was married to someone else. Their first marriage was publicly condemned by the Vatican as "erotic vagrancy." The couple later divorced only to remarry sixteen months later. The love attraction between the two was incredible especially after Burton was quoted to have said that "calling her the most beautiful woman in the world is absolute nonsense. She has wonderful eyes, but she has a double chin and an overdeveloped chest, and she's rather short in the leg." No doubt Burton and Taylor exemplified the tumultuous Hollywood love story.
West and Bonham Carter give excellent performances and really exhibit the excitement, passion, and explosiveness that defined Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's relationship. Burton & Taylor more than makes up for the disastrous 2012 Lifetime production, Liz & Dick. BBC develops a beautiful, emotionally draining production that is equally matched by the invested performers and gives us the Liz and Dick story that we want to see on the small screen.
Burton & Taylor airs at 9 pm on BBC America. Catch a glimpse of the production with this trailer:
Wow! Doesn't it feel like August just snuck up on us? It's like this summer has just flown by and we couldn't be more torn. One one hand we are one month closer to the start of the new television season, but on the other hand, we don't want to let the nice warm weather fade away. As we count down the remaining days of summer, Stay Tuned will focus on that theme for every #ThrowbackThursday.
This week we will go back to those summer camp days...Back when we were new campers trying to adjust to living in cramped and hot quarters, bunking with other people, communal showers, and the bland mess hall food. After watching Camp Cucamonga, we kind of wish we had the chance to stay at this summer camp.
Camp Cucamonga was a made-for-TV movie NBC produced back in 1990 when the network still had NBC's Sunday Night at the Movies on its line-up. In general, networks often produced these made-for-TV movies just to generate ratings and revenue. Plot wasn't necessarily the biggest factor since these movies would rely mostly on the star power of its cast, typically actors from various popular TV shows. Camp Cucamonga was no exception as it was credited being a Who's Who of '90s television.
Touted as a family film for the summer, Camp Cucamonga focused on several plots. The primary plot was on the adventures and drama (as happens will all kids in camp) of the young campers. The subplots revolved around a family's attempt to pass the summer camp inspection, as well as the romance between camp counselors. Marvin and Millie (played by Cheers' John Ratzenberger and Mama's Family's Dorothy Lyman) are the owners of Camp Cucamonga and their daughter Ava (portrayed by an unknown Jennifer Aniston, who was part of NBC's flop Ferris Bueller) is one of the camp counselors who becomes romantically attached to the boys counselor (Head of the Class' Brian Robbins). The campers were led byChad Allen (My Two Dads), Candace Cameron (Full House), Jaleel White (Family Matters), Danica McKellar and Josh Saviano (The Wonder Years). Additionally, Sherman Hemsley (Amen)played the camp inspector and newcomer Breckin Meyer was cast in a small role as a camper.
The rundown of the movie: Basically Danica McKellar plays the odd new girl to the camp and gets off on the wrong foot with Candace Cameron. Cameron makes life hell for the newbie meanwhile McKellar becomes buddies with nerdy Josh Saviano and attracts the attention of Chad Allen, who is Cameron's boyfriend at camp. Oh and Jaleel White portrays the anti-Steve Urkel. Hilarity and misunderstandings ensue and the kids make a rap video to attract new business when the threat of shutting down the camp becomes real. But don't take our word for it, just watch the links below and pretty soon you'll be singing "Cucamonga, Oh yeah, Oh yeah."
We hope you enjoy this little feature movie (if not you'll probably want some way to get your 90 minutes back!) and join us next Thursday for another throwback. Remember to keep it locked to Stay Tuned for anything and everything television!
We're always on the lookout for Made-for-TV movies that jump out at us and this piece of news not only jumped out but also slapped us silly with anticipation. Fans of V.C. Andrews series of books made popular in the late '70s and '80s will likely remember reading Flowers in the Attic. In case you forgot we'll give you a brief rundown of the novel. The young mom is widowed with four kids and moves into her parents' house after her father's death. Well the mom's mom (a.k.a. Grandma) freaks out about a secret and locks the four children in the attic. While imprisoned in the attic the oldest boy and the girl develop a "special" relationship. Yeah it was some pretty racy stuff for the era.
The Lifetime network is spearheading the production and has already lined up Heather Graham and Ellen Burstyn to portray mother and grandmother, Corinne and Olivia. No information was provided on when the movie is scheduled to premiere.
Fans might remember that a movie based on the V.C. Andrews novel was released in 1987, which was received with mixed reviews. We have included that movie's original trailer to help viewers with the gist of the story.
Remember to Stay Tuned for future updates on this story and for anything and everything television!
