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1972 Theatrical Release -- On the CBS Friday Night Movie in 1973

posted 4 years ago by ecarle (14979)
4 replies | jump to latest

In today's age of DVD, cable, and streaming, the "window" between a movie playing at a theater and a movie playing on your home TV is rarely more than six months.

But "back in the day" -- when there were no DVDs, no cable, no streaming...not even VHS tapes!..a movie would play in theaters and then eventually make it to network television.

CBS had two nights(Thursday and Friday). NBC had two nights (Saturday and Monday.) ABC had two nights(Sunday and Wednesday.) I guess Tuesday night was agreed to be an orphan.

And usually it took YEARS for a theatrical film of any value to finally "diminish" itself to a broadcast debut.

North by Northwest was released in 1959, it debuted on the CBS Friday Night Movie in 1967.

Ben-Hur was released in 1959, it debuted on the CBS Thursday AND Friday Night Movie(two parts) in 1971.

Of more recent vintage, Bullitt was released in 1968 and debuted on the CBS Friday Night movie in 1973.

But sometimes a movie -- with good stars and good reviews, but weak box office -- practically went straight from the theaters to ...broadcast TV. "The next year." But usually with a twist.

The Hot Rock was released in March of 1972. It hit the CBS Friday Night Movie("Launching the season") in 1973. But as TV seasons go, it was like this:

1971-1972 TV Season: The Hot Rock debuts at the movies in March.
1972-1973 TV Season: No Hot Rock.
1973-1974 TV Season: Hot Rock debuts on CBS Movie

So...it FELT like almost two years to TV. Still, embarrassing: A 1972 movie ends up on TV "one year later."

That happened with Hitchcock's final film, "Family Plot," too. It was an April 1972 release, so

1975-1976 TV Season: Family Plot debuts at the movies in April
1976-1977 TV Season: No Family Plot.
1977-1978 TV Season: Family Plot debuts on NBC Saturday Night Movie(In November -- "sweeps month" for ratings -- Hitchcock's name was still gold even then.)

But at least The Hot Rock and Family Plot got the "grace period" of one TV season "off" before debuting.

It wasn't so good for Don Siegel's "Charley Varrick" starring Walter Matthau.

1973-1974 TV Season: Charley Varrick debuts in October, 1973.
1974-1975 TV Season: Charley Varrick debuts on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.

That's LESS THAN ONE YEAR from theatrical debut to broadcast TV. No cable in between, no VHS, no DVD (they didn't exist yet.) And no mercy from Universal Pictures whose management elected to dump Charley Varrick on TV so quickly that its almost alike it was a TV movie (but it is not; it is small but very good.)

[–] sim7396 (121) 4 years ago

Thank you for sharing all these dates!

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

You are welcome.

Yes, they are "nerd-ly" but they constitute how movies changed in what as known as the "window" between theatrical release and going to TV.

Here's one: Ben-Hur was a big hit in 1959. It did not reach television(CBS) until 1971. 12 years! (but in between, it was re-released to theaters every few years.)

Modernly, the window from theater to "TV"(now streaming and pay per view) is a matter of months. And then a few more months to DVD.

Or WEEKS. If Wonder Woman II gets released to theaters at Xmas 2020(in the year of COVID-19), it will now also play on HBO Plus about two weeks later.

[–] Bloodworth79 (5687) 4 years ago

So this movie was considered bad during its time?

I always enjoyed this movie. Funny, some good action parts. Kinda silly.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

So this movie was considered bad during its time?

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No, it got good reviews, and it had Robert Redford just as he was fully coming into full stardom. The script was by the famous writer of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and had some of the same "crime plus one liners" feel. George Segal may not have been Paul Newman, but he WAS a star when this movie came out; Redford again had a good partner.

My point in the OP was really to note that, back in the 60's and 70's , whereas usually it took four to five years for a movie to reach network TV, The Hot Rock was one of the first to show up on TV the very year after its release. It was like a confession: "The Hot Rock wasn't big enough of a hit to make you wait years to see it on TV." On CBS the same season(1973-1974) was the Steve McQueen hit "Bullitt" -- five years after its release.

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I always enjoyed this movie. Funny, some good action parts. Kinda silly.

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Agreed. I like it a lot, and the premise is great: a four-man team of crooks has to keep stealing the same diamond over and over and over, from different locations.