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1968–69: The massive success of the '67–'68 season, alongside a solid stockpile of TV movies and plans for a monthly long-form news series, prompted NBC to add a third movie night. After 4 seasons away, the movies were back on Monday. Through the three evenings, NBC would insert more occasional specials giving the movies off-weeks. Nevertheless, the number of good, recognizable movies titles continued to thin, and while successful in filling time and satisfying its audiences, the ratings for its movies declined. However, NBC was putting a bigger target on young people, which led to higher ad rates. In that sense, the nights were successful.
On Monday, freshman The Danny Thomas Show and three-season drama I Spy was axed to make way for the return of Monday Night at the Movies. Of the 24 movies, Universal supplied 14 of them, including 4 made for TV titles. NBC's other big movie supplier, United Artists, supplied 6. An MGM pilot movie would go to series for next fall.
Since the popular competition was comedy shows, many Monday movies are dramas, but there are some comedies in the mix, including musical comedies. The night has several westerns, too, which might've been NBC's attempt to stamp out the westerns in ABC's Monday lineup. This is also NBC's first foray into the "two-night movie event." Both Exodus and El Cid were split into two nights.
Other quick notes: some movies run over the allotted two hours. And while ratings started really strong for the night, by November, the Monday movies rarely finished in the top 20 programs for the week.
Programmer's Corner: NBC knew it had a potential hit with Laugh-In and announced the fall movie addition before Laugh-In even premiered. It was a smart programming move CBS' powerhouse-but-older-skewing lineup. Plus, CBS was starting a slight reboot: The Lucy Show was now Here's Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show was now Mayberry, R.F.D. However, the movie didn't have the consistency that CBS' lineup did. First hour competition Mayberry R.F.D. and Family Affair finished in the top 10 and Carol Burnett in the top 30. ABC's attempt at a socially aware western The Outcasts didn't work, and veteran western The Big Valley ended at the end of the season. After finishing the season Laugh-In was replaced by various specials for a couple months (all are noted below), and ceased later in the summer for an expanded movie slot and Monday Theatre, which was comprised of busted pilots. (All are noted below.)
NBC MONDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES, 1968–69
Regular season
16 Sep 1968: Madame X (1966, 2 hours)
When her lover is killed, the wife of a wealthy man is convinced to fake her own death, which leads her into greater depths of depravity until fate reunites her with her long-lost son, who is unaware of her real identity. (Drama / Color, Universal)
Director: David Lowell Rich; with Lana Turner, John Forsythe, Ricardo Montalban
Ratings Report: With reruns and football as competition, early NYC ratings had Madame X dominating the competition at 32.5/53.
23 Sep 1968: The Art of Love (1965, 2 hours)
A struggling artist fakes his own death so his works will increase in value. (Comedy / Color, Universal)
Director: Norman Jewison; with James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Elke Sommer, Angie Dickinson
30 Sep 1968: How to Murder Your Wife (1965, 2 hours 30 minutes)
A dedicated bachelor drunkenly marries a young woman and immediately lives to regret it. (Comedy / Color, United Artists)
Director: Richard Quine; with Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi, Terry-Thomas
Programming Note: I Dream of Jeannie was preempted for a Hubert Humphrey paid program
Ratings Report: Even against new programming, How to Murder Your Wife out-rated the competition, and at times, was even more than the ABC and CBS competition combined.
7 Oct 1968: The Rare Breed (1964, 2 hours 15 minutes)
An English woman and her daughter enlist the aid of a cowboy to try and get their hardy hornless bull to mate with the longhorns of Texas, but have to overcome greedy criminals and the natural elements. (Western / Color, Universal)
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen; with James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith
Ratings Report: The movie ranked #11 for the week (22.2/36). However, Mayberry R.F.D. (#2, 25.8/39) and Family Affair (#5, 24.4/37) did better. Carol Burnett was right behind (#16, 21.2/37)
14 Oct 1968: The Bob Hope Special and Mitzi
Bob Hope welcomed Bob Fosse, Gwen Verdon, John Davidson, and Jeannie C. Riley. Then Mitzi Gaynor hosted her first TV special, which included guests George Hamilton, Phil Harris, Jack Riley, and Joan Gerber.
21 Oct 1968: The Satan Bug (1965, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A germ that could destroy life on Earth is stolen from a biological warfare lab and the thief threatens to release it into the open, prompting a security officer to act. (Crime Science Fiction / Color, United Artist)
Director: John Sturges; with George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews
Programming Note: I Dream of Jeannie was preempted for the special The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant.
28 Oct 1968: Exodus, Part 1 (1960, 2 hours 30 minutes)
The state of Israel is created in 1948, resulting in war with its Arab neighbors. (Action / Color, United Artists)
Director: Otto Preminger; with Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson
Programming Note: This movie aired in two parts on ABC in 1965.
4 Nov 1968: Paid Political Program
The day before the election, NBC's primetime lineup included 3 hours of paid political programs. After Jeannie was a half-hour ad for the George Wallace campaign followed by a half-hour from the Hubert Humphrey campaign. Preempting the entire 2-hour movie slot was a paid program by the Nixon campaign. TWO HOURS.
11 Nov 1968: Now You See It, Now You Don't (NBC World Premiere)📺 (1968, 2 hours)
TV Movie. A bumbling art expert, hired by an insurance company to protect a Rembrandt on loan from the Louvre, hatches a scheme to steal it. (Comedy / Color, Universal)
Director: Don Weis; with Jonathan Winters, Luciana Paluzzi, Steve Allen
18 Nov 1968: El Cid, Part 1 (1961, 2 hours)
The fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors. (Drama / Color, Allied Artists)
Director: Anthony Mann; with Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone
25 Nov 1968: Charade (1963, 2 hours 30 minutes)
Romance and suspense ensue in Paris as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Whom can she trust? (Romantic Comedy Mystery / Color, Universal)
Director: Stanley Donen; with Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau
2 Dec 1968: Games (1967, 2 hours)
A young couple who are into kinky "mind games" get more than they bargained for when a mysterious woman comes into their lives. (Thriller / Color, Universal)
Director: Curtis Harrington; with Simone Signoret, James Caan, Katharine Ross
9 Dec 1968: Kid Galahad (1962, 2 hours)
After completing his military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter and takes him under his wing. (Musical / Color, United Artists)
Director: Phil Karlson; with Elvis Presley, Gig Young, Lola Albright
Programming Note: Kid Galahad previously aired on ABC in 1965. Laugh-In was preempted for the special TCB, a revue of Motown's Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. See it here.
16 Dec 1968: The Sunshine Patriot (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1968, 2 hours)
TV Movie. An American spy tries desperately to get out from behind the Iron Curtain with some crucial microfilm with the Communist security police close on his heels. (Drama / Color, Universal)
Director: Joseph Sargent; with Cliff Robertson, Dina Merrill, Luther Adler
23 Dec 1968: The Pad and How to Use It (1966, 2 hours)
A man, who lives alone in his apartment, finds his ideal woman while going to the symphony. He dates her and brings her to his pad, only to find out she came to the symphony on a ticket she got from a co-worker. (Comedy / Color, Universal)
Director: Brian G. Hutton; with Brian Bedford, Julie Sommars, James Farentino
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
30 Dec 1968: NBC White Paper, "The Ordeal of the American City: The People Are the City"
Featuring an opening title sequence by the Jim Henson Company, "The Ordeal of the American City" was a three-part series about the urban crisis. The focus of this episode was Boston with Frank McGee reporting.
6 Jan 1969: Jumping Jacks (1952, 2 hours)
Nightclub comic Hap Smith assumes the identity of another soldier so he can tour army bases in a revue with his ex-partner Chuck Allen. (Musical Comedy / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: Norman Taurog; with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
13 Jan 1969: The King's Pirate (1967, 2 hours)
A Royal Navy officer, posing as a deserter, joins a crew of pirates in an effort to infiltrate and destroy from within the notorious pirate stronghold of Diego Suarez. (Adventure / Color, Universal)
Director: Don Weis; with Doug McClure, Jill St. John, Guy Stockwell
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
20 Jan 1969: Billie (1965, 2 hours)
A 16-year-old tomboy and high school athlete finds herself caught between being beating boys at sports and having a boyfriend, while her conservative father opposes women's rights in his campaign for mayor. (Musical Comedy / Color, United Artists)
Director: Don Weis; with Patty Duke, Jim Backus, Jane Greer
Programming Note: I Dream of Jeannie was preempted for a special about the Nixon's inauguration.
27 Jan 1969: Dragnet (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1969, 2 hours)
TV Pilot. Sgt. Joe Friday and Off. Bill Gannon investigate two missing amateur female models and a young war widow, having been last seen with one J. Johnson. In their investigation, they're given two different descriptions of the suspect. Produced in 1966, this was the movie pilot to the popular revival that debuted two years prior. (Crime / Color, Universal)
Director: Jack Webb; with Jack Webb, Harry Morgan
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
3 Feb 1969: Follow That Dream (1962, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A family of ragtag vagabonds sets up a makeshift home on a Florida beach after becoming marooned there, prompting an uptight local bureaucrat to attempt to evict them. (Musical / Color, United Artists)
Director: Gordon Douglas; with Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Anne Helm
More: Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Programming Note: Follow That Dream previously aired on ABC in 1965.
Programming Note: Follow That Dream previously aired on ABC in 1965.
10 Feb 1969: Beau Geste (1966, 2 hours 15 minutes)
In 1906, two American brothers join the French Foreign Legion and, led by a sadistic Sergeant-Major, they defend a fort against Berber and Tuareg attack. (Adventure / Color, Universal)
Director: Douglas Heyes; with Guy Stockwell, Doug McClure, Leslie Nielsen, Telly Savalas
17 Feb 1969: The Bob Hope Special and Jack Benny's Birthday Special
Bob Hope is joined by Bing Crosby, George Burns, Martha Raye, Rowan & Martin, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Lisa Miller. Then, Jack Benny turns 39 for the 36th time with guests Jerry Lewis, Lucille Ball, Dan Blocker, Dennis Day, Lawrence Welk, and Ann-Margret.
24 Feb 1969: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1960, 2 hours)
A man spends a night in a haunted house. (Comedy Horror / Color, Universal)
Director: Alan Rafkin; with Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Liam Redmond
3 Mar 1969: Fear No Evil (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1969, 2 hours)
TV Movie. A psychiatrist investigates a man possessed by a spirit living in an antique mirror that can bring dead people back to life. (Horror Thriller / Color, Universal)
Director: Paul Wendkos; with Louis Jourdan, Lynda Day George, Carroll O'Connor
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
10 Mar 1969: The Plainsman (1966, 2 hours)
Calamity Jane tries to help Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock stop an Indian war. (Western / Color, Universal)
Director: David Lowell Rich; with Don Murray, Guy Stockwell, Abby Dalton
17 Mar 1969: Rope of Sand (1949, 2 hours)
A man abused by a sadistic mining company cop before he could tell where on their desert property he'd found diamonds decides to steal them instead. (Film Noir / Color, Paramount)
Director: William Dieterle; with Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre
24 Mar 1969: Then Came Bronson (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1969, 2 hours)
TV Pilot. Disillusioned reporter Jim Bronson quits his job and starts wandering the road on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle as a form of soul-searching. He meets various characters. Some he helps, others he educates. (Adventure Drama / Color, MGM)
Director: Denne Bart Petitclerc; with Michael Parks, Bonnie Bedelia, Bruce Dern
More: Letterboxd
Summer season
(Movies ran in the alotted timeslot unless otherwise noted)
31 Mar 1969: I'll Take Sweden (1965)
7 Apr 1969: The Reluctant Astronaut (1967)
Programming Note: With the season done, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In was off the schedule for two months and replaced by various specials. First up was Portrait of Petula, Petula Clark's second special.
14 Apr 1969: Blindfold (1966)
Programming Note: The lead-in program was 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee, a TV special starring The Monkees and a large guest cast.
21 Apr 1969: Pressure Point (1962)
28 Apr 1969: A Man Could Get Killed (1966)
Programming Note: The lead-in programs were a news special on French President Charles de Gaulle's resignation (The French Crisis), preempting Jeannie, and then music spectacular The Spring Thing.
5 May 1969: Istanbul Express (1968)
12 May 1969: Father Goose (1964)
Programming Note: The lead-in program was the sitcom pilot Anderson and Company. The movie started at 8:30.
19 May 1969: Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
26 May 1969: Any Second Now (1969)
Programming Note: The lead-in program was Highlights of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
2 Jun 1969: Monday Night Baseball
9 Jun 1969: The Perils of Pauline (1967)
16 Jun 1969: The Plainsman (1966)
23 Jun 1969: Companions in Nightmare (1968)
30 Jun 1969: Banning (1967)
7 Jul 1969: Trial Run (1969)
14 Jul 1969: Some Like It Hot (1959, 2 hours 30 minutes)
21 Jul 1969: Taras Bulba (1962)
Programming Note: Replacing Laugh-In, Monday Theatre, comprised of busted pilots, aired in at 8 and the Monday movie now began at 8:30 p.m. The first Monday Theatre pilot was Pioneer Spirit.
28 Jul 1969: Something Wild (1961; OAD)
4 Aug 1969: Khartoum (1966)
11 Aug 1969: Monday Night Baseball
18 Aug 1969: The Glory Guys (1965)
Programming Note: The Monday Theatre pilot, which moved to 7:30, was the one-hour drama Tiger! Tiger!.
25 Aug 1969: A Hole in the Head (1959)
Programming Note: A one-hour NBC White Paper ("The Pueblo: A Question of Intelligence") aired prior to the movie.
1 Sep 1969: Monday Night Baseball
Programming Note: The Monday Theatre pilot was conman sitcom Flim-Flam Man.
8 Sep 1969: Masquerade (1965)
Programming Note: The final Monday Theatre pilot was the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans sitcom A Country Happening. At 8 was the one-hour special Jack Paar and His Lions.
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NBC's NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
Sources: IMDb and Letterboxd for movie information; Cedar Rapids Gazette, The Daily Banner, and San Bernardino Sun for listing and programming information; Broadcasting for various ratings notes; if you see bad links or incorrect information, let me know in the comments.
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