The NBC Monday Movie

Background

The series originated after advertisers withdrew from two Monday night programs for the 1962–1963 season: It's a Man's World and Saints and Sinners, the latter of which had poor ratings and no chemistry. NBC, having seen audience success with Saturday Night at the Movies since fall 1961, bought a package of 42 films from 20th Century Fox and 35 from MGM for $14 million to fill Monday nights. The movies aired at 7:30 pm Eastern Time and were mostly action-adventures, with occasional romances and musicals, typically running under 100 minutes.

The first two series of films (February 1963–April 1964)

The first incarnation of Monday Night at the Movies ran from February 1963 to early September 1964. Despite featuring big-name stars, it could not compete with CBS's game shows and sitcoms like The Lucy Show and The Danny Thomas Show. To recoup investment, some films were rebroadcast on Saturday Night at the Movies in late spring and summer 1964. The first sixteen titles, all from 20th Century Fox, aired from February 4 to May 20, 1963, including The Enemy Below, The Bravados, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, and An Affair to Remember.

The second season began September 16, 1963, mixing MGM and Fox titles, all television premieres. Notable entries included Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (Nielsen rating 19.7), David and Bathsheba (17.9), and Executive Suite (15.4), which was the first network TV film to carry an 'Edited for Television' tag, with four minutes cut. The Wreck of the Mary Deare (15.5) had five minutes cut, and The Rains of Ranchipur (16.0) had four minutes cut. No film aired on November 25, 1963, the Monday after President John Kennedy's assassination, as networks covered the state funeral; Singin' in the Rain, originally scheduled for that date, was postponed.