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The Five: TV movies they don't show anymore
You don't see as many made-for-TV movies today as you used to. Sure, Lifetime does some and you'll find some on cable and the odd one on CBS, but the networks don't really do them anymore (and if they do they stretch them to two or more nights and call them a mini-series). But you could see them all the time in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Here are five they hardly show anymore, if ever, but I remember them fondly.
1. One Of My Wives Is Missing (1976): Mystery about a man who reports his wife missing, then a woman shows up claiming to be his wife and he says she isn't. Stars Jack Klugman, Elizabeth Ashley, and James Franciscus. I pride myself in being able to figure out the shocking endings and plot twists that so many movies have (that's what happens when you watch so much TV, not much surprises you anymore), but this movie completely blew me away. It doesn't just have a twist ending, it has about three, and you just smile at the end because it's so clever, and you try to think back to everything that happened to see if they played fair. I haven't seen this movie in about 15 years. It's not on DVD and I can't remember the last time someone ran it. (It was remade years later with a different title, but it wasn't as good.)2. Wonder Woman (1974): No, not the Lynda Carter version, this was the Cathy Lee Crosby version that came a few years before that one. It was the pilot for a TV series that never happened. Looking back on it, it's a little goofy, but I really enjoyed this as a kid and I'd love to see it again. Ricardo Montalban played the villain and Kaz Garas was Steve Trevor. It's a fun flick, set up like a cliffhanger serial in a way, about the search for a serious of stolen books and the people who took them. It involves donkey, if I remember correctly. Another bonus: the theme song is a cool instrumental, not that stupid one from the Lynda Carter series ("In her satin tights/fighting for your rights!"). Is this on DVD?
3. The Night Strangler (1973): Yeah, this is on DVD now, but why isn't it shown more on television. It seemed to vanish for several years, then sorta resurfaced when the DVDs were released and ABC did that horrid remake of The Night Stalker. This one was even creepier, with Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man) as a 100-something year old killer living under the streets of Seattle.
4. The Norliss Tapes (1973): Very Night Stalker/Night Strangler-ish pilot for a TV series (it was done by Dan Curtis, who did those movies too), about a reporter who discovers some strange goings on when he investigates a murder. Starred Roy Thinnes and Angie Dickinson.
5. The New People (1969) Actually an episode of the Journey To Darkness TV series, but I believe they repackaged the eps as movies several years ago. It's about a young couple (Robert Reed and Jennifer Hilary) that moves to a new town and strange things start to happen. Turns out the town is filled with devil worshippers and they want to sacrifice them. Really scary and unsettling.
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