Television Movies of the 21st Century

For the major broadcast networks, the heyday of made-for-TV movies was 20th Century programming like The ABC Movie of the Week and NBC Sunday Night at the Movies. But with changing economic times and the race for ratings, the networks gradually dropped made-for-TV movies while basic cable embraced the format, especially the Hallmark Channel (with its numerous Christmas-themed movies) and the Syfy Channel (with its array of shark attack movies and other things that go bump in the night). From the waning days of the broadcast networks to the influx of basic cable TV movies, this encyclopedia covers 1,370 films produced during the period 2000-2020. For each film entry, the reader is presented with an informative storyline, cast and character lists, technical credits (producer, director, writer), air dates, and networks. It covers the networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, Ion, and NBC) and such basic cable channels as ABC Family, Disney, Fox Family, Freeform, Hallmark, INSP, Lifetime, Nickelodeon, Syfy, TBS and TNT. There is also an appendix of “Announced but Never Produced” TV movies and a performer’s index.

Vincent Terrace has been a researcher for ABC television and is the television historian for BPOLIN Productions. He has written more than 50 books about television and radio.

Vincent Terrace
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 404
Bibliographic Info: appendix, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8412-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4372-4
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
The Movies 3
Appendix: Announced but Never Produced TV Movies 359
Performer’s Index 363

• “Veteran researcher/historian Vincent Terrace documents another important facet of the TV industry with his impressive new reference book Television Movies of the 21st Century. Highly recommended!”—James Robert Parish, author of The RKO Gals

• “Television historian Vincent Terrace has compiled another must-have reference for historians, pop culture fans, and everyone interested in learning about this century’s TV movies. The 1293 entries are comprehensive, covering 1370 films and providing such facts as the main cast and characters, credits, air dates, and detailed story line summaries. An informative as well as a fun read!”—Paula Finn, author of Sitcom Writers Talk Shop: Behind the Scenes with Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, and Other Geniuses of TV Comedy

• “There have been so many well-remembered TV movies in this still new millennium, and so many that are almost forgotten. This is the first book to give us the history of each and every one. A remarkable undertaking and a joy to read.”—Bob Leszczak, actor/radio personality, author of the Single Season Sitcoms book series, as well as The Odd Couple on Stage and Screen