WNBC Cinema 4 bumper 1979

a 1979 bumper for WNBC's Cinema 4, followed by a Crazy Eddie commercial

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[wmbrown6]

Also . . . that Warners' package with "Brainstorm" was different from the package WNBC had from 1966 to 1973 (which featured such flicks as "Ocean's 11," "Susan Slade," "Sunrise at Campobello" and "John Paul Jones"), and after their rights expired those pics went right to WABC where many of the titles played for years on "The 4:30 Movie." That group was packaged as "Warner Bros. Two." ("Warner Bros. One" was leased by WCBS from 1963 to 1970, and those also later went to WABC.)

[wmbrown6]

@fromthesidelines - I remember the 1965 "Brainstorm." Especially since WPIX ran it one night on "The Eight O'Clock Movie" in 1985, after running ads in TV Guide promising the 1983 Natalie Wood film of the same name. I bet many 'PIX viewers were as upset as anything . . .

[fromthesidelines]

Well, 'wm', Channel 4 DID have a "package" of Warner Bros. films from the '60s, including "Brainstorm" (1965). But their rights to it expired around the same time the "MGM/7" package did....

[wmbrown6]

The irony in WOR's airing "Singin' in the Rain" in the mid-'80's was that it had been a WNBC staple through the 1968-78 period.

[wmbrown6]

@fromthesidelines - Meanwhile, those titles in 'MGM/7' that WOR got, besides "Viva Las Vegas," included "The Loved One" (1965), "Battleground" (1949), "The V.I.P.'s" (1963), "Because You're Mine" (1952), "The Gazebo" (1959), "Cry Terror!" (1958), and "The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1962). Ironically, years after WNBC's share of 'MGM/7' expired, WOR ran "Singin' in the Rain" on "Million Dollar Movie."

Incidentally, I read "The Chapman Report" was actually released by Warner Bros.

[fromthesidelines]

Among the titles in the "MGM/7" package leased by WNBC, were "Interrupted Melody" (1955), "Ride the High Country" (1962) and "The Chapman Report" (1962). When that batch of films became unavailable, Channel 4 leased "other" [and cheaper] movie packages for "Cinema 4" through the early '80s. After 1980, the "CINEMA 4" bumpers featured the NBC "Proud As A Peacock" jingle (minus the singers).

[wmbrown6]

@fromthesidelines - WNBC's lease on part of the 'MGM/7' package (which included "High Society") expired in 1978. That package, when introduced in 1968, was split between WNBC and WOR-TV (which got roughly less than half the films therein, including the Elvis film "Viva Las Vegas"). WNBC's lease of the MGM films in question may well have been winding down when the "Cinema 4" title was first put into use.

[fromthesidelines]

Yes, you're right, 'wm'. I read the Red Bank "DAILY/SUNDAY REGISTER" (they never published on Saturdays, though). And I certainly remember "Movie 4" on weekends- especially when they presented MGM's "High Society" {in standard frame "scan and pan"} one Sunday afternoon...WNBC-TV still leased a "package" of MGM's '50s and early '60s movies at the time. By the time "CINEMA 4" was established, they dropped it. I wasn't aware the "SUNDAY FILM FESTIVAL" was still on as late as 1977...

[wmbrown6]

And of course, in fall 1975 weekend "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" repeats were jettisoned (at Carson's insistence), leading to the premiere of a weekly sketch comedy show that remains on the air today - a show that started as "NBC's Saturday Night" but since 1977 has been known as "Saturday Night Live."

[wmbrown6]

According to contemporary TV listings of the Sunday Register of Monmouth County, NJ, the "Sunday Film Festival" title was still used as late as early 1977 (albeit starting at 1 A.M. after "Sammy & Company" before the "NBC Late Night Movie" premiered), ditto for the weeknight editions of "The Great Great Show." And also the "Movie 4" title was used irregularly on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, again as late as 1976-77.