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After ABC, NBC and CBS dropped their Sunday movie franchises several years ago, the only vestige of the old glory days of TV movies on broadcast was Hallmark Hall of Fame on CBS. That now is gone too as CBS has opted not to renew its deal with Hallmark that included three movies a season for the past 16 years. There was no chance CBS would continue the once-prestigious showcase that now drags down its Sunday averages. The most recent (and now last) Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on CBS, Beyond the Blackboard, managed a meager 1.3/3 in adults 18-49 two weeks ago. “This is a partnership that has served CBS very well for many years,” CBS said in a statement. “Hallmark Hall of Fame is a first-class organization, and we wish them nothing but success in their future.”
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Guess it’s a sign of the times. I remember watching “holiday-themed” HHF movies as a kid with my sisters and parents. They were always special.
Sorry to say I haven’t watched them recently so I can see why this decision was made.
It’s a pale shadow of what it used to be so it’s not surprising, but still sad.
Hey, how about putting these sap-fests on, maybe, the Hallmark Channel? Wouldn’t they fit right in?
Maybe CBS could’ve gotten a a good deal and then air them at 8-10 on Saturdays, not Sundays at 9.
I’ll make a bold and logical prediction – ION TELEVISION will be the new broadcast home for HHOF
This leaves the Tom Selleck series of Jesse Stone movies as the last ones on network television. The most recent, “Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost,” premieres on CBS on May 22nd. The eighth in the series,
“Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt,” starts filming in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 20th.
Have a feeling there will be another announcement soon as to where the 60 year franchise would be going. Unlikely that you can be successful for this long and not have already established a destination that more closely suits being competitive in today’s environment.
NBC, pick it up!
Seriously, run it on any day and it will boost your average. This institution has to live on!
The institution — HALLMARK — should live on only if it starts reflecting what this country looks like. I stopped watching these shows when I realized that for the most part non-ethnic people inhabited this world. Seriously – get with the time. Add a little color and spice.
Gee, if only Hallmark had their own channel where they could show these movies….Oh wait….
These network executives are so one-dimensional. They get paid millions to abandon what they can’t make work instead of simply re-vamping for today’s audiences.
Broadcast TV is a mess. They have no respect for the audiences, just the elusive young ones (dumb) and deserve to have their audiences siphoned away by cable and the internet.
There are a great many compelling stories to tell out there that will generate a rating but no one wants to tell them because they are “too expensive”. Bollocks.
Sure, the old style Hallmark Hall of Fame movies weren’t connecting with audiences anymore. You could see the dust wafting off of them. But high-end cable (HBO, Showtime, AMC, even A&E/History) seems to be doing some exceptionally creative & audience-relevant stuff with made for broadcast movies & minis & limited series. There is a loyal viewership out there for really well-made long forms or limited series that would never make it in the feature world but find receptive audiences on television. But networks, as short-sighted and shareholder-minded as ever, are increasingly just opting for the easy out – replace everything with more cheap and cheesy reality.
Sad sign of the times. More crap TV. And more union writers, directors, and actors out of work. The broadcast networks are killing their own business.
Remember when Saturday night was a HUGE night for Tv (ABC’s “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island”)? And the Sunday night 9-11pm block was the only night you could see studio movies on Tv? (Yes, youngsters, there was a time before HBO.)
Things change, I get that. (And change is always part of growth.)
But with all of the film stars now taking series gigs maybe it’s not a bad idea for a Network to abandon the “reality” approach and make Sunday nights “Movie Night” again.
In this economic climate they could alternate between showing studio flicks and originals. Maybe it wouldn’t be as cheap as reality offerings but how long can “Undercover Boss”, “Celeb Apprentice” and “The Great Race” last before they become old for viewers?
Give viewers something new to watch (with a solid lead in) and I think you’d develop a following.
Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go take my arthritis medicine.
Dear Remember When?:
Saturdays were a big night for prime-time TV LONG before “Love Boat”.
In the 1950′s, “Your Show Of Shows”, Lawrence Welk, Jackie Gleason and “Gunsmoke” kept people at home on Saturday nights.
In the 1960′s, “Perry Mason”, NBC’s Saturday movies, “Hollywood Palace”, and “Flipper” had huge ratings on Saturday nights.
In the 1970′s, “All In The Family”, “Emergency”, “Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and Carol Burnett were big hits on Saturdays, then “Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island” late in the decade as noted by Remember When.
In the 1980′s, it was “Golden Girls” that was a smash on Saturday nights.
Some may note that more people today are out on Saturday nights than ever before. Others will claim that during the 1950′s and 1960′s, we were in the midst of the “Baby Boom”, and with a shortage of babysitters (especially during the 50′s), many parents had to stay home with the kids.
In most cities, the top-rated Saturday-night TV program is a live telecast of a local professional sports event (baseball in Spring and Summer; hockey and/or basketball in Fall and Winter).
Still, the networks need to do something about Saturdays….and Fridays, where the number of people watching TV has plunged alarmingly in the past few years.
Maybe some of the $300 million extra money Com,cast had pledged for NBC’s prime-time schedule will go to developing high-quality, mass-appeal prime-time programs on Saturday (and Friday) nights that can keep people home!
Heaven forbid the cynical American viewing public should like or watch a wonderfully made, acted, written film like Beyond the Blackboard that shows the good in humanity and how one life can make a difference… nah, we’ll just get our fill of idiots like Snooki, Real House Wives and trash TV. For real?! What is happening to us? Beyond the Blackboard was a beautiful story of hope, forgiveness, second chances, and love…. it’s not a sap fest it’s a positive movie that shows the human condition. There are still people that enjoy movies like this. I think the whole Nielsen ratings thing needs a revamp.
The OWN Network should take the Hallmark Hall Of Fame movies!
If stupid brain-dead shows like “The Apprentice” are all that are offered, well, duh, naturally, they’re going to get higher ratings — they’re the only things on.
I am glad that abc took the torch! I love the hallmark movies…shame on cbs….
A shame about Hallmark. I don’t know what’s wrong with people now a days. I guess, if it’s not full of sex and violence they won’t watch it. Or if it’s not a stupid reality show, they won’t watch. So many channels and mostly nothing on but trash! I watched two wonderful movies today on the Hallmark channel. The movie… Beyond the Blackboard is a great movie! The best I’ve seen in a long time. This country is in bad shape and needs more heartwarming movies like this one. People caring about others. We need it!