Line #30 Series/TheNBCMysteryMovie


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nbc_mystery_movie_intro.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Creator/HankSimms: Tonight, Creator/RichardBoone stars as ''Series/HecRamsey''!]]
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4	''The NBC Mystery Movie'' (this did not have the definite title, in spite of the page heading) was a WheelProgram that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1971–77.
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6	The most famous element was ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', which came to television in a MadeForTVMovie in 1968 (''Prescription: Murder'', adapted by [[Creator/LevinsonAndLink Richard Levinson and William Link]] from their stage play) before becoming part of the wheel in its initial season following a second TV movie (1971's ''Ransom for a Dead Man''). ''Series/McCloud'' (inspired by the 1968 movie ''Coogan's Bluff'') began as an hour-long show as part of another WheelProgram, ''Four-In-One'', in 1970; the following season, this and ''Series/NightGallery'' were "freed" from the wheel, ''Night Gallery'' for its own slot and ''[=McCloud=]'' to be in the new strand. (The other two elements, ''[[Film/SanFranciscoInternationalAirport San Francisco International]]'' and ''The Psychiatrist'', were cancelled along with ''Four-In-One'' itself.) ''Series/McMillanAndWife'', starring Creator/RockHudson and Susan Saint James respectively, was the only element to be directly created for the ''Mystery Movie'' lineup.
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8	Once this was an established success, NBC and [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Television]] launched a second night, moving the three originals to Sundays (they initially aired on Wednesdays) as the rebranded ''NBC Sunday Mystery Movie'' and premiering the ''NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie''; they also tried to find a fourth spoke for the wheel, but none of the new arrivals (see below for chronology) stuck, and neither did the ''NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie'' itself (which only ran from 1972-74) - in fact, it wasn't until the final season that they finally had an addition which was a real hit, in ''Series/QuincyME''. In 1977, all the elements were cancelled except for the crusading coroner, who in a reversal of ''[=McCloud=]'' was granted his own hour-long slot (although ''Columbo'' continued to make appearances in additional TV movies).
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10	The series was introduced for most of its run with an opening theme by Music/HenryMancini and visuals featuring a silhouetted figure walking towards the camera across a desert landscape at sunset, using a flashlight to light up images of the elements of the wheel that season (the order depending on which one was airing that evening). Here are three examples, for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ26K3nVM_0 Columbo]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHk5cGwuS6A [=McMillan=] and Wife]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUTMvmvfaos The Snoop Sisters]]'' from the second season of the ''Wednesday Mystery Movie'' - the first one had a different theme by Music/QuincyJones, which [[http://www.televisiontunes.com/Cool_Million.html you can hear here]] ("Tonight, James Farentino stars in ''Cool Million''!").
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12	In 1989, Creator/{{ABC}} resurrected the concept with ''The ABC Mystery Movie''[[note]]Made up of revivals of ''Series/{{Kojak}}'' and ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', new creations ''B.L.Stryker'' (with Creator/BurtReynolds as a HouseboatHero ex-cop and current UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} p.i. Produced by Creator/TomSelleck's company, fact fans), ''Gideon Oliver'' (with Creator/LouisGossettJr as an NYC anthropology professor [[Magazine/{{MAD}} who only teaches students that get themselves involved with mysteries he can solve]].) and ''Christine Cromwell'' (with Jaclyn Smith as a UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco lawyer)[[/note]]; see also its [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Successors]] on [[Creator/HallmarkChannel Hallmark Movies & Mysteries]] (''The Matchmaker Mysteries'', ''Darrow & Darrow'', ''The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries'', ''The Garage Sale Mysteries'', ''The Chronicle Mysteries'', ''Morning Show Mysteries'', ''Mystery 101'', etc., etc.)
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15	!!The ''Sunday Mystery Movie'' elements in order of debut (see individual pages for more details):
16	* ''Series/{{Columbo}}''
17	* ''Series/McCloud''
18	* ''Series/McMillanAndWife'': known as ''[=McMillan=]'' in its final season.
19	* ''Series/HecRamsey'' (1972-74): that's him in the page image up there.
20	* ''Amy Prentiss'' (1974-75): focusing on the first female chief of detectives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, played by Creator/JessicaWalter. A young Creator/HelenHunt played DaChief's daughter in the series. The pilot aired [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot in disguise]] as the double-length ''Series/{{Ironside 1967}}'' episode "Amy Prentiss: AKA, The Chief." Incidentally, the City by the Bay wouldn't have a real female chief of police [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Fong until 2004]].
21	* ''Series/ElleryQueen'' (1975): While the resulting one hour series aired separately, the two hour pilot debuted as ''An NBC Mystery Movie Special''.
22	* ''[=McCoy=]'' (1975-76): the first American TV series to star Creator/TonyCurtis, here playing a con man in the JustLikeRobinHood mold.
23	* ''Series/QuincyME'' (1976-77): with Jack Klugman as an inquisitive, idealistic coroner. The first four episodes aired under the ''Mystery Movie'' banner; early in 1977 it was given its own slot.
24	* ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' (1977): based on the novels by Harry Kemelman about police chief Paul Lanigan and his friend Rabbi David Small (who dabbles in detective work), starring Creator/ArtCarney as Lanigan and Bruce Solomon as Rabbi Small. In the pilot, Creator/StuartMargolin played Rabbi Small, his commitment to ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'' meant he couldn't return for the series.
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26	!!The ''Wednesday Mystery Movie'' elements in order of debut:
27	* ''Series/{{Banacek}}'': George Peppard as a Polish-American insurance investigator, based in UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}. This was the only element to appear in both seasons (and the only one to have its own page on this site).
28	* ''Madigan'' (1972-73): Richard Widmark reprised his role from the 1968 movie of the same name (suggesting, despite how the movie ended, that Madigan was NotQuiteDead) as a tough New York cop.
29	* ''Cool Million'' (1972-73): James Farentino as a private investigator plying his trade to the jet set and upper crust (the title refers to how much he charges per case).
30	* ''Faraday and Company'' (1973-74): Dan Dailey as Faraday, a PI back in the US after having spent almost 30 years in a Caribbean prison; the "company" (his agency) was basically his family.
31	* ''Tenafly'' (1973-74): Another Creator/LevinsonAndLink creation, with Creator/JamesMcEachin as the only black lead in this incarnation of the ''Mystery Movie'' lineup, playing one of the unflashiest, most down-to-earth detectives (of any colour) on television - a HappilyMarried family man just doing a job.
32	* ''The Snoop Sisters'' (1973-74): Leonard Stern's second contribution to the ''Mystery Movie'' wheel (he also created ''[=McMillan=] And Wife''), with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as mystery-writing sisters who, like [[Series/MurderSheWrote Jessica Fletcher]] years later, tended to stumble across real-life mysteries. Bert Convy (yes, [[Series/{{Tattletales}} THAT]] [[Series/{{Password}} Bert]] [[Series/WinLoseOrDraw Convy]]) played their police contact.
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34	!!Tropes associated with this include:
35	* CatchPhrase: Columbo's "Just one more thing..." and [=McCloud=]'s "There ya go..."
36	* CurseCutShort: In the ''[=McCloud=]'' episode "Butch Cassidy Rides Again", a man on a train swears, with the swears covered by the train whistle bursts.
37	* MeaningfulName: Creator/LevinsonAndLink named Tenafly after the town of Tenafly, UsefulNotes/NewJersey.
38	* ReunionShow: ''[=McCloud=]'' was the only element other than ''Columbo'' to have any kind of revival, with 1989's ''The Return Of Sam [=McCloud=]''.

Context Series / TheNBCMysteryMovie