If you were lucky enough to live on the east coast in the 70s then you were most likely a big fan of the 4:30 movie.
Personally, after school, I’d run home and get as much homework done as possible. Then! I’d plant myself in front of our black and white television and wait for this amazing intro to make it’s way into my living room.
Glorious, no?
The 4:30 movie on ABC (Monday through Friday) is most of the reason I love movies today.
They would have theme weeks and while there were many of them, some of my favorites were …
- Gidget week (Oh Moondoggie! Sandra Lee will always be my favorite Gidget!)
- Bleach Blanket Bingo week (Frankie and Annette! And even better, these movies introduced me to the amazing Don Rickles and made me probably one of the only tween girls at the time to have a crush on Harvey Lembeck [as Eric Von Zipper].
- Planet of The Apes week (This series remains my favorite franchise and box set ever. Please don’t ask me to choose a favorite movie. Ok well, it’s between #1, #3 and #4.)
- Japanese Monster Movie week (O.M.G. this was my introduction into foreign films and I loved them. Godzilla, Rodan, Gamera, Mothra and those little tiny fairie women who would pop up occasionally!)
- ELVIS week (Another favorite, and since he made over 30 movies, there were quite a few Elvis weeks.)
- Jerry Lewis week (One word. Cinderfella.)
So, yeah, I loved me some 4:30 movies. I’m not gonna lie, the 70s were a great time to be a kid as far as television goes. Just 3 networks and 3 local stations plus PBS. No 24 hour news (except during Watergate, which severely put a damper on my 4:30 movie watching addiction), Saturday morning cartoons and shows, only amazing talk shows. Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin and my absolute favorite —
— yeah, Mr. Mike Douglas. Look at that guy, how can you not love him? He was my go-to 4:30 movie back up. Hell, the Mike Douglas Show may get its very own post from me. So many great guests.
If you want to know more about the 4:30 movie and what it is you missed, check out this wikipedia post about it and its equivalents in other market. They also list a bunch of other theme weeks. So much fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_4:30_Movie
Over and out.