Hooray! Rondo Nominations and other MFTVM News!

If you follow my social media, you may have seen that I was nominated for three Rondo Awards this year! But in case you haven't, I just wanted to spread the word on ye old blog, with a little info on how to vote.

Let me begin with the nominations themselves. I have to admit, it was really great to wake up last Friday morning and see my name all over the ballot. It means a lot and I feel so honored to be listed in the following categories, because the competition is wonderful!

• Best Multi-Media Site (aka podcast): Made for TV Mayhem Show
• Best Commentary: Last House on the Left (Arrow), which is a nomination I share with my dear friend, Bill Ackerman of Supporting Characters
• Best Event: "Big Scares on the Small Screen," a lecture I conducted for the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies at the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest

You can look at the ballot for the Rondo Awards, and send your votes to taraco@aol.com.

OK, I haven't won anything, but seriously, thanks to the folks who nominated me!

I won't go into too much about why each nomination is really important to me, but let's just say talking to people (whether in person or even on a podcast) has always been a nerve wracking experience, so to see the support from the horror community that I'm doing OK at some of these things just really means a whole heck of a lot.

So, big thanks to any and everyone who listens to, or attends anything where you have to hear me jabber for a couple of hours. It's been great and I truly appreciate each and every one of you, even if you don't vote for me (but you know, vote for me). There are so many great podcasts, commentaries and events to choose from, so go look and vote with your heart!

Also, if you haven't seen, I was recently interviewed by the Los Angeles Times in a piece all about TV movies! You should check it out!

(The LA Times brought a photographer to my lecture, but the photos didn't make the article. Here's some outtakes my friend took! The second snap is me with the powerhouse we call Kier-La Janisse!)

One more piece of Made for TV Mayhem news. I've opened up an Instagram account (@madefortvmayhem) which will hopefully allow me to add a more visual aesthetic to what I'm already doing on facebook and twitter. Come and follow me, please! I'm just getting started, but I have tons of TV Guide ads, as well as some promo pics and screen grabs that I'm dying to share on a more regular basis. Plus, it will serve as another place to update everyone on podcast episodes or new blog posts or any other kind of related news.

Coming soon!

And finally: I think I'm actually almost done with my intro episode to The Trap-Cast, which is just going to be a monthly series of minisodes dedicated to the show Trapper John MD! It's time, guys.

Thanks to everyone again! I've actually half-written two reviews for this blog, so I hope I can find a little time to finish them. Til then, I have more exciting news coming soon... So please keep tuning in! Thank you!

More News!

Just popping in a with a little news. Also, do you have a cup of sugar I could borrow?

While it's true I don't want my blog to just become a bookmark for other things, I have been so incredibly busy lately that, well, it's become a bookmark for other things. I really, really want to get back to blogging... but for now here's an update on what's going on in my world:

Have we talked about the Rondos yet? I can't remember. I didn't win, but did get an honorable mention, which was amazing. Thanks to everyone who voted for Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium: 1964-1999. Your support has been amazing.

Dat artwork! 😍😍😍

Hey guys, one of the most exciting things ever has happened! I have provided a commentary track for Scream Factory's upcoming blu ray release of the classic John Carpenter telefilm Someone's Watching Me! Can I say OH. MY. GAWD. I mean, I just did, but OMG. I'm so excited. The release date is July 24th, but you can pre-order through Scream Factory's site and get it a couple of weeks early! I hope everyone enjoys it. I honestly gave it my all. It's not just an important film because it's early Carpenter, but Someone's Watching Me! is also simply just an amazing movie. And one that deserves all of the love in the world. Also, I'm on the same disc as Adrienne Barbeau. That's it, I'm done! My life is complete. Thank you so much Scream Factory for allowing me to be a part of this! The people at Scream Factory are amazing. It's been wonderful. 

Turns out the very center of hell is kind of awesome. Wes Craven 4lyfe!

In other amazing Amanda news, Arrow's blu ray release of The Last House on the Left was pushed back by a few weeks, but copies have started trickling in all over the world. As you may recall, my good friend Bill Ackerman from Supporting Characters and I contributed a commentary track. The early reviews have been really nice too, which is very exciting. I'm a newbie to the world of commentaries, but I can tell you it's really one of those things you put your heart and soul into because you want to give the film a lot of love and also keep people interested in you for 90s minutes. That's no easy feat, guys. So, even the mild criticism is fine as long as people appreciate the work you put into these things!

Anyway, that's my roundabout way of saying be kind if you review it on Amazon or anywhere else! We work hard on these things, and I'm honored to be a part of them. You can pick up Last House in the UK via Arrow's website, or through Diabolik if you are in the states.

More amazing artwork!

I have also contributed the liner notes to Arrow's upcoming blu ray release of Doom Asylum! Super excited about this. My booklet will only be available on the first pressing so grab a copy now. I will say this, writing liner notes for this project was absolutely one of the most fun writing assignments I've ever had. I was surprised by the amount of information I unearthed... turns out Doom Asylum has been well documented over the years, and it has a fascinating history.

It's also super exciting because The Hysteria Continues provided the commentary track for this release as well. So, I'm in wonderful company. And, I just want to send a lot of love to Arrow for trusting me with Last House on the Left and Doom Asylum. They are a great company full of great people, and I'm so honored to be included somewhere there in the mix! Again, you can pick up Doom Asylum via Arrow's website if you're in the UK or state-siders can go to Diabolik!

Ummm, amazing artwork again!!!

And speaking of liner notes, I also provided some for Retromedia's release of Snowbeast! So, as a company that doesn't normally do liner notes, it's an extra honor, but also something to note because to fit it properly into the packaging my writing has been placed on the opposite side of the insert, so remove the cover if you want to read about Bigfoot and stuff... Again, this was one of the most fun writing projects I've ever had. I'll tell you, liner notes are just a big ball of awesome to work on. I'll never get tired of documenting lost and/or underrated films. I'm so honored people let me do it too!

So, thank you, Fred Olen Ray for allowing me to participate in this release! And check out the commentary he does with David DeCoteau! Good times had by all, to be sure!

By the way, a little while ago I wrote about the blu ray release of The Master for Diabolique. Read it if you are so inclined!

Wonderfully evocative cover art comes courtesy of the talented Jeremy Thompson

I'm also involved in an upcoming book titled Scared Sacred: Idolatry, Religion and Worship in the Horror Film! I'll be writing about two fascinating telefilms, which will be announced via House of Leaves Publishing in the coming weeks. For now, check out the Rue Morgue and Anatomy of a Scream articles, as well as the HoL page which is set up for Scared Sacred. There will be a crowdfunding campaign opening up in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out!

I'll also be submitting or have submitted several essays for a few more projects to be announced in the future. And I may or may not have more commentary news for you soon! Most of it is TV movie related, so yay! I might not be able to update my blog, but I'm doing my best to keep the TV movie love alive. There's been so much positivity coming from both strangers and friends alike, so I hope everyone knows how much I appreciate every kind word, like and share. Thank you!

News, News, and Some News

I'm exhausted, but undeniably glamorous!

I'm so sorry I haven't been able to keep things moving on my blog in the ways I'd like, but I have lotsa news that I'm, like, crazy excited about!

I guess we'll do the time sensitive stuff first: If you are in San Antonio or can get to San Antonio on Saturday, March 3rd, please come see me at the San Antonio Pop Con. I'll be giving a presentation on Made for TV movies at 1:30, and then I'll be signing Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium: 1964-1999 for the rest of the day. It's a free con put on by the local library and it looks amazing. Check out the presentation schedule here.

I am thrilled to announce that not only did Are You in the House Alone make Barnes and Noble's Best of Horror list for 2017 (OMG!), but it has been nominated for Book of the Year at the Rondo Awards!

Confession: I wasn't on the original list of nominees, but a few of you dropped the Rondo folks a line and I'm so touched that anyone took the time out to request that I be added to what is a great list of books written by a group of lovely and talented writers. I'd also like to give a big shout out to Mike White, who mentioned my exclusion on his Impossible Funky blog. That meant a lot. You can send your votes to taraco@aol.com. (If you want to throw a write-in vote my way for my commentary for The Spell, I won't stop you)

If you find you must vote for another book then follow your heart, but I think you should all make sure that you've checked off The Twilight Zone Podcast in the Best Multi-Media Horror Site category. Tom always does his best to put together an A+++ show and he deserves an award for all of his hard work (plus, dat voice... **drooling**)! Make sure you vote for the TZ podcast called The Twilight Zone Podcast... there's another TZ show on the list (which I'm sure is wonderful, but still... Tom should win!). Tom even made a post where you can just cut and paste his entry into an email. Easy peasy. Do it!

Hiding from my public

Back to me!

In non-TV news: Arrow Video announced last Friday that they are releasing a US/UK Blu Ray of Wes Craven's first horror film, The Last House on the Left, which my good friend Bill Ackerman (Supporting Characters) and I are providing a commentary track for! I am still pinching myself. I think many of you know that I'm a diehard Craven fanatic, so this opportunity has been a dream come true for me. Last House is due to be released in May, you can pre-order via Diabolik if you are in the US or through Arrow for you UK folks.

That's Joe Ziemba making me sound important

I did my first Made for TV Mystery Movie screening at the Alamo, and it was sold out! The evening and event were so amazing, and I'm beyond grateful for the chance to share my love of TV movies with people. I'll be doing another one in April and will share the link to buy tickets via my social media when they become available. On March 2nd I'm hosting the AGFA Secret Society screening. It's sold out, and I'm just mentioning cuz I'm excited. 

By the by, if you haven't had a chance to check out the Made for TV Mayhem Show, give us a go. We'll be talking Kathleen Beller telefilms in March. Join us.

So, now you can see why I'm not around as much (but did you see I posted a review of Madame Sin as part of a recent Classic TV Blog Association blogathon?), but I'm doing my best to keep the love alive! You can always visit my social media if you want to talk TV and horror. I'm on twitter @madefortvmayhem and my facebook is simply Made for TV Mayhem. Say hi!

I may or may not have more news for you in the near future. But hopefully soon (Amy, soon)!!! Absolutely every single one of you that I've run across in person and online has been so supportive of what I'm doing. Thank you!!!

Monster Fest is right around the corner!

So, like, as you probably already know (cuz I've said it a thousand times and I apologize for that), I have a book coming out titled Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium: 1964-1999! And to celebrate, Monster Fest is hosting an amazing book launch next week to help spread the TV movie love through the streets of Melbourne Australia!

Damn nice of those folks, ain't it? It is and I'm beyond excited.

On Saturday, November 26th at 7 pm, I will be part of a panel discussing all things TV movie related, but especially telefilms dealing with monsters, the occult, bad kids, and actual issues, such as domestic violence, abuse and other cultural moments that became water cooler talk thanks to television's wide reach. You can get a sneak peak of our discussion on my blog's facebook page.

Joining me on the panel is festival director (and all around cine-fabulous) Keir-La Janisse, freelance writers Lee Gambin and John Harrison, as well as stuntwoman/actress Marneen Lynne Fields. She was in The Spell, and tons of other stuff.

Afterwards, Monster Fest is screening Bad Ronald! ZOMG! You read that R.I.G.H.T.

The book will be on sale at the festival and should be available through the publisher's website shortly thereafter. Then it will be widely available in April 2017. I really hope if you are in the area, you can make it. Would love to meet you and discuss all things small screen. Until then, G'day.

Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium, 1964-1999... Edited by Yours Truly!

Anyone who visits Made for TV Mayhem certainly has a deep affection not just for retro television, but also for the classic Movie of the Week. In the 1970s, the ABC MOW was churning out film after film, and while that phenomenon only lasted for a few years, the idea of the TVM as an event, as something to stay home for, remained through the rest of the seventies, well into the nineties. Part of the love for the made for TV movie is, of course, nostalgia, but telefilms also tapped into current issues, and brought them into our living rooms night after night. Some movies were forgotten about, while others became fondly remembered classics. British publisher Headpress seeks to reconcile our memories of the obscure, as well as the bona fide hits in their new book Are You in the House Alone? Growing up with Gargoyles, Giant Turtles, Valerie Harper, the Cold War, Stephen King, and Co-ed Call Girls: A TV Movie Compendium, 1964-1999, which I edited.

Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium, 1964-1999 (its truncated title) is a book of reviews and essays about network made for television movies. Essays span several topics, ranging from reunion TVMs to the telefilm’s response to sexual assault. And, there are hundreds of reviews covering the most talked about TV movies to some of the most obscure titles. The contributing authors are passionate about the topic, and we did our best to uncover as many of the dusty corners of the small screen as we could.

The book’s official street date is April 6th, 2017, but there will be a special launch for Are You in the House Alone? in November at Monster Fest in Melbourne, Australia. The film festival will be held between November 24th-27th, and I will be there, along with some of the book’s contributors, including Kier-La Janisse, who is the director of MF, and a noted film programmer, writer, and Editor-in-Chief of Spectacular Optical, as well as authors John Harrison (Hip Pocket Sleaze: The Lurid World of Vintage Adult Paperbacks), and Lee Gambin (Massacred By Mother Nature: Exploring the Natural Horror Film). Also joining us will be John’s wife, stuntwoman and actress Marneen Fields, who has appeared in everything from The Spell to The Calendar Girl Murders! We’ll be discussing the enduring legacy of the made for television movie and capping off the evening with a screening of Bad Ronald! You can read more about Monster Fest here, and their press release for their events can be found here.

Here's a peek at the cover of Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium, 1964-1999:

After Monster Fest, a hardcover version of the book will be immediately available through Headpress’ website (link to come), but it will not be obtainable through general retailers until April 6th, 2017. This book has been a labor of love, not just for me, but for all of the writers as well as Headpress. I, of course, will keep everyone up to date on any events or signings, but please mark your calendars for April 6th, or if you are in Australia, come to Monster Fest, pick up the book and say hello! Would love to meet you!

Catching up!

Ack! I've fallen behind... And I can't get up (I've got a million of 'em!).

But seriously, folks... Sad face (see Nestor for example). So, I wanted to do a quick housecleaning of the haps.

We have new info posted about the upcoming Made for TV Mayhem Show holiday podcasts, which we'll be recording next week. You can check it out here.

PS: I know I don't have an RSS feed here, and I also know my other page isn't really navigable yet. I'm hoping when this semester ends, I'll be able to create crosswalks, links, feeds, etc. Thank you everyone who keeps visiting this page. I'll also be updating it with more classic TV reviews soon. I miss it here. 

Speaking of which, The Classic TV Blog Association has teamed up yet again with MeTV for A Very Merry MeTV Blogathon, which is actually underway. I'll have two posts going up next week (Father Dowling Mysteries and Kojak, cuz who loves you during the holidays, baby?), and you can get the full schedule here!

Also, not TV related, but I have an essay featured in the new ebook The Movie that Changed My Life, which was edited by the amazing Staci Layne Wilson. I opted to write about Killer Party. This book is for charity and proceeds go to Reel Girls School which helps young women between the ages of 9 - 21 learn about film production. The ebook is only $2, so help a sister out, K? And please leave a review, we'd love to hear from you!

Made for TV Mayhem has a Podcast!

Made for TV Mayhem goes next level!

After a long summer of tinkering with this thing called technology (what's an audacity?), we were finally able to sit down and record our premiere episode. So please join me, Nathan Johnson of the Hysteria Continues podcast, and Dan Budnik, co-author of Bleeding Skull: A 1980s Trash-Horror Odyssey, and Some Polish-American Guy Reviews Things as we discuss our three favorite TV movies!

There were a few recording hiccups, and we aren't on iTunes just yet, but you can access the show here, and visit the podcast's website here. There is contact info if you'd like to let us know what your favorite made for television movies are (or you can always contact me at the email addy listed on the right hand sidebar).

The blog isn't going anywhere, but I wanted a separate space to share with my co-hosts, and we'll be adding a little bit of content to go with the shows.

And enjoy!

An Update! An Announcement! Links!

Dude, it’s like I’ve been away for, like, ever.

Who knew graduate school was so intense? Well, OK, everyone knew, but I went on believing I could handle it all. Then, some personal problems got in the way, and here I am, weeks after my last blog post. But I do promise, I have not been away from the world of TV movies, even if I haven’t been able to review them. Here’s what’s up:

The big news is that I am going to be hosting a podcast dedicated to retro television! We will be concentrating on the television movie genre, and have lots of fun in store for all you small screen fanatics! Look for our first podcast in August or September.

My co-host will be the groovy Dan R. Budnik, co-author of Bleeding Skull: A 1980s Horror-Trash Odyssey, and owner of the blog Some Polish American Guy Reviews Things. Dan is awesome, loves TV movies and is super excited to spend some time discussing our favorite titles.

Did you know Dan was on Twitter? Well, you do now.

He's also a Happy Days expert. True story.

A few other awesome people, who I hope can make every podcast, will join us. But we know life is crappy sometimes, so for now they are going to be credited as Special Guests. Aaron Spelling would be proud (and more on them as time draws near).

Elsewhere in Amandaland (hey, if Shonda Rhimes can have land, so can I): 

Did you know I have a fun facebook page that is updated almost daily? While my blog will always be my BFF, the fb page has been a good buddy while I am away. Please stop by and check out all of the TV Guide ads, discussions and links to my archived reviews. (I also have a Twitter that totally gets ignored).

Or, did you know that I helped out a little on Spectacular Optical’s first publication Kid Power? This awesome book looks at all kinds of children’s treats made for both the big and small screen. I offered some images and my proofing and fact checking skillz to the chapter on Afterschool Specials.

Afterschool Specials, you say?

Need I say more?

I thought so. 

I am also part of a fun horror movie roundtable for Podcastmania, and we have a facebook page. Stop by for a little blood and gore.

And, yes, I'm still hanging out with The Movies About Girls crew. We are not podfading!

And finally, I am working on another TVM-centric project, which is moving rather slowly (thank you, life), but I’ll have an update on that endeavor at a later date.

I know. I. know. The next few months are looking pretty cray-cray, but I will be getting a little time off in May, before my summer semester gets rolling. Egads! I’m already burnt out. But I’ll do my best to get some new content up. Seriously guys, for now, please visit the facebook page. There are a lot of great like-minded TV lovers over there waiting for your input!

One of us… 
One of us...

Christmas Presents from MeTV!

Check it: MeTV released their new winter schedule recently, and the new additions are amazing... potentially bordering on the greatest thing that has ever happened!

Starting January 1st, expect more good times on one of my favorite stations (copied from their press release):

Quincy, M.E., weekdays from 11:00am- 12:00pm ET/PT, stars Jack Klugman as the strong-willed L.A. County medical examiner Dr. Quincy, who along with his expert forensics team uses the combination of fact and reasoning to solve suspicious deaths that usually suggest murder.

Carol Burnett and Friends, weeknights from 11:00- 11:30pm ET/PT, takes comedy to an entirely new level with a ground-breaking television show featuring skits by Carol Burnett and her comedy troupe of Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and Tim Conway.

The MeTV Mystery Movie, weeknights from 12:30- 2:30am ET/PT, pays homage to The NBC Mystery Movie, featuring many of the same series broadcast by NBC in the mid-seventies including but not limited to McCloud, Columbo, McMillan & Wife, and Banacek.

Um, what the wut? I'm so excited about this! Some of you may remember that I held live tweet parties for MeTV's Friday Night Made for TV Movie, and just loved the programming. It looks like they intend to air a lot of the NBC Mystery Wheel (no complaints), but I expect some surprise treats to pop up now and again. I'll also be doing a couple of live tweets through the season as well. It's super late at night for me, but worth an extra cup of coffee! 

And you might also know that I've written quite a lot about Quincy in the past. You can read my posts here, here and here.

Also from the press release:

Some of MeTV’s current shows find new homes and a few fan favorites return to the schedule. The Mary Tyler Moore Show can now be seen weekday mornings from 8:30- 9:00am ET/PT.  The Love Boat returns to port weekday mornings from 9:00- 10:00am ET/PT.  Adventures of Superman lands on weekday afternoons from 4:00- 5:00pm ET/PT.  The Mod Squad joins the Sunday Catch Me If You Can line-up from 5:00- 6:00pm ET/PT. (You can check out their entire schedule here)

I think I'll need to take a semester off from school!

Television Madness at the Packard Campus Theater! Check out these two Thriller episodes on the big screen!

Oh. My. Gawd.

This Friday, October 24th, the Library of Congress is showcasing two episodes of the excellent 1970s British series Thriller at the Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper, VA. The whole shebang starts at 7:30 and they are screening In the Steps of a Deadman and I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill!

The Packard Campus Theater is located at:

19053 Mount Pony Road
Culpeper, VA 22701-7551

Their phone number is 202-707-5840.

More info about the theater's fantastic programming for October can be found here (totes drool-worthy). And you can read this marvelous piece by Cary O'Dell, who is hosting the event, on the wonders of Thriller here.

Oh yeah, and check out my review of Dial a Deadly Number.

Gulp. I could die.

Why did I ever leave the D.C. area?!?

If you can make it to this event, please report back. I need to live vicariously through you.

Legend of Lizzie Borden gets a new DVD release date!

When Lizzie was announced earlier this year and then pushed back to August of 2015, many of us wondered if this incredible telefilm was ever going to see the light of day. It's been in limbo hell for, like, ever, a damn shame for such a highly regarded made for television movie. It looks like things are moving though, and the release date has been pushed up to October 7th, 2014! You can put in a preorder at Amazon here. Also, Cinedigm has this page in place for the upcoming release.

OMG, I think we're here folks! Order it now!

And, maybe now we can move on and get Liz Montgomery a Lifetime Achievement Award! Geesh!

Image courtesy of Cinedigm

The USA World Premiere Movie Project: Week One

Happy New Year!

It looks like 2014 may prove to be a grand year for Made for TV Mayhem. For one, I have a bit more time to dedicate to the blog and I have a few fun posts I hope to get to soon. However, one of the most exciting things to happen to MFTVM in some time is a new collaboration with Paul Freitag-Fey of The Daily Grindhouse. We are uniting in our love for the USA World Premiere Movie and embarking on a year long retrospective! Paul just posted his first piece, which is on The Forgotten!

There are many things to love about the USA TV movies (and Paul hits on many of those points in his post), but one of my favorite things about USA is that they breathed new life into what was a dying genre. Arguably, the TVM output from the Big Three in the 90s was still decent, but they were heavily concentrated on true crime thrillers and those always cheerful disease-of-the week pics. USA was different. Certainly they dabbled in all kinds of stories, but they brought back sensational drama and fun chillers and thrillers of the golden age. Their productions may have held that late 80s/early 90s sheen, but the passion was pure 70s old school. Both Paul and I will be talking more about these films though the year, and if that doesn't make 2014 look crazy awesome, very little else will.

Vega$ Pilot airing on Me-TV!

If you ever visit this blog, you can probably guess hearing that my favorite network Me-TV is airing the Vega$ pilot TV movie this week just about shot me through the roof (and back)! Not only do I love retro TV and Robert Urich, but Vegas is where I grew up and I have many fond memories of the stories from my excited friends who would catch Dan Tana roaming around our hood. Urich was a legend in our town. We loved him. I'm sure we still do. I know I do!


Anyway, I'll be live-tweeting the momentous event this Friday at 8 PM EST. Again, you can find me @madefortvmayhem. 

Does it get more awesome than this?

This is going to be fun, fun, fun! And perhaps this is an omen that Me TV is going to air the entire run of one of my favorite shows from the 70s? Fingers crossed!

Pensive machismo. **swoon**

Oh yeah, and look out for the 1979 TVM Return of the Mod Squad on November 1st! Seriously, not sure I can take much more of this!

Update

Me after mid-terms

There's so much going on here at Casa By Night that the entire month of September has passed me by and I haven't had a chance to write about, much less watch any, TV movies... Sad face. OK, that's kind of a lie, but more on that later.

Luckily, there are lots of outlets to share your TV movie love. Here are some links to the awesomeness that is upon us:

Cinefile, which is a totally cool video store in Los Angeles, is hosting what they call Made for TV Mondays. They are screening some of the best, weirdest and most memorable made for TV films of all time. And it's free! Check out their Facebook page and join the party!

Also, Exhumed Films and Cinedelphia have teamed up for an incredible made for TV movie festival from October 9th - 13th! I so wished I lived closer to Philly. Their lineup is absolutely drool worthy. If you go to Tele-Terror Fest 2013 you simply have to report back. Please, let me live through you!

And thank you Cinema du Meep for sending the Tele-Terror info my way! 

The Maestro

So you know that part, about seven or eight sentences before this one, where I said I wasn't watching any TV movies? Not true. I've been live-tweeting the Perry Mason movies that Me-TV has been airing every Friday. So far, it's a live tweet party of one, but I'm having fun. Next week is the 1968 Columbo pilot Prescription: Murder, so join me at 8 PM EST for all the fun!

And finally, I was super duper happy to see that the great Marc Edward Heuck, the man behind the incredible The Projector Has Been Drinking picked me for a blogger honor called The Sunshine Award. I am supposed to fill out a questionnaire and spread the blog love, but I haven't had one second to sit down and finish my post, so I just want to send you over to the Projector for the time being. Good times will be had.

Hopefully things will calm down soon and I can post something meatier for you retro TV nuts. For now, just stop by my life tweets or come by the facebook page. See you soon!

Scream Factory Getting Into TV Terrors!

I was ridiculously excited when I saw the news yesterday that Scream Factory is releasing The Initiation of Sarah and Are You in the House Alone on a DVD two pack!

This is some kind of awesome double feature, and just in time for Christmas! I'll just re-post what they said on the facebook page, and I expect to see everyone with a copy by the end of the year!

From Scream Factory: Scream Factory "TV TERRORS" are coming to your tube soon! Two made-for-TV horror films (both from 1978) will be coming to DVD for the first time at a low-price on 12/10. 

THE INITIATION OF SARAH - Starring Key Lenz (House), Morgan Fairchild (The Seduction), Shelly Winters (The Poseidon Adventure), Morgan Brittany (Dallas), Robert Hays (Airplane!) and Tisa Farrow (Zombie). 

ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE ALONE? - Starring Kathleen Beller (Dynasty), Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents), Ellen Travolta (Human Experiments) and Dennis Quaid (Jaws 3-D) 

As we mentioned earlier when we announced this release at Comic Con, made-for-TV films typically have had a history of not selling well (aside from some notable exceptions out there that have huge fan bases) so we are testing the waters here to see what happens. If this performs well, we would love to tap into some other great televised favorites and bring to you a "Volume 2" in the future. 

Live Tweet TV Movie Party?

Me-TV listed the first made for TV movie they'll be airing on their Made for TV Movie Friday! Looks like Perry Mason goes to bat for my favorite channel on September 6th at 8 PM with the 1989 flick The Case of the All Star Assassin.

Here's the plot, according Movies Made for Television:

"Perry takes on the defense of an injured pro-hockey star (Jason Beghe) who is accused of murdering an arrogant sports mogul."

It's got a wonderful and oh-so-80s cast, including Alexandra Paul, William R. Moses, Diedre Hall, Pernell Roberts and Shari Belafonte among others. And, Barbara Hale reprises her role as Della Street.

I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a Perry Mason movie, so I'm really looking forward to catching this film, which seems to have decent reviews.

OK, so here's what's going on: I'm on the East Coast feed and I'd like to do a live tweet screening. I'm not expecting a gazillion people to show up, but if one or two of you are even remotely interested, I think this would be a fantastically interactive way to share our love of the small screen. I've posted a poll on the right sidebar, please let me know if you'd like to join in the fun on September 6th at 8 PM EST. We can make up hashtags and stuff!

Oh yeah, and you can find me on twitter at @madefortvmayhem. Add me and I'll follow you back. Hope to see you hanging out in the twitterverse for the Friday Night Made for TV Movie! 

Whoopee for Me! Me-TV that is!

Last night Me-TV announced their new fall schedule and they weren't joking when they said they had some big announcements.

First of all, they are going to be showing Love Boat on Sundays at 2 pm! I'm seriously excited about that little bit of news. In fact, their entire Sunday lineup is drool-worthy, because we can also look forward to the return of The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon, The Rockford Files, Kojak and Remington Steele, all of which will all air before their regular Sunday night Columbo! I think you know where you'll find me every Sunday...

But that's actually not the best news.

I could not believe my eyes when I saw that Me-TV is going to be showing Made for TV Movies!!! Yes, you read that right, the TV movie is making a well-deserved and long anticipated comeback on Friday nights at 8 pm. The movies will be associated with iconic television shows, and they've got some great ones in their lineup, like a 2 hour Vegas TVM and much, much more. Check out their fall schedule here.

Now excuse me for a moment while I faint. 

Not sure if Me-TV is showing this or the pilot movie, but a girl likes to dream!