DVDizzy Forum

I've been doing research as a hobby about Disney television programming schedules and lineups. For fun, I sometimes try to recreate programming blocks like the ones shown here, and get all warm and nostlagic about vintage Disney while watching them. Anyway, I hope people enjoy this and if they get a chance I totally recommend taking a whole evening to relax and try watching one of these programming blocks (most of these programs are available on seperate DVDs):

NBC All-Disney Saturday Night at the Movies

This was a series of 11 programming blocks that aired on Saturday nights on NBC (except for November 26th, 1976 which aired on a Wednesday….despite being called the “Saturday” night movie). In the 1974-1975 season, the Disney Studio reached an agreement with NBC for a series of four specials titled “NBC All-Disney Saturday Night at the Movies”. Each of these specials consisted of a theatrical release paired with a short subject, a move that was billed as re-creating the lost theatrical experience of showing short subjects before the main feature. NBC’s hopes that Disney could help the ratings with material other than the traditional anthology series were quickly rewarded. The specials proved very popular, and seven more specials were subsequently packaged and aired.

February 23, 1974
• Beaver Valley
• 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea


October 26, 1974
• Mysteries of the Deep
• The Parent Trap


December 14, 1974
• Arizona Sheepdog
• It's Tough to Be a Bird
• The Three Lives of Thomasina


March 8, 1975
• Nature's Strangest Creatures
• Pollyanna


November 1, 1975
• Hurricane Hannah
• The Absent-Minded Professor


February 14, 1976
• A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood
• Pecos Bill
• Old Yeller


May 1, 1976
• Bear Country
• That Darn Cat!


October 16, 1976
• Nikki, Wild Dog of the North
• The Great Locomotive Chase


November 26, 1976
• Prowlers of the Everglades
• The Moon-Spinners


December 11, 1976
• Nature's Half Acre
• Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N.


January 29, 1977
• Wonders of the Water World
• A Horse Called Comanche (aka "Tonka")






References:
The Wonderful World of Disney Television; Bill Cotter

For years, on and off, I've been doing some research on Disney TV movies.

Were "Mysteries of the Deep", "Arizona Sheepdog", "It's Tough to be a Bird", "Nature's Strangest Creatures", "Hurricane Hannah", "A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood", "Bear Country", and "Prowlers of the Everglades" all the "new" True-Life Adventures? If some weren't, what types of films were they?

Thanks!

Thanks for bringing that info up about the "NBC All-Disney Saturday Night at the Movies". It was a series of films mixed with an short to filled the time frame which would be a "True-Life Adventures" or something else.

The series ran from 1974 until 1977 while NBC was doing a series of TV movies from the "NBC Saturday Night at the Movies" which was in-between where the "All Disney" version was aired every once in a while. It was on at around 8:00 PM until 11:00 on WNBC-TV (channel 4) in New York City which is my local NBC station. This was right before my time.

"The Parent Trap", "Arizona Sheepdog", "The Great Locomotive Chase" and many Disney films are from that show.

I know if anybody remembers the show the "NBC All-Disney Saturday Night At The Movies", please comment.

Here is the classic opening to the "NBC Saturday Night at the Movies", not the "All-Disney" version. I hope you'll enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCE8QXA8FuA