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A television film (also known as a TV film, television movie, TV movie, telefilm, telemovie, made-for-television film, movie of the week (MOTW or MOW), feature-length drama, single drama, and original movie) is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to many films explicitly made for showing in movie theaters.

Origins and history[link]

Though not exactly labelled as such, there were early precedents for "television movies", such as the 1957 The Pied Piper of Hamelin, based on the poem by Robert Browning, and starring Van Johnson, one of the first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television. It was made in Technicolor, a first for television, which ordinarily used color processes originated by specific networks. (Most "family musicals" of the time, such as Peter Pan, were not filmed but broadcast live and preserved on kinescope. A kinescope is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor). This was the only way to record a television show until the invention of videotape).

Television films had rough start when the idea was first presented in the 1950s to major networks. The production for the films was an unstable business with certain challenges facing early participants. Many television networks were hostile towards film programming, fearing that it would loosen the network's arrangements with sponsors and affiliates by encouraging television station managers to make independent deals with advertisers and film producers.^[1]

Television networks were in control of the most valuable prime-time slots available for programming, so syndicators of independent television films had to settle for fewer television markets and less desirable time periods. This meant much smaller advertising revenues and license fees compared with network-supplied programming.^[2]

The term "made-for-TV movie" was coined in the United States in the early 1960s as an incentive for movie audiences to stay home and watch what was promoted as the equivalent of a first-run theatrical motion picture. Beginning in 1961 with NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, a prime time network showing of a television premiere of major studio film, the other networks soon copied the format with each of the networks having several [Day of the Week] Night At The Movies that led to a shortage of movie studio product. The first of these made-for-TV movies is generally acknowledged to be See How They Run, which debuted on NBC on 7 October 1964. A previous film, The Killers, starring Lee Marvin and Ronald Reagan, was filmed as a TV-movie, although NBC decided it was too violent for television and it was released theatrically instead.^[3]

Considered the second television movie, Don Siegel's The Hanged Man was broadcast by the National Broadcasting Co. on November 18, 1964.

These features originally filled a 90-minute broadcast programming time slot (including television commercials), later expanded to two hours, and were usually broadcast as a weekly anthology television series (for example, the ABC Movie of the Week). Many early TV movies featured major stars, and some were accorded higher budgets than standard series television programs of the same length, including the major dramatic anthology programs which they came to replace.

Examples[link]

Possibly the most-watched TV movie of all time was ABC's The Day After, which aired on November 20, 1983, to an estimated audience of 100 million people. The film depicted America after a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, and was the subject of much controversy and discussion at the time of its release due to its graphic nature and subject matter.

Another popular and critically acclaimed TV movie was 1971's Duel, written by Richard Matheson, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Dennis Weaver. Such was the quality and popularity of Duel that it was released to cinemas in Europe and Australia, and had a limited cinema release to some venues in the United States. The 1971 made-for-TV Brian's Song was also briefly released to theatres after its success on television, and was even remade in 2001. In some instances TV movies of the period had more explicit content included in the versions prepared to be exhibited theatrically in Europe. Examples of this include The Legend of Lizzie Borden, Helter Skelter, Prince of Bel Air and Spectre.

Many 1970s TV movies were a source of controversy, such as Linda Blair's Born Innocent (1974) and Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), as well as Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976) and its sequel, Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (1977), which were vehicles for former Brady Bunch actress Eve Plumb. Another renowned film was Elizabeth Montgomery's portrayal of a rape victim in the drama A Case of Rape (1974).

My Sweet Charlie (1970) with Patty Duke and Al Freeman, Jr. dealt with racial prejudice, and That Certain Summer (1972), starring Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen, although controversial, was considered the first TV movie to approach the subject of homosexuality in a non-threatening manner. If These Walls Could Talk, a film which deals with abortion in three different decades (1950s, 1970s, and 1990s) became a huge success, and HBO's highest rated film ever.

Often a successful series may spawn a TV movie sequel after ending its run, and TV movies may also be used as the first episode of a series, otherwise known as a pilot. For example, Babylon 5: The Gathering launched the science fiction series Babylon 5 and is considered to be distinct from the show's regular run of one-hour episodes. Babylon 5 also has several sequel TV movies set within the same fictional continuity. The 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica begin as a two-part miniseries that later continued as a television show. Another example is the TV movie Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which launched the TV show of the same name, and used the same actress Melissa Joan Hart for the lead role in both. The term "TV movie" is also frequently used as vehicles for "reunions" of long-departed series, as in Return to Mayberry and A Very Brady Christmas.

Occasionally TV movies are used as sequels to successful theatrical films. For example, only the first film in The Parent Trap series was released theatrically. The Parent Trap II, III and IV were TV-movies, and similarly, the Midnight Run sequels have all been TV movies despite the first having a strong run in the cinema. These types of films may be, and more commonly usually are, released direct-to-video; there have been some films, such as The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (a prequel to the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard), which have been released near simultaneously on DVD and on television, but have never been released in theatres.

TV movie musicals have become popular among all ages. One prime example is the High School Musical series which aired on the Disney Channel. The first TV movie was so successful that it came out with a sequel High School Musical 2 in 2007 which has since become the highest viewed cable broadcast and in 2008 its second sequel High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in theaters instead of on Disney Channel. It became one of the highest grossing movie musicals.

TV movies traditionally were often broadcast by the major networks during sweeps season. Such offerings now are very rare; as Ken Tucker noted while reviewing the Jesse Stone CBS TV movies, "broadcast networks aren’t investing in made-for-TV movies anymore".^[4] The slack has been taken up by cable networks such as Hallmark Channel, Syfy, Lifetime, and HBO with productions such as You Don't Know Jack and Cinema Verite often utilizing top creative talent.

Production and quality[link]

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A New York Times critic wrote in 1991 that "few artifacts of popular culture invite more condescension than the made-for-television movie".^[5] Network-made TV movies in the USA have tended to be inexpensively-produced and low quality; stylistically, they often resemble single episodes of dramatic television series. Often they are made to "cash in" on the interest centering on stories currently prominent in the news, as the Amy Fisher films were. The stories are written to reach periodic semi-cliffhangers coinciding with the network-scheduled times for the insertion of commercials; they are further managed to fill, but not exceed, the fixed running times allotted by the network to each movie "series". The movies tend to rely on small casts and a limited range of settings and camera setups. Even Spielberg's Duel, while a well-crafted film, features a very small cast (apart from Weaver, all other acting roles are bit-parts) and mostly outdoors shooting locations in the desert. The movies are typically made by smaller crews, and they rarely feature expensive special effects. While it would have been less expensive to film on the new media form of video, as the movies were contracted by TV studios it was required that they be turned in on 35mm film. Various techniques are often employed to "pad" TV movies with low budgets and underdeveloped scripts, such as music video-style montages, flashbacks, or repeated footage, and extended periods of dramatic slow motion footage (sometimes taken to ridiculous extremes as in the USA Network thriller Wheels of Terror). However, the digital 24p video format has made some improvements on the TV movie market.

Movie-length episodes of TV shows[link]

Occasionally, a long-running television series is used as the basis for TV movies that air during the show's run (as opposed to the above-mentioned "reunion specials"). Typically, such movies employ a filmed single-camera setup even if the TV series is videotaped using a multiple-camera setup, but are written to be easily broken up into individual thirty- or sixty-minute episodes for syndication. Many such movies relocate the cast of the show to an exotic overseas setting. However, although they may be advertised as movies, they are really simply extended episodes of TV shows, such as the pilot and the finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Most of these are made and shown during sweeps period in order to attract a large TV audience and boost television ratings for a show.

See also[link]

• Direct-to-video
• Soap opera
• Miniseries
• Television pilot
• Television special
• Telenovela
• Téléroman
• List of Movie Umbrella Titles in North America
• List of television films produced for American Broadcasting Company

References[link]

Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads performing in 1980
Background information
Birth name	Randall William Rhoads
Born	(1956-12-06)December 6, 1956 Santa Monica, California
Died	March 19, 1982(1982-03-19) (aged 25) Leesburg, Florida
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock, neo-classical metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, music teacher
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1975–1982
Labels	Epic, Sony
Associated acts	Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot
Website	http://www.randyrhoads.us/
Notable instruments
Jackson RR Signature Model Karl Sandoval "Polka Dot" Flying V Gibson Les Paul Custom

Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. Despite his short career, Rhoads is a major influence on neo-classical metal, and is cited as an influence by many guitarists and is included in several "Greatest Guitarist" lists.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Quiet Riot[link]

At age 14, Rhoads formed a cover band called Violet Fox (after his mother's middle name, Violet), with his older brother Kelle on drums. Violet Fox staged several performances in the "Grand Salon" at Musonia, Delores Rhoads' music school. Among their setlist was "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain, and songs from The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper and David Bowie. After the dissolution of Violet Fox, Rhoads taught his best friend Kelly Garni how to play bass, and together they formed a band called The Whore (rehearsing during the day at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, a 1970s Hollywood nightspot), spending several months playing at backyard parties around Los Angeles.

Together the pair went on to form Quiet Riot when Rhoads was 16. Kevin DuBrow auditioned for vocalist in Rhoads' kitchen after he convinced Rhoads and Garni to give him a chance. Although DuBrow once said he 'auditioned once and got the gig'. The drummer Drew Forsyth, had periodically played with Rhoads and Garni in the past. Quiet Riot initially played in small bars in Hollywood and local parties in Burbank, eventually playing at the two main L.A. music clubs of the day — the Whisky a Go Go and The Starwood. While the band had a strong following in the L.A. club scene, they were unable to secure a major recording contract in the United States. The band was able to land a record deal with Japanese label CBS/Sony Records and Quiet Riot and Quiet Riot II were released in Japan.

Ozzy Osbourne[link]

In 1979, ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne was forming a new band. During an interview with Raw Power Magazine editors Robert Olshever, Murray Schwartz and Scott Stephens (future singer of Liquid Blue), Ozzy mentioned he was looking for a new guitar player. Randy's name was suggested during the interview and the next day Robert asked friend and future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum to try to reach Randy to see if he was interested. Rhoads got the call for the audition just before his final show with Quiet Riot. He walked in with his Les Paul guitar and a practice amp and started warming up. Osbourne immediately gave him the job. Rhoads recalled later, "I just tuned up and did some riffs, and he said, 'You've got the gig'; I had the weirdest feeling, because I thought, 'You didn't even hear me yet'". Osbourne was drunk and passed out during the audition, but described Rhoads' playing as "God entering my life". Rhoads subsequently recommended his friend Greg Leon, who also taught guitar at Musonia for Rhoads' mother, to replace him in Quiet Riot, and then departed for the UK to write and record with Osbourne in November 1979.

The band, then known as The Blizzard of Ozz headed into the studio to record the band's debut album, titled Blizzard of Ozz. Rhoads' guitar playing had changed due to the level of freedom allowed by Ozzy and Bob Daisley and he was encouraged to play what he wanted. His work with Quiet Riot has been criticized as being "dull" and did not rely on classical scales or arrangements.^[3] Propelled by Rhoads' neo-classical guitar work, the album proved an instant hit with rock fans, particularly in the USA. They released two singles from the album: "Mr Crowley" and the hit "Crazy Train". The British tour of 1980-81 for Blizzard of Ozz was with Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake.

After the UK tour the band recorded another LP, but before the US Blizzard tour both Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley were fired by Sharon Arden, Ozzy's future wife. For the US Blizzard tour, Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo were hired. Diary of a Madman was released soon after in October 1981, and since Kerslake and Daisley were already out of the band, Aldridge and Sarzo's photos appear on the album sleeve. Disputes over royalties performance, and other intellectual property rights became a source of future court battles.^[4] "You Said it All" and "You Looking at Me, Looking at You" became rare collector's items, only released on the B-Sides of singles. A live album, Tribute, mainly drawn from a performance in Cleveland, Ohio, was released in 1987 and included live versions of "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies", recorded in the UK with Daisley and Kerslake in 1980.

Around this time, Rhoads remarked to Osbourne, fellow Ozz bandmates Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo, and friend Kelly Garni that he was considering leaving rock for a few years to earn a degree in classical guitar at UCLA. In the documentary Don't Blame Me, Osbourne confirmed Randy's desire to earn the degree and stated that had he lived, he did not believe Randy would have stayed in his band. Friend and ex-Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni has stated in interviews that if Randy had continued to play rock, he might have gone the route of more keyboard-driven rock, which had become very popular through the 1980s. It was at this time that Rhoads was beginning to receive recognition for his playing. Just before his death Jackson Guitars created a signature model, the Jackson Randy Rhoads (though Randy had originally called his white pinstriped V "the Concorde"). Randy received one prototype — a black offset V hardtail which is the base for today's RR line of Jackson guitars — but died before the guitar went into production. Rhoads also received the Best New Talent award from Guitar Player magazine. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, Rhoads would seek out classical guitar tutors for lessons.

Death[link]

Rhoads' tomb, San Bernardino, California

Randy Rhoads played his last show on Thursday, March 18, 1982 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next day, the band was headed to a festival in Orlando, Florida. After driving much of the night, they stopped on the property belonging to Jerry Calhoun, owner of "Florida Coach", in Leesburg, Florida. On it, there was a small airstrip lined with small helicopters and planes, and two houses. One belonged to the tour bus driver Andrew Aycock, and the other was owned by Calhoun. Aycock, a licensed pilot, talked the band's keyboardist Don Airey, into taking a test flight with him in a '55 Beechcraft Bonanza. By some accounts the manager Jake Duncan, was also on this first flight. The joyride ended and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and hairdresser/seamstress Rachel Youngblood on another flight. Rhoads was persuaded to go on the second flight, despite his fear of flying.

Rhoads apparently agreed to go for two reasons: the seamstress had a heart condition so Aycock agreed to do nothing risky, and Rhoads wanted to take an aerial photo as one of his hobbies was photography. During the second flight, attempts were made to "buzz" the tour bus where the other band members were sleeping.^[5] They succeeded twice, but the third attempt was botched. The left wing clipped the back side of the tour bus, tore the fiberglass roof then sent the plane spiraling. The plane severed the top of a pine tree and crashed into the garage of a nearby mansion, bursting into flames. Rhoads was killed instantly, as were Aycock (36) and Youngblood (58). All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records and Rhoads' jewelry.

It was later revealed in an autopsy that Aycock's system showed traces of cocaine at the time. Rhoads' toxicology test revealed only nicotine. The NTSB investigation determined that Aycock's medical certificate had expired and that his biennial flight review, required for all pilots, was overdue.^[6] In Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography, I Am Ozzy, he writes that the night of Rhoads' death, he told his wife, Sharon: "I don't think I want to be a rock 'n' roller anymore". Rhoads' funeral was held at the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, California. He is interred at Mountain View Cemetery^[7] in San Bernardino, California, where his grandparents are also buried.

Posthumous achievements[link]

In 1987, five years after Rhoads' death, Osbourne released Tribute, the only official album featuring Osbourne and Rhoads playing together in concert. Most of the album is a live performance from Cleveland, Ohio. The songs "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies" from the Tribute album were recorded on the UK Blizzard of Ozz tour at Southampton, the same date as the Mr. Crowley EP. Randy was inducted into the Guitar Center Rock Walk on March 18, 2004. In a 2006 Guitar World article, it was mentioned that Rhoads' last name was mistakenly spelled "Rhodes" on his plaque, and by the time it was discovered, there was not enough time to correct the mistake.^[8] It has since been fixed.

As a tribute to Rhoads, Marshall Amplification released the 1959RR at NAMM 2008. The amp is a limited-edition all-white Marshall Super Lead 100 watt head modeled after Randy's own Super Lead amp. Marshall engineers looked extensively at Rhoads' actual amplifier and made the 1959RR to those exact specifications, right down to the special high-gain modification Randy specifically requested when he visited the Marshall factory in 1980.^[9]

Jackson Guitars released an exact replica of Randy's original white "shortwing" V. Randy's original guitar was handled, photographed, and measured extensively by Jackson's luthiers to produce the most precise replica possible. The guitar comes with black gaffer's tape covering the top wing and the back of the guitar, just like Randy's. Only 60 of the guitars were manufactured, each with the symbolic price tag of $12,619.56 which is Rhoads' birthday.^[10] In 2010, Gibson Guitars announced a new custom shop signature guitar modeled after Rhoads' 1974 Les Paul Custom.^[11] In April 2011, author Joel McIver announced the publication of the first fully comprehensive Rhoads biography, "Crazy Train: The High Life and Tragic Death of Randy Rhoads"^[12], with a foreword written by Zakk Wylde and an afterword by Yngwie Malmsteen.

May 31, 2011 marked the 30 year anniversary and re-master/release of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Both albums have been remastered and restored to their original state with Bob Daisley's bass and Lee Kerslake's drums intact. Blizzard has 3 bonus tracks - "You, Looking at Me, Looking at You", "Goodbye to Romance" (2010 Vocal & Guitar Mix), and "RR" (Randy Rhoads in studio guitar solo). Diary originally was to include long fade out versions of "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll", "Tonight", and "Diary of a Madman" (2010 Re-mix version), but were not been included in the re-issue. The Legacy version of Diary of a Madman includes a second CD called Ozzy Live which includes the unreleased Blizzard of Ozz tour '81 recorded from many performances with at least one song (Flying High Again) taken from Montreal, Canada(July 1981 and originally broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show)^[13]. The live show features the same line up as the tribute album - Rudy Sarzo on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums and Lindsey Bridgewater on keyboards. Also included exclusively in the special box set are the 180 gram vinyl versions of the original albums, an expansive 100 page coffee table book and the DVD - Thirty Years After the Blizzard, which includes lots of unreleased Randy Rhoads footage.

Guitar virtuosity[link]

Despite his youth and limited recorded work, Randy Rhoads is considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time.^[14] Rhoads has been on the covers of many guitar magazines and has influenced many guitar players, including David Philastre, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dimebag Darrell, Frank Hannon, Doug Aldrich, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Kirk Hammett, Michael Romeo, John Petrucci, Tom Morello, Joe Holmes,^[15] Neal Grusky (Takara), Michael Angelo Batio, Brad Gillis,^[16] George Lynch,^[17] Alexi Laiho,^[18] Mick Thomson,^[19] Paul Gilbert^[20] and Buckethead.^[21][22]

Equipment[link]

Rhoads used a simple setup, with a small set of guitars, effects and amplifiers. He preferred GHS .011 gauge strings.^[23]

Guitars[link]

• Gibson Off White 1974 Les Paul Custom
• Karl Sandoval Polka Dot Flying V
• Jackson Black Rhoads w/ Fixed Bridge
• Jackson White Concorde

Effects[link]

• Dunlop Crybaby Wah ^[24]
• Roland RE-201 'Space Echo' ^[23]
• Korg echo ^[24]
• MXR:
  • Distortion + ^[24][25]
  • EQ ^[24]
  • Flanger ^[24]
  • Chorus ^[24]

Amplifiers[link]

• Marshall Three 100W 1959SLP heads in white - two with a gain modification added by Marshall, one without.
• Marshall Model 1960A cabs in white, all loaded with Altec 417-8H speakers (open back)
• Peavey Standard head (in his Quiet Riot days)

For Blizzard Of Ozz, Randy used the 1959SLP without the modification, and used his MXR Distortion+ for the extra gain.

Awards and honors[link]

• Voted "Best New Talent" by the readers of Guitar Player magazine in December 1981
• Voted "Best Heavy Metal Guitarist" by the readers of UK-based Sounds magazine in December 1981
• Placed 85th on Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists.^[26]
• Placed 4th on Guitar World Magazine's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists.^[27]
• "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" placed 9th and 28th respectively on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos readers poll.^[28]
• Named one of the fastest guitar players in Guitar World's 50 Fastest Guitarists list.^[29]
• "Crazy Train" placed 51 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" list.^[30]
• In 2008 - 2010 applications for a Posthumous Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame were submitted in the name of Randy Rhoads. Randy Rhoads' Posthumous Star has not yet been approved and the HWOF Star application will be resubmitted in 2011. If approved by the Hollywood Walk Of Fame Committee in June 2011, Randy Rhoads' Posthumous Star would be placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.^[31]

Discography[link]

With Quiet Riot[link]

• Quiet Riot (1977)
• Quiet Riot II (1978)
• The Randy Rhoads Years (1993)

With Ozzy Osbourne[link]

• Blizzard of Ozz (1980)
• Mr Crowley Live EP (1980)
• Diary of a Madman (1981)
• Tribute (1987)

References[link]

28. Campaign For Randy Rhoads Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Announced http://www.bravewords.com/news/147962 Bravewords.com

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Randy Rhoads

• Guitar World 2007 article on the discovery of the third Randy Rhoads guitar (p. 64)
• Randy Rhoads at Find a Grave
• www.randyrhoads.tk
• www.ultimaterhoads.com
• randy rhoads society
• Diary of an Axeman