TV Movie Time

A short update

Penny Marshall and John Ritter in Love Thy Neighbor (1984)

Now that I’ve completed my 365 Days of TV Movies that Need a DVD/Blu Ray Release project I’ve decided to share a few thoughts on how I think this went.

SPOILER: It went pretty well!

First, please let me give you the full list of movies, which you will find here on Letterboxd:

365 Made for TV Movies that Need a DVD/Blu Ray Release: The Full List of Titles

This list was created by a friend to the telefilm named Erik. A thousands thanks to you, Erik, for doing this! I actually started a Letterboxd right before the end of 2025 so that I could do this myself, but it looks like Erik was already up to the task, and I really appreciate the time he took to catalog my picks!

Also, much to my surprise, after the list was completed I was contacted by another person who was following along with my daily posts and he let me know that he sought out approximately 100 of the titles I posted and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. This and Erik’s list are the kinds of comments that drive me to keep going. I know there are lots of TV movie fans, and there are plenty who know things I don’t, and have likely seen more films than I have. There’s about 5,000 of these movies lingering in the netherworld, and we all have our time constraints, outside commitments, etc. I just say this to note that I’m not the only person in the world celebrating these films, nor am I the #1 expert in the field (maybe #2, but I do know there’s always someone prettier, smarter and more accomplished…), but I might be the most consistent and passionate. To take on this task was a fun experiment and it serves as a strong reminder that there’s still a long way to go if we’re going to preserve these wonderful films.

This last year was an experiment of sorts, mostly done in an effort to champion a few titles, while also keeping me on my socials all year in the hopes that I could grow and gain a few more followers. But, I also learned a couple of things…

For one, I did not have a planned list. In January of 2025, I did set out to create one and came up with about 20 titles before life got a little crazy. Afterwards, I ended up choosing my daily picks just by going with whatever popped into my head that day. If I had a hard time coming up with a title, I skimmed my blog, or Alvin Marill’s indispensable Movies Made for Television: 1964-2004. However, because my choices were just little puffs in the memory clouds, the list might feel a little all over the map. I likely overlooked some real groundbreaking or well-loved titles, but every film deserves a spotlight, and sometimes just saying “We really need a release of Satan’s Triangle,” feels like a shout out into the void. I mean, it’s obvious we need a release of Satan’s Triangle (and it did end up on the list), but some of the movies were deeper dives and I loved the reaction to those particular choices.

Telefilms like No Way Out and my current obsession The Movie Murderer are in dire need of attention. Any attention, because unlike Don’t Go to Sleep or Home for the Holidays, these films have truly fallen through the cracks of time and deserve their shot at a second audience too. I loved when I randomly threw out a title and someone seemed genuinely excited because it was either something they’d never heard of, or, it was a film they loved and thought no one else remembered.

The most important lesson I learned though was something I already knew but began to feel more deeply throughout the last year… My God, there’s so many amazing TV movies that really need to be documented and preserved. Like, 90% of them are still waiting for a 21st century home, and I hope they all see that at some point. For now, we just have each other and our love for these films to keep us going! Thanks to all who played along and left positive comments about these beloved small screen movies.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

This month, Treasured Films is releasing one of the wildest takes on the legend of the lycanthrope with Werewolf Woman (1976). A real oddball piece of Euro-horror, it’s also surprisingly effective in some ways, and I was really happy to be asked to write about the strange and sometimes poignant supernatural rape-revenge mini sub-genre. This release is packed to the gills, and you can check out all of the details at Treasured Films’ website. Due out on February 26th.

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SMALL SCREEN MUSINGS:

Just a few more words…

Admittedly, it feels really strange to sit here, writing (and deleting and then writing again) about how good I feel about the year ahead – because I am speaking only in terms of physical media releases and the potential of more podcasting, etc. It is actually a very dark time for many of us, and it’s hard to put into words exactly how I feel, and likely how a lot of us feel. Especially because I want this newsletter to be a nice break in the day, where we can look back on some of our favorite movies and TV shows and connect through our love of them. I will continue to do that, but I know it can feel tone-deaf, out of touch… you get the point. But, I hope these little snippets of nostalgia will provide a brief but nice distraction to the doomscrolling, constant news feed and what sometimes feels like utter chaos.

At some point, I’d like to write something more meaningful about nostalgia, because it is indeed a double-edge sword, which we can both embrace and look at more critically. I’d also like to tackle television and collective mourning too, and maybe those will make for good mini-essays in the future, but for now I’d like to just think about all of the great releases that are coming our way.

I’ve only been given a small window into how 2026 is shaping up in terms of classic TV and physical media, but it’s looking really great! And I’m forever grateful for every opportunity I get to be a part of these releases. More importantly, I’m just thrilled that so many labels are investing in the act of small screen preservation. It’s a wonderful touchstone for understanding who we were then, and how we saw the world around us. It helps us understand us as a community and as an individual. The more we learn about ourselves, the better we become. And that’s at the heart of the TV movie. So, keep an eye out and I’ll post about any upcoming releases as I find out about them.