The original million dollar movie format, created by wor in 1954, was a direct. The business was based around the consolidation of its parent companys broadcasting interests, dating to 1943, and the rko. Wwortv, virtual channel 9 uhf digital channel 25, is the flagship station of the. How howard hughes unwittingly brought hollywoods movies to tv on march 5, 1956, king kong debuted on wor tv, new york. The crew of moonbase alpha must struggle to survive when a massive explosion throws the moon from orbit into deep space. I have only read about 26 pages of million dollar movie, and it is as good and rivetting as a life in the movies, which was an ongoing, hugely enjoyable read, with lol moments. Thesspots was originally aired in august 9th, 1989. Khj 1979 million dollar movie commercial break youtube. The million dollar movie was the same movie every single day and twice on the weekends. Hilarious double bill in 1960 caltiki, the immortal. That night i discovered my mother loved rosalind russell. Knxt channel 2 had the early show weekday afternoons and they would toss in scifi movies every once in a while and usually very good ones at that, such as kronos and the incredible shrinking man.
Channel 9 went on the air as kfitv on august 25, 1948, owned by earle c. Indeed, i cant remember what studios films turned up on million dollar movie. Can you still remember what monster movie was on what. Details vary as to how the million dollar movie title originated. Weeknights or weekends, the million dollar movie entertained countless viewers with its varied mix of feature films. I had read the short story it was based on and wondered how theyd manage to stretch it out into. Editorial with elaine walker street smarts elviras movie macabre with elvira, mistress of the dark cassandra peterson. This clip is from the period when khjtv 9 was owned by rko general 19511989. Khjs the million dollar movie was on monday through. Perhaps 25 years ago, it might have been an enticing title. I cant give you the year probably late 60s when thenkhjtv channel 9 ran what was called the million.
I saw such good movies on channel 9 and 11 that ive never seen since. Ted myers, 82, the voice and face on channel 9 local television. Khjtv had better films, but during the 50s and 60s would run the same film 5 nights in a row million dollar movie. The title was straight from the 1930s and 1940s, when a movie with a budget of a million dollars was a big thing.
During his long tenure, the channel 9 news won an emmy. The station is owned by the fox television stations division of 21st century fox, as part of aduopoly with fox ownedandoperated station wnyw channel 5. The plan was to debut the gems on wor and khj and lease the rest out. Khjtv9 1973 million dollar movie robin and the 7 hoods. Khj million dollar movie 1980s retro junk commercial. Screen actors guild awards, outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for million dollar baby golden globe, best director motion picture for million dollar baby 2004 golden globe, best director motion picture for mystic river. How howard hughes unwittingly brought hollywoods movies to tv. Wortvs million dollar movie wortvs million dollar movie was predated by wpixs purchase of a movie package from the standard television company of hollywood in 1952. I cant find the original opening for million dollar movie with the man going down the.
This format, that simulated the local neighborhood movie house, was also adopted by other local stations, realizing that this was one way to reach the most viewers, considering the. What made the million dollar movie distinctive was that they played the same movie for a whole week. This series began in nyc, on local station wor tv 9, in 1955, and ran for over a decade. Kennedy, myers was host of the million dollar movie for. The million dollar movie was from 3 to 5 before live at 5 and they played a movie at 11 p. On march 30, 1992, disney studios agreed to sell kcaltv the erstwhile. The million dollar movie was shown several times during a week. Whenever the tanks are coming was on, i tried to watch every showing.
When i was in grade school, that film played on local l. We would watch the same picture night after night at 7pm. It featured toptier movies, where each feature would. In 1938, he was hired to work at kfi radio, which eventually became khjtv channel 9. The million dollar movie wortv channel 9 old time ny area. Later that fall, in primetime, the million dollar movie was relegated to weekends in favor of morton downey jr. Wwortv, channel 9, is a television station licensed to secaucus, new jersey, united states, serving the new york city television market as theflagship station of the mynetworktv programming service.
With martin landau, barbara bain, nick tate, zienia merton. There was the channel 9 movie theater, subsequently dubbed million dollar movie, which featured old flicks, mostly produced by the stations owner, rkosuch as the original 1933 version of king kongaired five nights in succession. The movie version of damn yankees holds a big place among my childhood memories. Million dollar movie tv series 19551966 plot summary. The week i had the chicken pox im pretty sure i saw the spirit of st. Beginning september 17 of that year wpix was to show the same film on weekday evenings from 7.
It culminated in rko general, owner of khjtv, losing its licenses to. The station was new yorks channel 9 the former wortv. I know in your case channel 9 million dollar movie was khjtv now kcal l. As a youngster, the tanks are coming was one of the films i became acquainted with while watching the million dollar movie selections on tv channel 9 rko in southern california. This is when and why the million dollar movie format was created. I remeber it aired on wor channel 9 and it had two showings one at. I seem to remember them also running the occasional godzilla marathon, so i guess channel 9 must have had some kind of toho package. The khjtv program million dollar movie is most inappropriately named. Which frankly was not usually as good as its competition on ktla. Channel 9 has been an independent since day one, except for a couple of years with the dumont network 19541956. I remember the million dollar movie, but its hard to believe that i am. It was shown during an airing of the film flipper on channel 9s million dollar movie. Wews tv cleveland million dollar movie open by mark loudin. The million dollar movie when i was a child, a local television station ran a million dollar movie every day.
Programs like chucko the clown, sheriff john, ben hunters movie matinee with cigarette and coffee cup in hand, george putnam and the news, seymours horror theatre, the channel nine movie where you saw the same movie everyday for a week so you wont miss it. June 10, 2011 perhaps the most fondly remembered movie showcase program in the new york metropolitan area, wortv channel 9 s million dollar movie was a staple of the stations schedule for over three decades. The loser station was kcop, channel, who were stuck with the universal. Back then, it was common for the local stations to run movies during prime time, and the million dollar movie was channel 9s title for their primetime movie. I most remember seeing king kong a movie id been wanting to see for a long time and its a wonderful life in august, one reason i dont think of it as a christmas movie. The million dollar movie, which aired the same film every day for a week. But everything else was just the same as wortv in new york.
Similar logo to wcpotv from 19811987 1986 love connection promo. Khjtv 9 19723 million dollar movie rams coaches show. First men in the moon was on channel 4, twenty million miles to earth was on channel 5, and gwangi was on channel 9. Atlantic kushnerlockethe maltese companiesorbis communications 1987 1980.
Channels 5, 9, and 11 were nonnetwork and ran a lot of movies. This was the first time the 1933 rko classic was shown on television. Once we got cable, we could watch the new york city stations. Later that fall, in primetime, the million dollar movie was relegated to weekends. Without going into too much detail, it went something like this. Cbs corporation is the current licensee of channel 9. Wor channel 9 holiday movie special intro king kong, 1981 by mazinz2. For awhile, khj9 would run the same movie 5 nights in a row as the million dollar movie, and one week it was war of the gargantuas my brothers and i watched it faithfully monday through friday. This format, that simulated the local neighborhood movie house. Though they did play the tara theme my own true love at the beginning. Jerseymaid dairys singing cows commercial 1978 featured during broadcast of khj channel 9s million dollar movie. Perhaps the most fondly remembered movie showcase program in the new york metropolitan area, wortv channel 9s million dollar movie was a staple of the stations schedule for over three decades. These were taken from a march 15, 1978 local showing of whats new, pussycat.