Marvin J. Chomsky

Remembering Roots

The cast and crew of Roots (1977) recall its phenomenal success on its 25th anniversary.

The Deliberate Stranger

Based on a true story, this film depicts the life of Ted Bundy, the serial killer. In 1974, after having murdered several young women, he leaves Seattle for Utah, where he is a law student and where other girls disappear. It takes the cooperation of a number of police forces to work efficiently on this case. Soon, but not soon enough, the police eliminate endless possibilities and close in on him. Bundy is tried in the media and his good-boy attitude brings him sympathy but also the hatred of many.

Female Artillery

An outlaw joins up with a wagon train of pioneer women and secretly hides some money there, but his old gang shows up and wants their money - and the women.

Tank

After relocating his family - and his prized restored Sherman tank - to a small Georgia town, Sargeant Major Zack Carey butts heads with the local sheriff. Zack doesn't agree with the ways of the local police, and when the sheriff goes after Zack's son, it's time for Zack to roll out the Sherman tank and wage a little war of his own.

I Was a Mail Order Bride

On a bet with one of his practical-joking partners, a Los Angeles lawyer responds to an ad from a pretty Chicago magazine writer offering herself as a bridal candidate as an investigative reporting assignment, and then makes another bet that he can keep the relationship platonic for two weeks.

My Body, My Child

A woman must choose between having an abortion or giving birth to a deformed child.

Catherine the Great

Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.

Brinks: The Great Robbery

In this telling of the infamous 1950 robbery, James McNally is portrayed as the one gang member who maintains his silence in the face of extreme police pressure. When he is sent up to prison and sees the other gang members letting him take all the heat, he still doesn't come clean to the cops. He feels a loyalty to his best friend, who was also in on the crime. But what will his best friend choose to do?

Remembering Roots

The cast and crew of Roots (1977) recall its phenomenal success on its 25th anniversary.

The Deliberate Stranger

Based on a true story, this film depicts the life of Ted Bundy, the serial killer. In 1974, after having murdered several young women, he leaves Seattle for Utah, where he is a law student and where other girls disappear. It takes the cooperation of a number of police forces to work efficiently on this case. Soon, but not soon enough, the police eliminate endless possibilities and close in on him. Bundy is tried in the media and his good-boy attitude brings him sympathy but also the hatred of many.

Female Artillery

An outlaw joins up with a wagon train of pioneer women and secretly hides some money there, but his old gang shows up and wants their money - and the women.

Tank

After relocating his family - and his prized restored Sherman tank - to a small Georgia town, Sargeant Major Zack Carey butts heads with the local sheriff. Zack doesn't agree with the ways of the local police, and when the sheriff goes after Zack's son, it's time for Zack to roll out the Sherman tank and wage a little war of his own.

I Was a Mail Order Bride

On a bet with one of his practical-joking partners, a Los Angeles lawyer responds to an ad from a pretty Chicago magazine writer offering herself as a bridal candidate as an investigative reporting assignment, and then makes another bet that he can keep the relationship platonic for two weeks.

My Body, My Child

A woman must choose between having an abortion or giving birth to a deformed child.

Catherine the Great

Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.

Brinks: The Great Robbery

In this telling of the infamous 1950 robbery, James McNally is portrayed as the one gang member who maintains his silence in the face of extreme police pressure. When he is sent up to prison and sees the other gang members letting him take all the heat, he still doesn't come clean to the cops. He feels a loyalty to his best friend, who was also in on the crime. But what will his best friend choose to do?

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

An abusive sexual relationship between a white spinster schoolteacher and a young black janitor in 1956 Kansas complicates her struggle to come to grips with her sexuality and emotions.

Mackintosh and T.J.

Roy is a ranch hand and a drifter. He takes a young man into his care and helps him to grow up.

The Strauss Dynasty

A dramatisation of two generations of the Strauss family of Vienna, whose dance music and operettas dominated much of Europe and beyond for most of the 19th century.

Victory at Entebbe

The film is based on an actual event: Operation Entebbe and the freeing of Israeli hostages at Entebbe Airport (now Entebbe International Airport) in Uganda.

Evita Peron

Aspiring actress Eva Duarte rises from a minor celebrity to the wife of a powerful Argentine dictator, but her all consuming fiery rage, ambition, and hatred eventually become her downfall.

Telling Secrets

Through a series of elaborate schemes, a wealthy woman arranges for the murder of her husband's mistress and then takes steps so that the crime won't be traced back to her. The detective investigating the murder soon realizes her role in it, and sets out to find a way to pin the murder on her.

Billionaire Boys Club

The Billionaire Boys Club is based on the true story of Joe Hunt (Nelson), a shady investor who built an empire on B.S. back in the early '80s. Known as the BBC, the story involves a couple of guys recruited into Hunt's company on the promise of making millions. However, every time Hunt's lapdogs think his boss has used his cleverness to make them filthy rich, they instead find themselves with financial losses. Trying to recoup a mounting pile of debt made from giant b.s. deals, the ruthless Hunt involves select members of the BBC to aid in the worst of crimes to get what they want. But a few, scared of how far Hunt will go, try to stop Hunt's brutal reign of terror possibly before real damage begins.

Murph the Surf

Based on a true story, details the daring 1964 theft of the J.P. Morgan jewel collection from New York's American Museum of Natural History. Called the "Greatest Jewel Heist of the 20th Century," the robbers took 22 precious gems, including the Star of India, the 100.32-carat de Long Ruby and the 16.25-carat Eagle Diamond, stones so famous they would be impossible to sell.

Family Flight

A bitterly divided family is forced to cooperate when their holiday plane crash-lands in the California wilderness. Overcoming their differences, they concentrate on repairing the plane and attempt to build a makeshift runway which will help them escape the unforgiving terrain.

Evel Knievel

Biography of the famed motorcycle daredevil, much of which was filmed in his home town of Butte, Montana. The film depicts Knievel reflecting on major events in his life just before a big jump.

Mongo's Back in Town

Professional killer is hired by his brother, a gang boss, to wipe out a rival gangster.

The Magician

Bill Bixby stars in this NBC pilot movie as a famous stage magician and escape artist who solves crimes.

Hollow Image

A black New York career girl, who has made it big in the fashion world, is torn between her new life "downtown" and her roots in Harlem with an old boyfriend still living there.

Law and Order

Story follows three generations of a family in the New York City Police Department.

Fireball Forward

A hard-nose general takes over a division with a bad combat record.

Assault on the Wayne

The U.S. submarine Anthony Wayne is underway for a top-secret mission. Onboard is a highly classified device that will give the Americans a decided nuclear advantage. The entire mission and the secret technology are threatened when the sub commander discovers his crew has been infiltrated by enemy agents. The commander is charged with trying to protect the device while ferreting out the enemy agents. Compounding matters is the state of the commander's physical and mental condition, which is being questioned by his crew.

Star Trek

Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk with First Officer Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen led by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Hawaii Five-O

Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".

Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin. The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, then returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990, retaining only Graves in the cast. It later inspired a popular series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise, beginning in 1996.

The Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West is an American television series. Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was conceived by its creator, Michael Garrison, as "James Bond on horseback." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant, the series followed Secret Service agents James West and Artemus Gordon as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States. The show also featured a number of fantasy elements, such as the technologically advanced devices used by the agents and their adversaries. The combination of the Victorian era time-frame and the use of Verne-esque style technology have inspired some to give the show credit for the origins of the steam punk subculture.

Tony Awards

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre.

Cannon

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s. The show had an extremely large budget for a television series.

Police Story

Detective Cheng is commissioned by Interpol to destroy the Empire of Chaiba, a worldwide criminal organization based in Southeast Asia. He initiates an undercover operation to infiltrate the organization.

Roots

The epic tale of celebrated Pulitzer-prize winning author Alex Haley's ancestors as portrayed in the acclaimed twelve hour mini-series Roots, was first told in his 1976 bestseller Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The docu-drama covers a period of history that begins in mid-1700s Gambia, West Africa and concludes during post-Civil War United States, over 100 years later. This 1977 miniseries eventually won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, and a Peabody award, and still stands as the most watched miniseries in U.S. history.

Lancer

Lancer is an American Western series that aired on CBS from September 1968, to May 1970. The series stars Andrew Duggan, James Stacy, and Wayne Maunder as a father with two half-brother sons, an arrangement similar to the more successful Bonanza on NBC.

Holocaust

Berlin, Germany, 1935. The day Karl Weiss, a Jewish painter, and Inga Helms, a Christian woman, marry, is the one in which both of them and the entire Weiss family are caught up in the maelstrom of the Nazi regime, the storms of World War II and the horrors of the criminal Final Solution, the Holocaust, the Shoah; while Erik Dorf, an ambitious lawyer, undertakes his fall into hell at the hands of the sinister Reinhard Heydrich.

Then Came Bronson

Then Came Bronson is an American adventure/drama television series produced by MGM Television and broadcast on NBC from 1969 to 1970. Created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, the series began with a feature-length pilot on March 24, 1969. It was greenlit for one year and began first run on September 17, 1969. Disillusioned reporter Jim Bronson quits his job and starts wandering the road on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle as a form of soul-searching. He meets various characters; some he helps, others he educates.

The Magician

The Magician is an American television series that ran during the 1973–1974 season. It starred Bill Bixby as stage illusionist Anthony "Tony" Blake, a playboy philanthropist who used his skills to solve difficult crimes as needed. In the series pilot, the character was instead named Anthony Dorian. The name change was due to a conflict with the name of a real life stage magician.

The Interns

The Interns is an American medical drama series that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1971. It was based on the 1962 film The Interns and the 1964 sequel The New Interns.

Banyon

The adventures of 1930's Los Angeles private eye Miles Banyon.

The Deliberate Stranger

Based on a true story, this miniseries depicts the life of Ted Bundy, the serial killer. In 1974, after having murdered several young women, he leaves Seattle for Utah, where he is a law student and where other girls disappear. It takes the cooperation of a number of police forces to work efficiently on this case. Soon, but not soon enough, the police eliminate endless possibilities and close in on him. Bundy is tried in the media and his good-boy attitude brings him sympathy but also the hatred of many.

The Wonderful World of Disney

The Strauss Dynasty

A dramatization of two generations of the Viennese Strauss family, whose dance music and operettas dominated much of Europe and beyond for most of the 19th century.

Peter the Great

Peter the Great is a 1986 NBC television mini-series starring Maximilian Schell as Russian emperor Peter the Great, and based on the biography by Robert K. Massie. It won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Miniseries.

Brotherhood of the Rose

Romulus and Remus were picked up at an orphanage at a young age, raised together as brothers and trained to supersede every other CIA agents.

Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan

After three civil-rights workers are murdered in Mississippi in 1964, a team of FBI agents is sent there to find the killers.

Inside the Third Reich

A dramatization of the life of Albert Speer, Hitler’s young architect and onetime confidant, and his meteoric rise into the Nazi hierarchy. Based upon Speer’s own monograph of the same title.

Anastasia - The Mystery of Anna

Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna is a 1986 TV movie, starring Amy Irving, Rex Harrison, Olivia de Havilland, Omar Sharif, and Jan Niklas. The film was loosely based on the story of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia and the book The Riddle of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth. It was Christian Bale's first film and Rex Harrison's last film. It was originally broadcast in two parts.