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''[[The NBC Mystery Movie]]'' (this
The most famous element was ''[[Columbo]]'', which came to television in a [[Made for TV Movie]] in 1968 (''Prescription: Murder'', adapted by [[Levinson and Link|Richard Levinson and William Link]] from their stage play) before becoming part of the wheel in its initial season following a second TV movie (1971's ''Ransom For A Dead Man''). ''[[McCloud]]'' (inspired by the 1968 movie ''[[Coogan's Bluff]]'') began as an hour-long show as part of another [[Wheel Program]], ''Four-In-One'', in 1970; the following season, this and ''[[Night Gallery]]'' were "freed" from the wheel, ''Night Gallery'' for its own slot and ''McCloud'' to be in the new strand. ''[[McMillan
Once this was an established success, NBC and [[Universal|Universal Television]] launched a second night, moving the three originals to Sundays (they initially aired on Wednesdays) as the rebranded ''NBC Sunday Mystery Movie'' and premiering the ''NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie''; they also tried to find a fourth spoke for the wheel, but none of the new arrivals (see below for chronology) stuck, and neither did the ''NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie'' itself (which only ran from 1972-74) - in fact, it wasn't until the final season that they finally had an addition which was a real hit, in ''[[Quincy|Quincy, M.E.]]''. In 1977 all the elements were cancelled except for the crusading coroner, who in a reversal of ''McCloud'' was granted his own hour-long slot (although ''Columbo'' continued to make appearances in additional TV movies).
The series was introduced for most of its run with an opening theme by [[Henry Mancini]] employing a [[Theremin]] and visuals featuring a silhouetted figure walking across a landscape at sunset, using a torch to light up images of the elements of the wheel that season (the order depending on which one was airing that evening.) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ26K3nVM_0 Here are] [
In 1989 ABC resurrected the concept; see ''[[The ABC Mystery Movie]]''.
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* ''[[Columbo]]''
* ''[[McCloud]]''
* ''[[McMillan
* ''[[Hec Ramsey]]'' (1972-74)
* ''[[Amy Prentiss]]'' (1974-75): focusing on the first female Chief of Police in San Francisco, played by [[Jessica Walter]]. The pilot aired [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot|in disguise]] as the double-length ''[[Ironside]]'' episode "Amy Prentiss: AKA, The Chief." Incidentally, the City by the Bay wouldn't have a real female chief of police [[wikipedia:Heather Fong|until 2004]].
* ''[[McCoy (TV series)|McCoy]]'' (1975-76): the first American TV series to star [[Tony Curtis]], here playing a con man in the [[Robin Hood]] mold.
* ''[[Quincy|Quincy, M.E.]]'' (1976-77): with [[Jack Klugman]] as an inquisitive, idealistic coroner. The first four episodes aired under the ''Mystery Movie'' banner; early in 1977 it was given its own slot.
* ''[[Lanigan's Rabbi]]'' (1977): based on the novels by [[Harry Kemelman]] about police chief Paul Lanigan and his friend Rabbi David Small (who dabbles in detective work), starring [[Art Carney]] as Lanigan and [[David Solomon]] (Stuart Margolin in the pilot TV movie that aired the previous year) as Rabbi Small.
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* ''[[Banacek]]'': [[George Peppard]] as a Polish-American insurance investigator, based in Boston. This was the only element to appear in both seasons.
* ''[[Madigan]]'' (1972-73): [[Richard Widmark]] reprised his role from the 1968 movie of the same name (suggesting, despite how the movie ended, that Madigan was [[Not Quite Dead]]) as a tough New York cop.
* ''[[Cool Million]]'' (1972-73): [[James Farentino]] as a private investigator plying his trade to the jet set and upper crust (the title refers to how much he charges per case).
* ''[[Faraday
* ''[[Tenafly]]'' (1973-74): Another [[Levinson and Link]] creation, with [[James McEachin]] as the only black lead in this incarnation of the ''Mystery Movie'' lineup, playing one of the unflashiest, most down-to-earth detectives (of any colour) on television - a happily married family man just doing a job.
* ''[[The Snoop Sisters]]'' (1973-74): Leonard Stern's second contribution to the ''Mystery Movie'' wheel (he also co-created ''McMillan And Wife''), with [[Helen Hayes]] and [[Mildred Natwick]] as mystery-writing sisters who, like [[Murder, She Wrote|Jessica Fletcher]] years later, tended to stumble across real-life mysteries.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:The NBC Mystery Movie]]▼
[[Category:Wheel Program]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:NBC Mystery Movie, The}}
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