Talk:1977/78 United States network television schedule
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The link to "The Big Event" leads to a pro wrasslin' event, not to the actual TV show
[edit]The actual TV show is described thusly:
THE BIG EVENT Various FIRST TELECAST: September 26, 1976
The Big Event was NBC's regular weekly showcase for special programming. Many of the specials lumped under this generic title were two hours in length, and some were even longer, "The First Fifty Years," a retrospective of NBC's half-century in broadcasting, occupied an entire evening of November 21, 1976. Major theatrical motion pictures were aired as Big Events; Earthquake, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Gone With The Wind made their network television debuts here. In addition several major original television films were produced for the show (Sybil, The Moneychangers, Holocaust, and Jesus of Nazareth -- the latter having previously aired in Europe) as well as more standard specials ("An Evening with Diana Ross," "The Father Knows Best Reunion," "The Story of Princess Grace").
The Big Event concept soon spread to other nights of the week as NBC, which was suffering from a shortage of hit series at the time, sought to boost its ratings with short-run but spectacular programming. A number of two- and three- part series such as "Harvest Home" and "The Godfather Saga" (an amalgam of the two Godfather theatrical films plus unused footage left over from the making of the films), ran partly or entirely under the Big Event title, usually extending from Saturday through Monday or Tuesday nights. A second regular Big Event night was added on Tuesday from 1978 to 1979.