{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | genre = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = | num_episodes = | list_episodes = | runtime = 120–240 mins. (approx.) | channel = [[NBC]] | first_aired = {{Start date|1981}} | last_aired = {{End date|2009}} }}
The '''''NBC Sunday Night Movie''''' was a weekly film block which ran on [[NBC]] on Sunday nights from 9 to 11{{nbsp}}pm or 8:30{{nbsp}}pm until 11{{nbsp}}pm. Often for [[miniseries]] programming, it would air the first night of the series, with the second night as part of the ''[[The NBC Monday Movie|NBC Monday Night Movie]]''.
The last film to air was ''[[Friday Night Lights (film)|Friday Night Lights]]'' on September 6, 2009 with 2.6 million viewers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvtango.com/series/nbc_sunday_night_movie/episodes/sort/date/type/desc|title=NBC Sunday Night Movie - Series - Episode List - TV Tango}}</ref> During the mid-1980s the ''Sunday Night Movie'' was aired consistently enough to be ranked in the top 30 highest-rated programs for 1985–1988.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brooks |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22NBC+Sunday+Night+Movie%22&pg=PA1691 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |date=2009-06-24 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48320-1 |language=en}}</ref>
== "The Big Event" == On September 20, 1976, NBC re-purposed the ''Sunday Night Movie'' as an umbrella program called ''The Big Event''. Although much of the ''Big Event''{{'}}s run featured film premieres, made-for-TV movies and installments of miniseries, some were specials and sporting events. The ''New York Times'', however, panned the opening telecast: "Sunday evening's live presentation of “The Big Event,” a new weekly series of what the network hopes will be “superspecial” attractions, was structured around three New York parties, and parts of the festivities were scheduled to be performed outdoors. The elaborate plans, however, ran into frequent periods of rain, and the generally soggy gloom permeated most of the indoor routines, turning an already awkward format into an excruciatingly embarrassing, almost pathetic occasion."<ref>TV: ‘Big Event’ Presented Live https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/28/archives/tv-big-event-presented-live.html</ref>
In the initial 1976-77 season, the show finished with a 24.4 rating, good enough for sixth in the ratings—making it one of only four NBC programs to place in the Top 30. However, interest waned in subsequent seasons, and the network finally dropped the ''Big Event'' branding in 1981.
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Motion picture television series on NBC}}
[[Category:1981 American television series debuts]] [[Category:1980s American anthology television series]] [[Category:1990s American anthology television series]] [[Category:2000s American anthology television series]] [[Category:English-language American television shows]] [[Category:American motion picture television series]] [[Category:NBC original programming]] [[Category:American television films]] [[Category:American film series]]