{{short description|1983 television film directed by Reza Badiyi}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = Policewoman_Centerfold_advertisement_1983.jpg | image_size = | caption = Promotional advertising for the movie | genre = Drama | writer = Jan Worthington | director = [[Reza Badiyi]] | starring = [[Melody Anderson]]<br>[[Ed Marinaro]] | music = [[Fred Karlin]] | country = United States | language = English | producer = Robert M. Sertner | executive_producer = [[Frank von Zerneck]] | location = [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] | editor = [[Robert Florio]] | cinematography = [[Woody Omens]] | runtime = 100 minutes | company = [[Moonlight Productions]] | budget = | network = [[NBC]] | released = {{Start date|1983|10|17}} }}
'''''Policewoman Centerfold''''' is a 1983 television movie starring [[Melody Anderson]] and [[Ed Marinaro]], loosely based on the story of police officer Barbara Schantz who posed for ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine in 1982.<ref name="people1">(17 October 1983). [http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-policewoman-centerfold-vol-20-no-16/ Picks and Pans Review: Policewoman Centerfold], ''People''</ref>
==Cast== * [[Melody Anderson]] as Jennifer Oaks * [[Ed Marinaro]] as Nick Velano * [[Donna Pescow]] as Sissy Owens * Greg Monaghan as Chris Sands * [[Bert Remsen]] as Captain David Buckman * [[David Spielberg]] as Steve Jones * Michael LeClair as Skip Oaks * [[Andrea Howard]] as Margo Syms * [[David Haskell]] as Todd Walker * [[Jerry Supiran]] as Tommy Oaks
==Reception== It first aired on Monday, October 17, 1983, and was the seventh most-watched prime time program in the United States for the week, out-drawing ''[[Monday Night Football]]''.<ref name="firstair">(27 October 1983). [https://dailyiowan.lib.uiowa.edu/DI/1983/di1983-10-27.pdf CBS and ABC battle for top spot in ratings], ''Daily Iowan'' (UPI), p. 17</ref><ref name="footballz">Schulze, Laurie. ''The Made-for-TV Movie: Industrial Practice, Cultural Form, Popular Reception'', in Balio, Tino. [https://books.google.com/books?id=685iAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA357&lpg=PA357 Hollywood in the Age of Television], p. 357 (2013)</ref> It was rebroadcast in early July 1985, during the American summer TV season, when it was the most-viewed program of the week.<ref name="reruns">(11 July 1985). [https://web.archive.org/web/20171010054550/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-11/features/8501280241_1_miami-vice-cbs-and-nbc-ratings-battle Reruns keep NBC on top of ratings], ''Sun Sentinel'' (UPI)</ref>
Upon its release, one review noted that the lead role "is not one offering much opportunity for an acting tour de force, but Anderson does manage to make the woman an understandable, sympathetic figure." It was also noted that the subject matter of the movie was a plain attempt at "exploitation and titillation" to get ratings (which plainly worked), although the title and hype did not reflect that that movie actually "downplays the sensational aspects of the matter to concentrate on the motivation of the woman and the aftermath of the photos publication."<ref name="mainreview">(17 October 1983). [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/64128625/ Don't judge 'Centerfold' by its title], ''San Bernardino County Sun'' (wire story)</ref>
==Release== The film was released on [[VHS]] in 1986.<ref name="bb">(26 April 1986) ''New Releases'', ''Billboard'', p. 40</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title|0086128}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmbA9MQcJEw Movie trailer]
[[Category:1983 television films]] [[Category:1983 films]] [[Category:American television films]]