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February 2

February 2, 1986 – The Disney Sunday Movie Premieres on Television

“Hi, I’m Michael Eisner, and welcome to The Disney Sunday Movie.”

Beginning on February 2, 1986, Disney came back to television with a new anthology series, titled The Disney Sunday Movie. Hosted by then-CEO of the Disney Studios Michael Eisner, it was a way to once again bring the Disney films and original Disney programming to television. The series showcased more than thirty films while on ABC.

The first showing on the show was the movie Help Wanted: Kids. The two-hour television movie was about a couple moving to Arizona for work, only to discover that the new boss is a fan of the traditional family, and the couple does not have kids. The couple decides to hire two children to pretend to be their kids with the involvement of a bit of blackmail.

Michael Eisner as the host of The Disney Sunday Movie

The series faced trouble from the beginning, as it was in competition with 60 Minutes on CBS, as well as their top-rated show Murder, She Wrote. In 1987, ABC cut the show down to an hour, but it still wasn’t able to fare well, having been rated fifty-ninth of eighty-five. On September 11, 1988, the struggling show moved to NBC, renamed The Magical World of Disney, but the ratings were unable to improve. In 1990, the series was cancelled. It was revived again in 1997 on ABC, this time renamed The Wonderful World of Disney.

One response »

  1. In Brazil,The Magical World of Disney His Name portuguese is Cine Disney.Cine Disney is SBT and Walt Disney With Buena Vista International Television First Cooperate for Broadcasting in 1988 and 1993.IN 1997,SBT First Broadcasting for Children Programm Disney Club and Before Disney Cruj.

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