54 Great Made for TV Movies/Mini-Series of the 1980's from 1980-1989
Here is a list of great TV movies from the 80's many of which I haven't been able to get a copy of since but I have seen most of them again and again. Again in no particular order.
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- DirectorRobert GreenwaldStarsFarrah FawcettPaul Le MatRichard MasurAn abused battered wife has had enough of her husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.
- StarsFarrah FawcettRyan O'NealGordon ClappA peculiar and disturbing case catches the attention of the police when a young mother and her children, all severely injured, show up in a hospital's emergency room.
- DirectorJon AvnetStarsFarrah FawcettColleen DewhurstMichael NouriWhen shy schoolteacher Val marries Harry, the son of an aged opera star, she quickly discovers that Harry's mother Barbara is not very happy with their union. In fact, Barbara tries to separate the couple. But when Barbara suffers a debilitating stroke, Val's compassion and empathy mend the rift between the two women, giving Barbara the will to survive. But will Barbara learn to love her daughter-in-law?
- DirectorMichael Lindsay-HoggStarsFarrah FawcettTom ContiGeraldine PageFarrah Fawcett plays real-life Beate Klarsfeld, a German Protestant housewife who, with the help of her Jewish law-student husband, Serge, began an unrelenting campaign after World War II to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, most of which is centered on Klaus Barbie. The story follows her pursuit while she survives jail, torture, numerous assassination attempts, and arrests in South America and in Germany.
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsKatharine RossSam ElliottFarrah FawcettStory of Texas heiress Joan Robinson, who married plastic surgeon John Hill. Her father, Ash, is suspicious of Hill, thinking that he married Joan for money, which he used to buy a house and indulges in some odd hobbies. He eventually has an affair with a woman named Ann Kurth. Eventually Ash threatens John with him losing custody of his son unless he makes full restitution to Joan. One day, Joan gets sick and dies. John somehow doesn't allow an autopsy to be done. Ash thinks it's strange, and thinks John killed Joan and sets out to prove it. John eventually marries Ann and she can't help but find his behavior strange.
- DirectorLawrence SchillerStarsFarrah FawcettFrederic ForrestDavid HuddlestonBiographical account of pioneering photographer's career.
- DirectorRod HolcombStarsFarrah FawcettBeau BridgesHarold GouldGovernment agent Frank Powell (Beau Bridges) is determined to bring down racketeering crime lord Oliver Sully (Harold Gould) but cannot find any evidence. Powell concocts a plan to have the Justice Department buy a brothel, set up a professional call girl named Kathy Dunn (Farrah Fawcett) as a hostess, and get the crime boss on extortion.
- DirectorCharles JarrottStarsFarrah FawcettDavid AckroydStéphane AudranThe true story of one of the richest women in America - heiress to the Woolworth fortune. She had vast wealth and seven husbands, but never found lasting love.
- DirectorRobert DayStarsGeorge C. ScottMichael BiehnAli MacGrawA man arrives in China to search for his son, whom he hasn't seen in many years. A female American Embassy employee, who knows the country and speaks the language, is assigned to assist him, but soon they run into more trouble than they expected.
- DirectorNoel BlackStarsMichael BiehnMadolyn Smith OsborneCloris LeachmanYoung, naive Katherine falls for, marries, and has a child with Dr. Charles Raynor. Then she realizes that he is a tormenting sadist. She divorces him and tries to take their child away, so he decides to kill her.
- DirectorStephen GyllenhaalStarsRosanna ArquetteJudge ReinholdTom BowerLoving parents throw away their young son's insulin in the belief that God will then heal him of diabetes.
- DirectorPeter H. HuntStarsMichael LearnedFrederic ForrestRosanna ArquetteBefore the annual 4th of July parade, Rachels life is thrown into turmoil when her estranged husband returns after years in prison asking to be a part of her life again, also affecting their teenage daughter and Rachel's mother Sarah.
- DirectorRichard MichaelsStarsSuzanne PleshetteJoseph BolognaEvan RichardsJoseph Bologna is real estate agent who has a problem: his ex-wife (Suzanne Pleshette) and son are moving in with him-and his jealous bride.
- DirectorAnthony PageStarsRichard ThomasRosanna ArquetteDennis QuaidA young deaf mute is befriended by a Vista worker.
- DirectorLawrence SchillerStarsTommy Lee JonesChristine LahtiRosanna ArquetteThe story of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who lobbied for his own execution.
- DirectorRobert MarkowitzStarsTom ContiLisa EichhornGerald HikenA dramatic re-enactment of the Warsaw Ghetto Jewish uprising in April 1943 were 650 armed members of the Jewish Fighting Organization of Poland held off a 3,000 strong Nazi force in which only a handful of Jews survived. Tom Conti plays Dolek Berson, a Jewish smuggler who joins the resistance movement and is aided on the Aryan side of the wall by a former teacher named Regina Kowalski played by Rachel Roberts in her final role.
- DirectorRobert MarkowitzStarsTimothy HuttonBrenda VaccaroRosanna ArquetteThree children were separated at a young age. The oldest, Donald, searches for his younger brother and sister.
- DirectorPeter LevinStarsMickey RourkeLinda HamiltonRip TornBased on the real-life Oregon criminal case which dramatizes the unique dispute in which Greta Rideout instigated the prosecution of her husband John, charging him with raping her.
- DirectorMike RobeStarsLinda HamiltonPiper LaurieJoshua HarrisA young couple faces the realities of life with their child who is diagnosed with AIDS.
- DirectorBob GiraldiStarsJack ScaliaLinda HamiltonPatrick MacneeEscape to paradise with Linda Hamilton, Jack Scalia, Patrick Macnee, Bill Maher, Sinbad and Miami Sound Machine in this romantic getaway adventure shot at Club Med's Ixtapa resort.
- DirectorDon TaylorStarsSally KellermanLinda HamiltonHunt BlockA group of cute, young women in USSR are trained to be spies in USA, using their bodies to seduce. Elena passes and is sent to Moscow, where she meets a single, American man.
- DirectorGabrielle BeaumontStarsKatharine RossLinda HamiltonMichael NouriA widow and her daughter, who is experiencing marital problems, both fall deeply in love with a charming restaurateur.
- DirectorIan SharpStarsTrevor EveGeraldine ChaplinOlivia HusseyIn the 18th century were born two siamese brothers on Corsica who paradoxically carry different feelings of hate and reconciliation in their blood.
- DirectorRuss MayberryStarsLinda LavinLane SmithLori LoughlinSam Gavin decides to relocate his family from Houston, Texas to a sheep station in Australia to protect his eleven children from the "destructive influences" of modern American society. Because of business obligations, he fails to join them and, more or less, abandons his wife, Liz, to the hardships of her new surroundings. Mother and children are determined to make a go of it.
- DirectorCharles BravermanStarsKeanu ReevesKiefer SutherlandLori LoughlinKeanu Reeves, Kiefer Sutherland, and Billy Zane star as high-school students who start a vigilante group to combat crime in their neighborhood.
- DirectorMichael TuchnerStarsGeorge SegalStockard ChanningAndrew RobinsonA young drug-addicted teenager's family are in denial about it. She's sent to an intervention program where the addicts are confronted--by one another and by their families--in supervised groups. The girl's biggest obstacle to sobriety: her mother, who wants to remove her from the program because she won't believe that anything is wrong.
- DirectorSandor SternStarsGerald McRaneySean McCannSusan HoganA young girl with Stockholm Syndrome becomes a companion for a dangerous man posing as a photographer to pick up his victims.
- DirectorFred WaltonStarsShawnee SmithTammy LaurenCandace Cameron BureA group of pranksters unintentionally gets the attention of a serial killer who soon starts targeting them.
- DirectorMichael MillerStarsAndy GriffithDiane LaddSteve InwoodA family seeks justice after their daughter is assaulted in jail and the law does nothing to protect her.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsCheryl LaddWayne RogersDiane LaddA woman tries to be successful in the male-dominated horse racing business. Intrigue, greed, power games and love trying to put stones in her way.
- DirectorKaren ArthurStarsKirstie AlleyCotter SmithDeborah Van ValkenburghA dramatization of Gloria Steinem's undercover investigation of the working conditions Bunnies faced at the Playboy Clubs.
- DirectorRuss MayberryStarsPenny MarshallRichard GillilandJonathan SilvermanA 35-year old, non-athletic mother of a teen son who went AWOL from summer camp bonds with him as she decides to enter the Ironman Triathlon for real.
- DirectorSandor SternStarsJonna LeeMelinda DillonJohn PleshetteA high school graduate leaves behind her modest life and finds work in the sex industry, but it ends in disaster.
- DirectorNoel BlackStarsDon MurrayBarbara BabcockDana ElcarTami, a young girl who has just moved to Oregon, stands up against her coach and the naysayers of her small town to prove that she's capable of being a talented football quarterback despite her gender.
- DirectorRobert Michael LewisStarsDiana ScarwidDoug McKeonHelen HuntA brother and sister get caught up in the drug scene in their local high school, with tragic results.
- DirectorRobert Michael LewisStarsSharon GlessFrank ConverseHelen HuntWith the support of her parents (Sharon Gless and Frank Converse), an Arizona adolescent (Helen Hunt) overcomes severe injuries to run in a 10K race.
- DirectorJohn HerzfeldStarsJudith LightLukas HaasMichael BowenThe story of Ryan White, a 13-year-old haemophiliac who contracted AIDS from factor VIII, which was used to control this disorder.
- DirectorJohn ErmanStarsGena RowlandsBen GazzaraSylvia SidneyA young lawyer hasn't told his parents about his homosexuality. Now he must tell them--at a time when the diagnosis was still a death sentence--that he has AIDS.
- DirectorGilbert CatesStarsMarlo ThomasMartin SheenBarry TubbA young gay man tries to find acceptance from his shocked mother and disgusted father. Through this journey, he also learns to accept himself for who he is.
- DirectorRichard MichaelsStarsMariette HartleyDana HillHoward HessemanSkip Lewis is a 16 year old, who's been through some stuff. Like he has been having academic problems, and a girl whom he has been pursuing has told him that she has no interest in him. He tries to talk to his parents about this but can't, or thinks that they won't understand. So, he goes out and drives off a cliff. Now, his family's in denial saying that the whole thing was an accident. However, his best friend, Ken who was the last person he saw before, was told by Skip that he was considering killing himself and is feeling guilty that he didn't try to stop him.
- DirectorSteve GethersStarsJaclyn SmithJames FranciscusRod TaylorBiography focusing on the former First Lady's years in D.C., from working as a newspaper's "Inquiring Camera Girl" to meeting and being courted by Rep. Jack Kennedy to life on the campaign trail and into the White House.
- DirectorDavid AnspaughStarsCheryl LaddJason MillerJennifer SaltTrue story about a nurse's descent into the nightmarish world of substance abuse which endangers her life and the lives of her patients.
- StarsCheryl LaddSam ElliottAlexis SmithA Beverly Hills socialite embarks on a love/hate relationship with a psychotic businessman who murdered her fiancé and then raped and terrorized her, which leads to a bizarre trial.
- DirectorWalter DonigerStarsCheryl LaddNed BeattyPhilip LevienA woman faces harassment and humiliation when she goes to work as a coal miner to support her small son and ailing dad.
- DirectorBill PerskyStarsGeorge SegalShelley HackAlan NorthThis made-for-TV sequel to the 1977 theatrical film "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" follows a New York City detective's quest to find the murderer of a schoolteacher.
- DirectorJack BenderStarsJonelle AllenShari BelafonteLeVar BurtonPhil, Melissa, Mitch, Mary, and Vinnie are high school friends, who unwittingly raise the dead on Halloween night. Once the dead have returned, Pitchford Cove will never be the same again....or will it?
- CreatorKenneth JohnsonStarsJane BadlerMichael DurrellRobert EnglundA small group of human resistance fighters fight a desperate guerilla war against the genocidal extra-terrestrials who dominate Earth.
- DirectorGregory HoblitStarsHolly HunterAmy MadiganJames GammonEllen Russell is a lonely, single, poorly-educated Texan who finds herself pregnant with no means to support a child. To avoid giving up the child, she seeks an abortion. Denied an abortion in Texas, Ellen hires a novice lawyer to plead her case in the US Supreme Court.
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsJason RobardsJoBeth WilliamsSteve GuttenbergThe effects of a devastating nuclear holocaust on small-town residents of eastern Kansas.
- DirectorWilliam WiardStarsDonna ReedLarry WilcoxDavid AckroydA psycho is stalking the students at an exclusive girls' school.
- DirectorRobert GreenwaldStarsMartin SheenJane AlexanderEmilio EstevezA teenage delinquent who goes on a drunken joyride is left in jail overnight by his parents in the hope that he might learn a lesson from it.
- DirectorDavid Lowell RichStarsGena RowlandsDon MurrayJessica Walter17-year-old Sam Alden is a high-school star baseball player who seems to have it all. When his family notices that he is often bothered with coughing fits, his worried parents decide to take him to the hospital, where they are shocked to find out that he has a life-threatening heart disease. Sam has trouble dealing with his illness, but he pretends to still be a joyful teenager to not worry his parents more than they are already. But his health is deteriorating, and it comes to him needing a heart transplant if he wants to survive. This is the beginning of a long journey, which is mentally and physically exhausting as Sam undergoes countless tests and operations, and the search for a donor seems endless. Even before the final operation, Sam is forced to deal with several setbacks in his life.
- DirectorBurt BrinckerhoffStarsLynda CarterHarold GouldPhilip SterlingA social worker tries to break up a ring of crooks who buy newborn babies from teenage mothers and sell them to couples who can't obtain them through legal adoption channels.
- DirectorRobert MarkowitzStarsNancy McKeonDale MidkiffGraham JarvisA victim of domestic violence winds up in an ongoing struggle to get the police to take her seriously, until the abuse escalates to the worst extreme.