The Late Show Movie

By the mid-1950s, motion picture studios recognized the potential profits sitting on their shelves in the form of old movies and began selling their pre-1948 films for exhibition on television. Beginning with "The Late Show" and then "Saturday Night at the Movies" during the early 1960s, the screening of feature films gradually became one of TVs dominant programming forms. By the mid-1960s, "Early Shows," "Saturday Matinees," "Afternoon Movies," "Late Shows," and "Late, Late Shows" dotted station schedules all across the country.