Following the one-off television production of "Casino Royale" in 1954 on CBS, and ten years after Sean Connery made his big screen debut as James Bond in 1962's "Dr No", 007 hit television screens in the USA in a rather peculiar way. Unlike the UK where the films were broadcast in the order shown in theatres, American fans introduced to the legendary spy via the small screen in the early 1970's may have been slightly confused. The first film shown on network television in the USA was the third film, "Goldfinger", on 17th September 1972 as ABC's "Sunday Night Movie". Two years later, television viewers caught up with the rest of the early Connery outings out of order with "From Russia With Love" up next, followed by "Thunderball", and finally "Dr No" in 1974. The chaotic chronology was furthered in 1975 with "Diamonds Are Forever" being shown before "You Only Live Twice", and the much-criticised serialisation of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in two parts in 1976.

Above: The commercial break bumper slide for a screening of "Thunderball" as the Sunday Night Movie on ABC. Before the film started, an announcer informed the audience: "Although edited for television, this typical James Bond film may not be suitable for younger audiences. Parental discretion is advised".

The Roger Moore era enjoyed its TV debuts without controversy in both the UK and USA, with all seven films airing in consecutive order on the same network - on ITV in the UK, and on ABC in the USA.

"The Man With The Golden Gun" had the distinction of airing before the next film had been released in US theatres, mainly due to the three-year gap between productions. "Moonraker", which for years held the Bond box-office record, still holds the record of shortest time to network television in the USA, making its premiere on ABC in just 2 years, 4 months and 24 days after its cinematic premiere. Bond fans in the UK got to enjoy four of Moore's outings making their TV debuts during the Christmas holidays. This sure-fire ratings winner was not lost on ITV, who often re-run Bond films during public holidays.

Time For A Station Break
During the cinematic hiatus between "Licence To Kill" (1989) and "GoldenEye" (1995), when producer Cubby Broccoli was embroiled in legal action against the studios over unfavourable television deals for the films, a three year vacuum occurred after ABC aired "The Living Daylights" in 1990. Eventually, the rights to "Licence To Kill" ended up at Fox, who aired the film in 1993 - the first and last time the network secured a Bond television premiere.

Over in the UK, "Tomorrow Never Dies" was the first Bond film shown on television ahead of the US networks, with Brosnan's second outing airing on ITV a month before the next film had been released in theatres - another first for the franchise. It is also the earliest a Bond film has been shown on UK television following cinematic release. ITV went one step further with the 1999 outing "The World Is Not Enough", airing it a whole year before "Die Another Day" would premiere in theatres.

Up Next...
A bidding war erupted in the UK in 2006 over the broadcast rights to Daniel Craig's first outing as 007 when rival Channel 4 upped the ante against ITV for "Casino Royale". Unconfirmed press reports claimed that ITV paid around £25 million GBP for rights to Sony Pictures International and MGM, which also included the entire back catalogue of Bond films.