They say television replaced the B-movie, but it's not true. The reason why the "second feature" was so often able to achieve such vigour and interest is that it was made, so to speak, while no one was looking. Never taken very seriously by critics, and even less so by the studios (as long as cost and schedules were closely observed), the B-movie director could many times work in a freer atmosphere than some of his higher-budgeted contemporaries. TV production is so closely supervised by networks, sponsors, advertising executives and producers that any sort of personal expression becomes almost impossible. Actually, the only relation between television films and the old B-movies lies in their similar budgets – whence the B-picture acquired its name in the first place.