In 1978, the novel was adapted into a television film directed by Jack Smight and starring Claudia McNeil as Big Ma, Janet MacLachlan as Mama and Morgan Freeman as Uncle Hammer. The original 1978 version of this film ran for almost four hours and was shown over two nights in July 1978. The original version resembled the book much more than the current one does, as it includes several scenes from the book that are not shown in the current version, such as the Logan children's first day of school, their plan to sabotage the school bus, and Mama getting fired because of Mr. Granger. After the first version was shown, the movie was heavily edited down to shorten its length; all material from Part 1 was removed, except for certain scenes that were abruptly added into Part 2. Small portions of some of the scenes from Part 1 (i.e., Little Man throwing a book on the ground, Mama putting paper over the inside cover of a worn-out textbook, the kids digging a trap for the bus to get stuck in, Mr. Morrison introducing himself) appear in a pre-title sequence, not unlike the kind of introduction for part 2 of a two-part TV episode. Also, the final scene in Part 1 is kept, for it has much to do with the events of Part 2.[13]
The film won modest praise, including two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing.[14] The biggest difference between the film and the novel is that in the movie, Lillian Jean, Jeremy, R.W., and Melvin are Kaleb Wallace's children, while in the book, they are the children of Charlie Simms, a character who does not exist in the movie.[15]
