Open the brackets, put the verb in the correct form in sentence: "When I called they said they (to watch) ... a movie"

The correct form of the verb 'to watch' in the sentence is 'were watching'. Here's why: The sentence describes a past action (When I called) and another action that was in progress at that time (they ... a movie). This calls for the past continuous tense. So, the complete sentence is: "When I called they said they were watching a movie." Answer: were watching