David Youse Movies
The Horndogs have reorganized, with Drew (Drew Carey) as the leader and Ed Walsh, Jimmy Fox and Dale Peters of The James Gang joining main performers Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader). Unfortunately, the two last-named Horndogs are exiled from the group following a misguided attempt by self-appointed groupie Darcy (Pauley Perrette) to freshen the Horndogs' image by dyeing their hair blonde and getting them to grow goatees (Drew despairs that the band now looks like "Hanson In 30 Years". Back at Winfred-Louder, Mr. Wick (Craig Ferguson) orders Drew to collect urine samples from his fellow workers when cocaine is found in the men's room--and never mind that the coke is from Wick's own stash; and the relationship between Mimi (Kathy Kinney) and her married boyfriend Ron (Gregory Jbarra) comes to a miserable end. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Murphy (Candice Bergen) can't bring herself to tell her son Avery about her cancer surgery--nor, for that matter, has she been able to even say the "C" word to anyone, herself included. As Murphy relentlessly cross-examines the doctors assigned to her surgery (apparently none of them are qualifed enough to suit her!), the rest of the "FYI" gang tries to protect her secret from conniving tabloid photographer Rudy Grasso (Don McManus), even unto having Kay (Lily Tomlin) impersonate Murphy to throw Grasso off the track. Future Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment makes his first appearance as Avery Brown in this episode, which originally ended with PSAs delivered by both Candice Bergen and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Produced for cable TV, this pedestrian thriller (also known as Till Death Do Us Part) purports to be a riff on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Premature Burial" but actually bears more of a resemblance to Diabolique. It stars Tim Matheson as a cheated-upon husband who can't stay down after his wife's (Jennifer Jason Leigh) unsuccessful attempt to poison him results in his being buried alive. The film's one real moment of horror comes in a claustrophobic sequence where Matheson desperately claws his way out of his coffin. The story then settles into a standard revenge motif, capped with an admittedly potent payoff that, though intriguing, is probably not as shocking as the filmmakers had intended. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson
Produced for theatrical released by PBS' American Playhouse, Bloodhounds of Broadway is not exactly a remake of the 1952 film of the same name, though both pictures use the same Damon Runyon stories as inspiration. The scene is Broadway: the time is New Year's Eve, 1928. Madonna plays small town girl-turned-hoofer Hortense Hathaway, who loves gambler Feet Samuels (Randy Quaid) more than somewhat. Since it is known far and wide that Feet has not a penny to his name, he must find some way to pay off his debts in a hurry. So he offers to sell his huge feet to a demented-an operation which will, alas, cost Feet the use of his life. Upon waking up to the fact that Hortense loves him, Feet decides that he prefers breathing to pushing up daisies. Meanwhile, a society doll named Harriet MacKyle (Julie Hagerty) turns on the spigots when her pet parrot is laid low by a clumsy gunman. And while all this is transpiring, high-roller Regret (Matt Dillon) has to beat a murder rap. Even while Regret is sweating it out, "The Brain" (Rutger Hauer), who is bleeding profusely after confronting the business end of a shiv, searches high and low for someone willing to donate blood to save his life. If you can, keep an eye out for author William Burroughs as a butler. Bloodhounds of Broadway was the first non-documentary effort of filmmaker Howard Brookner-and the last, since he died before the film was released. To gloss over the film's plot holes, the distributors added a Winchell-like narrator to the proceedings, courtesy of actor Joseph Sommer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julie Hagerty, Randy Quaid, (more)





