Robyn Douglass Movies
- 1992
The made-for-TV Freeze Frame stars Shannen Doherty, who in 1992 was still a "good girl" on Beverly Hills 90210. Doherty plays Lindsay Scott, a reporter for her high-school TV station. While on a standard fact-finding mission, Scott uncovers a major economic-espionage conspiracy. When the authorities refuse to believe her, Scott and her friends arm themselves with minicams and hidden mikes to tear the story wide open by themselves. Designed for a preteen audience, Freeze Frame is a traditional "girl reporter" yarn with a message: It's smart to be smart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
A hardened Chicago cop transfers to a Houston precinct where he is teams up with a relaxed cop causing problems between their differing work attitudes. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1985
Created by Stephen J. Cannell, the made-for-TV Stingray combines choice elements from such past successes as Knight Rider, The Lone Ranger, and (stylistically, at least) Miami Vice. Nick Mancuso stars as the title character, a mysterious good samaritan who has apparently named himself after his jazzed-up car. In the course of events, Stingray foils the plans of an insane doctor, scuttles the operation of a drug-and-vice lord, and locates a missing child using ingenuity, brute force, and a variety of disguises. All he asks in return from the people he helps is that they will someday do a favor for him -- at any time, at any place. Robyn Douglass costars as Stingray's lady love, Deputy D.A. Daphne Delgado (who probably sells seashells by the seashore). Originally broadcast July 14, 1985, on NBC, Stingray was blatantly the pilot for a weekly TV series, which ran from March 4, 1986, to July 31, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Mancuso
- 1984
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer: More Than Murder was first telecast January 26, 1984, two days before the premiere of the Mike Hammer series proper. Stacy Keach stars as Spillane's bare-knuckled, chain-smoking private eye, with Lindsay Bloom costarring as his curvaceous secretary Velda. In More Than Murder, Mike's longtime friendly enemy, police captain Chambers (Don Stroud), is wounded during a drug-bust at a poker game. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Chambers himself was in cahoots with the dope dealers. It's up to Mike Hammer to get his longtime antagonist off the hook. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Don Stroud, (more)
In a comedy as flat as the cardboard cut-outs of movie stars that appear in one scene, Steve Martin plays Larry Hubbard, a wild and lonely guy who has been dumped by his girlfriend. Since misery loves company, he takes up with Warren, a fellow Lonely Guy (Charles Grodin), and eventually both Warren and Larry find some surprising companions, especially after Larry writes a best-selling Lonely Guy Guide. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Charles Grodin, (more)
- 1983
To land a job as a sports reporter, a young woman must disguise herself as a man. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Phoebe (Mary Steenburgen) and Jason (Dudley Moore) are a pair of Broadway playwrights who are partners in their chosen profession, but in spite of a definite inclination, they remain unpartnered (for a long time) in any other way. Phoebe is an aspiring playwright from the Northwoods and Jason is just getting married when the two meet for the first time and decide to collaborate. As their relationship produces first a failure and then a string of successes, their repartée remains sharp and witty -- and their unrequited interest in each other gathers energy over a nine-year period, until some resolution is finally in sight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Mary Steenburgen, (more)
TV director James Burrows made his feature debut with this unusual film that's a situation comedy-style twist on both The Odd Couple (1968) and Cruising (1980). The murder of a male model in a gay, beachfront enclave of L.A. warrants an undercover investigation, so police officer Benson (Ryan O'Neal), a straight, macho, law-and-order type, is assigned to partner with file clerk Kerwin (John Hurt), a mild-mannered homosexual. Benson and Kerwin are to pose as a gay couple who have just moved to the area. At first, Benson's slovenly ways drive the fussy Kerwin to distraction, while Kerwin's sexual orientation and prissy manners are a source of constant frustration for straight-arrow Benson. However, the two eventually become friendly roommates, if not exactly friends, and Benson even begins to see the world through Kerwin's eyes. Although he carries a badge, the fussy Kerwin is essentially a civilian, but as he and Benson close in on the murderer, Kerwin reveals himself to be a far more capable cop than Benson assumes him to be. Partners was written by Francis Veber, author of La Cage aux Folles (1978) and The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan O'Neal, John Hurt, (more)
- 1981
Stingray: Invaders of the Deep is about a submarine captain who leads a fight against a fleet of invading aliens. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Golden Gate revolves around a San Francisco-based newspaper empire run by a family named Kingsley (it could just as well have been "Kane," since the family was based on you-know-what Frisco-based publishing dynasty). Richard Kiley, the cold and commanding Kingsley patriarch, suffers a heart attack. Kiley's long-estranged son Perry King returns to San Francisco to save the newspaper from bankruptcy, and to stave off a hostile takeover by a crooked money man. There's plenty of tense infighting and terse dialogue, courtesy of veteran TV scenarist Stirling Silliphant. Golden Gate may have smelled like a pilot film, but the story was too self-contained to allow for a subsequent series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
This TV movie consists of two episodes of Galactica 1980 edited together. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe was a "cult" comedy adventure series created by Stephen J. Cannell, which ran from January to June of 1980. Ben Vereen played E. L. "Tenspeed" Turner, a silver tongued African-American con artist. Jeff Goldblum costarred as staid stockbroker Lionel Whitney, whom Tenspeed nicknamed "Brown Shoe." This oil-and-water combination teamed up to form a detective agency. Just how this came about is explained in the 2-hour pilot for Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, which aired on January 27, 1980. In addition to uniting the stars, the pilot's storyline included a murdered gang leader, a Marathon Man style ex-Nazi diamond fence, and a suitcase full of hot mob money. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Filmed in and around Houston, Girls in the Office is an easily digested TV movie with an all-video-star cast. The office is in a large Houston department store. The girls are four in number: Susan Saint James, Barbara Eden, Penny Peyser and Robyn Douglass. The film follows the quartet as they try to balance their jobs with their love lives. Some of the ladies opt for business, others for pleasure; look at the cast and figure out who does which. The viewer's interest in Girls in the Office is entirely dependent upon how appealing one finds its stars. The film couldn't help but do well when it was first telecast in February of 1979: its competition was the McLean Stevenson sitcom Hello, Larry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Dennis Christopher stars as a recent high school graduate in Bloomington, Indiana, who is caught with his friends -- Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley -- coasting between high school and deciding what to do with the rest of their lives. The four friends are snobbishly looked down upon by the college students of the town as "cutters," since they were born in Bloomington and their parents worked in the local limestone quarries that built the university. Dennis Christopher's character Dave wants to be a champion bicycle racer and he idolizes the Italian racing team -- so much so that he speaks, thinks, and acts Italian, all to his father's (Paul Dooley) forlorn exasperation. Dave falls for a college girl (Robyn Douglass), but is ashamed to admit he is a cutter and poses as an Italian exchange student to impress her. Dave is particularly excited when his heroes -- the Italian racers -- come to town for a race. But they are even more snobbish than the college students and rely on dirty tricks to keep Dave from winning a race against them. After that ordeal, Dave throws away his false identity and convinces his friends to enter the university's "Little 500" bicycle race against the college students. This light-hearted and heartwarming tale was a surprising word-of-mouth success at the box-office and won several awards, including an Academy Award for "Best Screenplay." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, (more)
- 1978
In this failed pilot for a series, a biochemist reproduces. He copies himself 13 times to help stop a top-secret cloning project from being destroyed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Hindle, Robyn Douglass, (more)
