Estelle Getty Movies

After innumerable false alarms, it looks as though Jamie (Helen Hunt) is going to have her baby. This expected blessed event coincides with the unexpected film-festival triumph of Jamie's husband, Paul (Paul Reiser) -- who'da thunk that "Buchman" would win an award over a Michael Moore project? Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's fifth season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Posing as a caregiver, Monica (Roma Downey) is hired to look after elderly author Leonard Pound (Brian Keith), who is in a state of profound grief over the death of his wife. As the story progresses, both Monica and Leonard find themselves uncomfortably reliving the night of October 30, 1938, when Orson Welles' infamous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast panicked the entire nation. While Monica recalls with embarrassment how her well-meaning efforts to calm the populace only made matters worse, Leonard looks back in despair at a devastating personal tragedy. Ultimately, however, Leonard realizes that the chaotic events of that long-ago October evening culminated in the happiest event of his life! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite his status as a major action star, Sylvester Stallone has made a number of attempts to remodel himself as a comic actor; one of his more infamous efforts in this direction was Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot!. Police detective Joe Bromowski (Sylvester Stallone) has just broken off his relationship with his girlfriend (and fellow police officer) Gwen Harper (JoBeth Williams), so Joe's mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) decides it's time to pay him a visit. Tutti proceeds to make Joe's life miserable by nagging him about his clothes, cleaning his apartment, washing his gun, tagging along on investigations, and somehow getting involved with a gun-running organization that the police have been trying to infiltrate. After this film, Stallone would stay away from comedy until 1997, when he played a cameo in another unenthusiastically received film, An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

America's four favorite senior citizens, Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty), are still residing in the same cozy Miami household as The Golden Girls launches its sixth season. This year's opener is "Blanche Delivers," as Blanche nervously prepares for the birth of her daughter Rebecca's baby -- and wonders if the fact that the kid was conceived by artificial insemination will be the source of public embarrassment. In the next episode, "Once, in St. Olaf," Don Ameche guest stars as a kindly priest -- who turns out to be Rose's long-lost father! "Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy" spotlights Ruby Dee as Blanche's childhood nanny. The two-part "There Goes the Bride" finds Dorothy considering remarriage to her no-good former hubby, Stan (Herb Edelman), thereby allowing Debbie Reynolds to contribute a hilarious performance as the girls' temporary roommate Judy. And in "Mrs. George Devereaux," George Grizzard appears as Blanche's husband, George -- much to her astonishment, since George is supposed to be dead! Harold Gould continues to make sporadic appearances as Rose's mild-mannered boyfriend Miles Webber, whose "secret life" as a Mob accountant catches up to him big-time in the episodes "Miles to Go" and "Witness," the latter episode also featuring Kristy McNichol in a crossover appearance from the Golden Girls spin-off series Empty Nest. And near the end of the season, the two-part "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Room" revolves around a deathbed confession that gets Dorothy's octogenarian mother, Sophia, thrown in jail on an arson rap! While ratings for The Golden Girls faltered a bit during season six, the series still finished at a respectable tenth place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roommates Dorothy (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), Rose (Betty White), and Sophia (Estelle Getty) continue to prove that there is still plenty of life (among other pleasurable things!) after age 50 in the fourth season of the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls. The opening episode, "Yokel Hero," marks the first of several crossover appearances by Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston, the character he played on the Golden Girls spin-off series Empty Nest. Jack Gilford, who previous co-starred with Rue McClanahan on the very short-lived sitcom Apple Pie, is cast as Max Weinstock, the fiancé of Dorothy's octogenarian mother, Sophia, in the two-part "Sophia's Wedding" (the marriage comes off, but the couple separates -- and even though there's no talk of a divorce, Max is never seen again). "Scared Straight" marks the first of two appearances by Monte Markham as Blanche's gay brother Clayton. In "The Little Sister," Inga Swenson makes her one and only appearance as Rose's younger sister Holly. And in "You Gotta Have Hope," Bob Hope guest stars as -- who else? -- Bob Hope. The season ends with the two-parter "We're Outta Here," in which the girls face the possibility of breaking up when Blanche considers selling their house -- thus sparking a flow of reminiscences via excerpts from previous episodes of Golden Girls, which in its fourth season on the air was America's sixth most popular TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Mannequin, a lame attempt to revive the style and panache of fantasy-tinged romantic comedies of the '30s and '40s, Andrew McCarthy stars as a department store window-dresser who discovers that one of his mannequins (Kim Cattrall) is actually a woman from ancient Egypt when she becomes animated one evening. She then inspires him to become the most expressive window-dresser the business has ever seen. Of course, there is intrigue involving a rival department store's attempt to drive the good guys out of business, and together the two store-crossed lovers must combat the forces of evil to save the day. There is no real mystery about what will happen in the course of the film; it all seems color-by-numbers. The only thing unique about Mannequin is its uniquely bad and illogical script, which has holes larger than the Grand Canyon. Mannequin was a surprise box-office hit, earning nearly 25 million dollars in just under a month of its release -- no small feat considering its miniscule budget and seeming lack of appeal to any particular demographic. It spawned an inferior sequel, Mannequin Two: On the Move, reaffirming the belief that anything is possible. In spite of being panned by critics across the board, it did manage to receive one accolade -- its theme, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," was nominated by the Academy for Best Song. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Legend has it that The Golden Girls, created by Susan Harris of Soap fame, was introduced to NBC's Saturday-evening lineup in the fall of 1986 to counter criticism that the network was ignoring its older viewers (that is, those over the age of 34) in favor of younger fans. Whatever the case, not one of the leading characters in The Golden Girls was under the age of 50 -- and none of them ever acted as if they were any older than 30. Sharing the same home in a placid Miami neighborhood were outspoken divorcée and substitute teacher Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur), timid, naïve widow Rose Nylund (Betty White), and another widow, the earthy, man-chasing Southern belle Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), who owned the house. (The series waited until the last episode of season one to explain how these three extremely disparate personalities ended up under the same roof; without revealing too much, the key to the girls' strong bond was as simple as cheesecake.) In the opening episode, Blanche's eightysomething mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty), moved in with the "girls" when her retirement home burned down. Having suffered a stroke which destroyed the "tact cells" in her brain, Sophia blithely said anything and everything that came into her mind, much to the embarrassment of her daughter, but to the great amusement of the viewers. During season one, several recurring characters were introduced. The most prominent of these was Dorothy's ex-husband, Stanley (Herb Edelman), who, despite having ditched Dorothy for a much younger woman, never tired of his efforts to worm his way back into her life. Also making their earliest appearances were Dorothy and Stanley's daughter, Kate (Lisa Jane Persky), and son-in-law, Dennis (Dennis Drake); Blanche's bombastic father, "Big Daddy" (Murray Hamilton), and her selfish younger sister, Virginia (Sheree North); Dorothy's wealthy kid sister, Gloria (Doris Belack); and Rose's fiercely independent (and recently blinded) sibling, Lily (Polly Holliday). Some of these characters would make repeat visits in future seasons, though not always played by the same actors. An unqualified hit from its first appearance onward (the series was tied for seventh place in the ratings with Dynasty during its inaugural season), The Golden Girls also garnered enthusiastic praise from the critics and earned four Emmys, for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Technical Direction, and Best Lead Actress (Betty White). ~ All Movie Guide

This is the true story of Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), a personable young man suffering from "lionitis," a fatal disease which causes hideous facial disfigurement. The son of freewheeling biker Rusty Dennis (Cher), Rocky is accepted without question by his mom's boyfriends and cycle buddies, but treated with pity, condescension, and disgust by much of the outside world. The local high school principal tries to get Rocky classified as brain-damaged so he won't have to enroll the boy in his school, but Rusty fights for her son's rights with the ferocity of a mother lioness. Rocky makes friends easily both at school and at summer camp. He also falls in love with Diana (Laura Dern), a blind girl who cannot see his deformed countenance and is entranced by the boy's kindness and compassion. Now that he's got his own life in order, Rocky sets about to wean his chronically depressed mother from her drug habit. Mask is the sort of story that might have ending up wallowing in its own pathos had the acting, direction and scriptwriting (by Anna Hamilton Phelan) been anything less than very good. The film proved a much-needed financial success for director Peter Bogdanovich, though unfortunately it didn't come soon enough to stave off his declaring personal bankruptcy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a female sheriff must fight to keep her job by capturing a dangerous bandito. She must also fight with international revolutionaries. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman), a brilliant but troublesome New York actor, has managed to alienate every producer on both coasts. Michael's agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack) can't even get his client a commercial since Michael complained that the tomato he was playing wasn't properly motivated. "You were a tomato!" screams George in desperation, adding that Michael is so obnoxious that he will probably never work again. Dorsey thinks otherwise; when he hears of an opening on a popular soap opera, he applies for the job--even though the job is for a woman. Posing as "Miss Dorothy Michaels," Michael wins the part and becomes a widely-known actress. Yet complications ensue when Michael falls for his co-star Julie (Jessica Lange, in an Oscar-winning performance) but, as Dorothy, is courted by Julie's widowed father (Charles Durning). Michael ultimately finds that his disguise as a woman has made him a better man. One of the classic comedies of the 1980s, Tootsie's gender-bending premise boasts a screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal, and by a host of memorable supporting comic performances from Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, George Gaynes, and Bill Murray. Future Oscar-winner Geena Davis makes her screen debut as a daytime drama queen, which indeed she had been before Tootsie came along. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide