Joan Pringle Movies

Originally slated to air on September 20, 2001, the eighth-season opener of ER was bumped to September 27 due to ongoing network coverage of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. This inaugural episode hopscotches through time, presenting its events from several sharply differing points of view. First off, several loose ends from the end of season seven are wrapped up, notably the aftermath of Greene's (Anthony Edwards) decision to "terminate" a man who had killed several people before being shot himself, and the aftereffects of the treatment given to Cleo Finch (Michael Michele) when she cut her hand on a vial of HIV-infected blood. In new developments, the ER staff treats the victims of a TV talk show brawl; Abby (Maura Tierney) and Carter (Noah Wyle) attend his grandfather's funeral, where Carter is brought into a confrontation with his estranged parents (Michael Gross, Mary McDonnell); Benton (Eriq La Salle) helps his sister Jackie (Khandi Alexander) cope with the death of her son; returning from vacation, Weaver (Laura Innes) worries that she has been "outed" by Romano (Paul McCrane); and Chen (Ming-Na) is appointed chief resident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like most teenagers, 14-year-old Scott Marshall (Michael J. Pagan) feels like a misfit "freak" within his own family. In this instance, however, circumstances are a bit different. Practically every member of the Marshall family possesses super-powers and leads a double life as a costumed hero. His dad, Jim (Robert Townsend, who also directed this film), is an orthodontist by day and the crime-busting Bronze Eagle by night. Even Grandpa Marshall (Sherman Hemsley), now in retirement, can recall the good old days when he battled the forces of evil as the Steel Condor. Alas, poor Scott possesses none of his parents' or his siblings' special powers -- in fact, he's so clumsy that he is in danger of being washed out of his school's soccer team. But Scott eventually proves that there's more to heroics than mere muscle power when he's called upon to rescue his family from a gang of techno-villains. Up, Up and Away made its Disney Channel cable TV bow on January 22, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Much to the dismay of Grace (Tamara Taylor), Charlie (Matthew Fox) gets along better with her visiting parents (Joan Pringle, Clifton Davis) than she does. On a more serious note, Bailey (Scott Wolf) dresses up as a clown for his kid brother Owen's birthday party, only to utterly ruin the festivities by showing up blind, stinking drunk. And Julia (Neve Campbell) is forced to reconsider her future with Sam (Ben Browder) when he lets slip a particularly vicious racial remark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to cope with the pressures of surrogate motherhood, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) considers giving up her sister Chloe's baby, Suzy, for adoption. Back at the ER, Ross (George Clooney) and Greene (Anthony Edwards) quarrel over subjecting four-year-old AIDS victim Chia-Chia (Joshua Hoon Cho) to a very painful medical procedure. And Benton (Eriq La Salle) takes a personal interest in his patient Vicky Mazovick (Jennifer Tighe), a victim of abuse at the hands of her police-officer husband (Thom Mathews). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Psychotherapist Jesse Newman is a psychic. When she learns that the criminal who brutally murdered a cop has been captured, she feels distress for according to her visions, the police have the wrong man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An ex-championship boxer (James Earl Jones) sees a chance at recapturing a taste of his former glory after discovering that Thunder (Courtney B. Vance), one of the amateurs he trains, has real potential. Unfortunately, Thunder has entangled himself with crooked, gang-connected manager Ralph Tate (Billy Dee Williams), and he is not to let the young fighter go without a fight. This drama was made for cable and was aired as part of Steven Spielberg's "Screenworks" project. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

During a smog alert, an old man and a child, both residents of a sanitarium, die of respiratory ailments. Medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) is convinced that the deaths were linked to a nearby oil refinery, which is polluting the air with sulfur emissions. His task now is to prove that the refinery executives have deliberately ignored official warnings to cut back on production during smog emergencies--and as usual, bringing the villains to justice is a lot easier said than done. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Returning from a sentimental journey to his home town, basketball coach Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) arrives at his familiar stamping grounds at the inner-city LA Carver High School, whereupon he quickly learns that there's been some changes made. Season Three of The White Shadow begins with several of the familiar supporting players no longer part of the action. Gone are team members Carter (killed at the end of Season Two), Hayward, Reese, Goldstein and Gomez. New to the basketball squad are Wardell Stone (Larry Flash Jenkins), Jesse B. Mitchell (Stoney Jackson), Teddy Rutherford (Wolfe Perry), Eddie Franklin (Art Holliday), and Paddy Falahey (John Laughlin). Likewise, Reese's old friend Jim Willis has stepped down as principal, replaced by Ken's "friendly enemy" Sybil Buchanan (Joan Pringle)--and as for Ken's sister Kate and brother-in-law Bill, they're also gone, who knows where? Rounding out the newcomers is Carver's freshly hired wrestling coach, Ezra Davis (Rosey Grier). This final season of White Shadow contains a number of standout episodes. In a followup to a story in the previous season, Warren Coolidge (Byron Stewart) considers trying out with the Harlem Globetrotters. Several prominent sports and showbiz celebrities, including Jimmie Walker, Elgin Baylor, Sparky Anderson and Willie Tyler, show up in an episode wherein Reeves get unexpected assistance while captaining a fund drive. "Salami" Pettrino (Timothy Van Patten) ends up in the slammer after a violent confrontation with an opposing player. Stone gets a dose of celebrity after saving an old lady from a burning car. Basketball great Bill Russell guests in a story involving Coolidge's sudden self-consciousness over his height, which is fine for the basketball court but awkward everywhere else. Michael Winslow, who would later rise to fame as the "human sound effects machine" in the Police Academy films, delivers a searing dramatic portrayal as a delusional student who targets an emotionally fragile teacher for persecution. Coolidge and Franklin are subjected to inordinately rough treatment at the hands of the Law when they're suspected of mugging a senior citizen. And in the series finale "A Day In the Life", an alumni exhibition game finds graduates Goldstein (Ken Michelman), Gomez (Ira Angustain), Hayward (Thomas Carter) and Reese (Nathan Cook) returning to Carver with an arsenal of anecdotes--amusing and not-so-amusing--about what they've been doing with themselves since last we saw them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Waltons' African-American neighbor Verdie Foster (Lynn Hamilton) is pleased and proud when her college-educated daughter Esther (Lynne Moody) returns to the Mountain. But Esther is frustrated by her lack of success in the working world -- the result of general prejudice against her gender and specific prejudice against her race. Esther's anger is matched (and then some!) by Verdie when storekeeper Ike Godsey (Joe Conley) posts an honor roll listing the names of the men from Walton's Mountain who are serving in the military...a list separated into "white" and "colored" columns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This TV movie stars Jon Rubinstein as a Nassau County assistant D.A. named Dan Corey. Yes, he's idealistic, and yes, he butts his head against (drum roll) THE SYSTEM. His current case involves a battered woman who claims to have killed her doctor husband in self defense. Corey, flying in the face of the Politically Correct Brigade, doesn't believe her (he says he has "bad vibes", which should give you an idea when this film was made). Corey: For the People was the pilot for a series that didn't make it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The basic premise of the ABC sitcom That's My Mama remains intact as the series enters its second season. Clifton Davis is still top-billed as Washington D.C barber Clifton Curtis, a would-be "swinging bachelor" who lives with his widowed "Mama," Eloise Curtis (Theresa Merritt). And Mama continues to urge Clifton to settle down and get married, much against his hedonistic nature. However, a couple of changes have been implemented within the series. For one, Joan Pringle has replaced Lynne Moody in the role of Tracy, Clifton's sister and the wife of straitlaced engineer Leonard Taylor (Lisle Wilson). And Earl Chambers (Theodore Wilson) has forsaken his letter-carrying job to become Clifton's partner at the barbershop, driving our hero crazy with his nonsensical get-rich-quick schemes. Having never been able to gain a toehold in the ratings thanks to the stiff competition of NBC's Little House on the Prairie, and saddled with the weak lead-in show When Things Were Rotten, That's My Mama was canceled midway through its second season, with only 13 new episodes in the manifest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Every time Lamont (Demond Wilson) and Fred (Redd Foxx) have an argument, Fred suffers another of his famous "heart attacks"; indeed, at one point he has six such attacks in the same day. Determined to call Fred's bluff, Lamont rushes him to the hospital for a coronary exam. To keep up the pretense, Fred switches his papers with those of another patient -- and very nearly ends up undergoing an embarrassing (and embarrassingly painful) operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide