TV Classics Movies

Chu Yen-ping directs this all-star cast prison flick about cop Huang Wei (Tony Leung Kar-fai) who goes into the clink undercover to figure out how the fingerprints of a long deceased death-row inmate ended up at the scene of a recent murder. There he quickly runs afoul of gangland powers, making his life a living hell. His fellow inmates include Lung (Jackie Chan) who killed a card sharp to pay for an operation for his girlfriend; Triad (Andy Lau Tak-wah) who looking for the guy who killed his brother in jail; and Lui (Sammo Hung Kam-po) a sadsack con who regularly breaks out to visit his son. Later, Huang kills a prison guard and is sentenced to death. He soon learns that the jail's crazed warden is using supposedly executed criminals to kill crime bosses who are beyond the law. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

As McMillan and Wife launched its fifth season, the series remained a rotating component of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, along with Columbo, McCloud, and McCoy. Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James reprise their familiar roles as San Francisco police commissioner "Mac" McMillan and his lovely wife Sally in six new episodes, each two hours in length. For starters, Jack Gilford plays a nonagenarian businessman who is targeted for assassination in "The Deadly Inheritance." Next up, the new wife of one of Mac's best friends drops dead on her wedding night in "Requiem for a Bride." In "Aftershock," an earthquakes reveals a dead body bricked up in the wall of the McMillan home. A hospitalized and heavily sedated Mac thinks he has witnessed a murder in "The Deadly Cure." In "Secrets for Sale," Sgt. Enright (John Schuck) quits the police force to get married in the midst of a major political scandal. Martha Raye makes her first series appearance as Agatha, sister of the McMillans' housekeeper, Mildred, in "Greed." And last but far from least, Naval reserve officer Mac returns to active duty to defend a lieutenant on a murder charge in "Point of Law." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season four of Dynasty found the series enjoying the peak of its popularity; after that, things could only go downhill -- and alas, they did. On the docket for this season are the Herculean efforts by Denver oil tycoon Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) to regain his financial empire after being systematically undermined by his vengeful ex-wife, Alexis (Joan Collins). Elsewhere, Blake's sexually confused son, Steven (Jack Coleman), vacillates between his long-suffering wife, Claudia (Pamela Bellwood), and his new boyfriend, Luke Fuller (William Campbell). Meanwhile, Blake's oversexed daughter, Fallon (now played by Emma Samms, taking over from Pamela Sue Martin), disappears, prompting her lovesick ex-husband, Jeff (John James), to embark upon a nationwide search, leaving his present spouse, Kirby (Kathleen Beller), in the lurch. New to the series in season five are Billy Dee Williams as Brady Lloyd, the record-executive husband of Blake's half-sister, Dominique (Diahann Carroll); Ali MacGraw as high-profile photographer Lady Ashley Mitchell, with whom Blake briefly dallies; and in his last TV role, Rock Hudson as millionaire horse breeder Daniel Reece, whom Blake's wife, Krystle (Linda Evans), takes up with in her hubby's absence. The most prominent of the series' newcomers is Catherine Oxenberg as Alexis' long-lost daughter Amanda. It is Alexis' engagement to Prince Michael of Moldavia (Michael Praed) that sets the stage for Dynasty's fourth-season cliffhanger finale: the infamous "Moldavian Massacre." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Remaining a rotating component of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (along with Columbo, McCloud, and Hec Ramsey), the "domestic detective" series McMillan and Wife offered four new 90-minute episodes for its third season. The festivities begin as San Francisco police commissioner Stewart "Mac" McMillan (Rock Hudson) and his wife Sally (Susan Saint James) encounter intrigue during a trip to Scotland in "Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend." Next on the docket, Sally and the McMillans' housekeeper, Mildred (Nancy Walker), are targeted by a Satan-worshipping cult in "The Devil, You Say." Then, Mac suspects that there's more to the suicide of a business executive than meets the eye in "Free Fall to Terror." And in "Reunion in Terror," someone is systematically bumping off the members of Mac's college football team. In addition to the above-listed episodes, season three of McMillan and Wife features a pair of two-hour episodes: "Man Without a Face" in which Mac tackles the murder of his old friend from military intelligence; and "Cross and Double Cross," featuring Rock Hudson in a dual role as Mac and his look-alike, a murderous mobster. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 

Season nine of All in the Family finds Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) in his second year as owner of his own neighborhood tavern, with his wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton), supporting his new project every inch of the way. Archie and Edith's daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers), son-in-law, Mike (Rob Reiner), and grandson, Joey, are no longer regular characters, having moved from New York to California. However, the Bunkers pay Mike, Gloria, and Joey a visit at Christmastime -- only to discover that the younger couple is on the verge of divorce. Back at home, the Bunkers have become surrogate parents for little Stephanie Mills (Danielle Brisebois), who has been dumped on their doorstep by her father, Edith's no-good cousin Floyd. The introduction of Stephanie brings out the warmer, mellower side of the bombastic Archie, though there are still times that he re-emerges as his old reactionary self. Technically speaking, the ninth season of All in the Family marked the series' swan song. However, the venerable property would re-emerge the following year under a new title, Archie Bunker's Place. ~ Rovi

Taking a dark turn in may respects, season three of The Larry Sanders Show found familiar faces struggling with inner demons and the sometimes draining demands of a career in late-night television. Starting with the eponymous host living as a recluse and ending with him struggling to overcome an addiction to pain killers, the third season would lighten up somewhat in the middle with such humorous episodes as "Hank's Night in the Sun" and "People's Choice," though both Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) and Artie (Rip Torn) would face dark times in "Hank's Divorce" and "Arthur's Crisis." Despite the fact that the series contained some more downbeat themes, the writing on The Larry Sanders Show continued to be a strong as ever, and fans would certainly be pleased to find the show as fresh and pointed as the day it premiered. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This release offers an installment in the Colgate Comedy Hour that originally aired on February 28, 1954. Taking place on a classy ocean liner, the story eventually draws in characters played by Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, Burt Lahr, and Sheree North, who sing Cole Porter jazz atandards like "I Get a Kick Out of You", "Anything Goes", and more. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Season two of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys finds the titular half-human, half-god Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and his mortal friend Iolaus (Michael Hurst) persisting in their efforts to spread peace, kindness, and goodwill throughout Greece and the known world, despite the formidable opposition of several nasty Olympian gods, disgruntled demigods, hideous monsters, and a few mean-spirited human beings. Among the new recurring characters introduced during this season is Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), a former sideshow escape artist and part-time pickpocket who strives to live up to his self-anointed title, "The King of Thieves" -- the results usually being disastrous for Hercules and his friends. We also meet Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings), gorgeous goddess of love, whose sometimes bird-brained capriciousness makes almost as much trouble for Hercules as does Autolycus. Likewise making his first appearance as Hercules' envious mortal half-brother, Iphicles, who bears a disturbing resemblance to our hero's longtime enemy, the war god Ares (both characters are of course played by the same actor, Kevin Smith). And in another development, Hercules is forced to tangle with Echidna (Bridget Hoffman), the Mother of All Monsters, who is determined to avenge the deaths of her many offspring at the hands of the muscular superhero. Additionally, Hercules forms a curious relationship with Hades (Erik Thompson), king of the Underworld, requiring our hero to make a few side trips into the Land of the Dead -- where, for a brief and touching moment, he is reunited with his long-departed bride Deianeira (Tawny Kitean). And in another "earthly" reunion, Hercules touches base with Jason (Jeffrey Thomas), former commander of the Argonauts, with whom both Hercules and Iolaus had once set sail in search of the elusive Golden Fleece. The friendship between Hercules and Jason is solidified near the end of season two when Jason asks Hercules' mortal mother, Alcmene (played this season by Liddy Holloway, replacing Elizabeth Hawthorne) to become his bride -- an act that brings joy into the hearts of all but Hercules' spiteful immortal stepmother Hera, who, though never actually seen on-camera, remains an ominous and dangerous presence throughout season two's 24 episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi