Shannon Farnon

A woman discovers that a part of her family history may be more complicated -- and more famous -- than she ever imagined in this comedy. Thirtysomething Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), who has spent most of her adult life in New York City, is flying home to California with her long time boyfriend, Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo), for the wedding of her annoyingly perky younger sister, Annie (Mena Suvari). While Sarah and Jeff have recently announced they're engaged to be married, Sarah has been having second thoughts, and she isn't excited about the prospect of spending time with the family where she's always felt like the odd duck. As Sarah tries to decide what she should do with her personal and professional lives, she turns to her sharp-tongued and still youthful grandmother, Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), for advice, and Katharine shares a little-known bit of family history -- that Sarah's now-deceased mother left her father, Earl (Richard Jenkins), a few days before their wedding and ran off with another man for several days before coming back and marrying Earl. However, after hearing this Sarah is also treated to some long-simmering local gossip about a young man who ran off with a bride-to-be after he was seduced by her mother...and that the story became the basis for the hit movie The Graduate. Sarah begins to wonder, was Katharine the real-life Mrs. Robinson of this story? And if it's true, who was the man who had affairs with Sarah's mother and grandmother? Was it dashing and wealthy family friend Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), who has also turned Sarah's head? Rumor Has It... was produced from an original screenplay by Ted Griffin; Griffin was originally set to direct the film, but shortly after production began he was replaced, with Rob Reiner taking over the project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When the Brazilian rainforest home of young Princess Nisa (Laura Herring) is threatened by greedy American businesses, she travels to Los Angeles with Joa the shaman (Sid Haig). There Joa is thrown in jail, and Nisa must find a way to stop the rainforest destruction herself. When a young man who loves to dance crosses her path, and together they enter a televised lambada contest, Nisa might have found the answer to her prayers. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Something in Common is a made-for-television comedy about a middle-aged, widowed career woman (Ellen Burstyn) who discovers that her grown son is having a love affair with a woman (Tuesday Weld) her own age. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) is outraged to learn that young Sherry Anderson (Heidi Bohay) has died from injuries sustained in a car accident after being treated at a standard emergency hospital. It seems that Sherry's father Bruce (Leonard Stone), who at the crash scene appeared to be the more seriously injured of the two, was rushed to the Memorial Hills emergency trauma center, where the doctors were able to save his life. Arguing that the same special medical care should have been made available to Sherry, Quincy begins lobbying the city to finance additional trauma centers--even as Memorial Hills faces extinction due to lack of funds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) performs an autopsy on a high school gymnast who has died of cerebral hemorrhage. Finding evidence of amphetamines and other stimulants, Quincy suspects that the gymnast was supplied with drugs by her "win-at-all-costs" athletic coach. The challenge now is to prove his suspicions and risk public censure by bringing the very popular coach to justice. This is one of the first TV dramatic episodes to delve into the serious (and still timely) issue of steroid use. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a four-year relationship, Quincy (Jack Klugman) still cannot summon the courage to propose to his lady friend Lynne (Sharon Acker), and in fact seems to be deliberately neglected her in favor of his work. During a particularly difficult forensic procedure in which he must clean up after an incompetent colleague, Quincy reflects on his current romantic crisis--and flashes back to the events leading up to the death of his late wife Helen. Appearing as the former Mrs. Quincy is Anita Gillette), who ironically later joined the series as Quincy's second wife Emily. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The insufferably rule-bound paramedic Craig Brice (James G. Richardson) makes himself even more obnoxious than usual when he gets his name in the newspapers. Brice's insatiable thirst for self-aggrandizing publicity drives John (Randolph Mantooth) and Roy (Kevin Tighe) crazy throughout the episode. Back on the job, the paramedics attempt to rescue a young girl from a backhoe, while simultaneously mollifying her apoplectic father; a babysitter suffers an anxiety attack when she tries to take care of too many kids at once, a hardware store catches fire, and a boy accidentally wounds himself with a pellet gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While Captain Stanley is on vacation, his replacement is Captain Robertson (John Anderson), a hardbitten veteran firefighter who sees no value whatsoever in the Paramedic program. Tonight's emergencies include a young asthsma victim (Lee H. Montgomery) trapped in a drain, a berserk biker (Sid Haig), and an old man (Burt Mustin) whose chair has caught fire. And on a lighter note, Dr. Early (Bobby Troup) keeps mixing apples with oranges--and doesn't like it a bit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the two-hour pilot film for the subsequent TV "occult" anthology, series creator Rod Serling hosts three macabre short stories, introducing each with a framed portrait in a nocturnal art gallery. The first story stars Roddy MacDowall as a covetous nephew who murders his uncle, suffering the consequence of being possessed by a family painting. The second story stars Joan Crawford as a blind, thoroughly despicable millionairess who purchases the eyes of down-and-out Tom Bosley in order to enjoy 12 precious hours of sight. The final tale involves a Nazi war criminal (Richard Kiley), who attempts to evade his pursuers by escaping into a painting in a museum. The middle sequence is by far the best, directed with youthful bravado by 21-year-old Steven Spielberg. An uneven package, Night Gallery was nonetheless infinitely superior to the series that followed, which suffered from too much network and studio interference and not enough Rod Serling. The Night Gallery pilot was first telecast November 8, 1969; the series ran from 1970 through 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hoss Cartwright is among the jurors who votes to hang Frank Scott (Claude Akins) for murder. Only after the sentence is carried out does Hoss discover he may have erred, and that the genuine killer was probably Frank's lookalike Mel Burns (also Claude Akins). Unfortunately, none of the other jurors are willing to admit their mistake; especially recalcitrant is Hoss' friend Andy Buchanan (Carl Reindel), whose inability to own up to his fatal error results in even more tragedy. Others in the cast include Nita Talbot as Gladys, Shannon Farnon as Eleanor, John Hubbard as Eads, and Tol Avery as the Judge. Written by Jack Miller, "Justice Deferred" first aired on December 17, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide