Robert Picardo Movies
Yale alumnus Robert Picardo made his off-Broadway debut in David Mamet's one-act play Sexual Perversity in Chicago. That was in 1975; two years later, Picardo was first seen on Broadway in Gemini. He launched his TV career in the 1980 miniseries The Dream Merchants, and in 1981 made his first film, The Howling--one of several assignments for director Joe Dante. During his early TV years, he was all too often cast in "first husband" or "wrong boyfriend" supporting roles. Things improved in 1986, when he was hired to play the much-feared high school gym teacher Coach Cutlip in the weekly dramedy The Wonder Years. He went on to co-star as Dr. Dick Richard in the highly acclaimed Vietnam-era series China Beach (1989-91). A busy voiceover artist, Picardo has supplied a variety of vocal characterizations for such series as Dinosaurs and Batman. Undoubtedly you'll be reading even more about Robert Picardo in the future, by virtue of his being cast as the holographic Doc Zimmerman on TV's Star Trek: Voyager(1995- ). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1983
Directed by seasoned comedy man Melville Shavelson, The Other Woman is a "menage a trois" TV movie with a twist. The stars are middle-aged Anne Meara and Hal Linden, and youngish Madolyn Smith. The twist? Linden, a book publisher, is married to half-his-age Smith, a fashion designer. It is Anne Meara, a fiftyish divorcee and aspiring romance novelist, who turns out to be the "other woman!" Ms. Meara cowrote the teleplay for this engaging contrivance, in which everyone is so essentially likeable that we genuinely care how things turn out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Linden, Anne Meara, (more)
In this crime comedy, Dixie's life changes completely after the prostitution ring she runs is raided. She too is arrested and ends up sentenced to spend time in a convent. Though she is there to learn, she ends up teaching the Mother Superior and the others a thing or two about running a successful business. By the story's end, Dixie has learned to respect herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Vera (Beth Howland) attends her high school reunion, where she meets her former flame Steve (Kip Niven). Those with good memories will recall that this is the same Steve who, a few episodes back, talked Vera into cashing a personal check--which promptly bounced. Apparently Vera's memory isn't quite that good: she returns from the reunion with a ring on her finger and a promise of marriage from the reboubtable Steve. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This groundbreaking, darkly-comic horror film from director Joe Dante changed the look and feel of werewolf movies in ways light-years distant from Universal's horror classic The Wolf Man. The story begins with television reporter/anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace) taking part in a dangerous police operation intended to trap psychopath Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). When confronted by Eddie face-to-face, she witnesses something horrifying enough to trigger selective amnesia. Plagued by a series of violent nightmares, Karen decides to admit herself to a posh recovery resort known only as "The Colony," run by her eccentric New Age therapist Dr. Wagner (Patrick MacNee), and brings along her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) for support. The night after they arrive, Karen and Bill are unnerved by eerie howling in the woods. Back in the city, Karen's coworkers Chris (Dennis Dugan) and Terry (Belinda Balaski) have been investigating Eddie's background after discovering that his body has disappeared from the morgue. Sifting through Eddie's possessions, they find a strange collection of artwork depicting wolf-like creatures, and decide to consult with Walter Paisley (Dick Miller, of course), the owner of an occult bookshop, on werewolf lore. Though he claims not to believe in the stuff he's selling, Paisley nevertheless convinces Chris to purchase a handful of silver bullets... just in case. Back at the colony, Dr. Wagner has organized a hunting party after hearing Karen's account of the nocturnal howling, but the men find nothing but a rabbit, which Bill is told to bring to the cabin of the sultry Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks) to prepare for dinner. After resisting Marsha's less-than-subtle sexual overtures, Bill is attacked by a wolf while returning to his cabin. The following moonlit night, the sleepless Bill wanders outside to find Marsha waiting and the two make love by the campfire, their bodies undergoing a frightening transformation. Just as Karen is beginning to suspect that her husband is hiding a secret far more threatening than marital infidelity, Chris and Terry have come to realize -- too late, in Terry's case -- that Eddie Quist is not only still alive, but not quite human... and he knows he's being followed. Chris arrives at the colony too late to save Terry, but manages to find Karen just as the colony's residents -- all of whom are werewolves, including Dr. Wagner -- are assembling to decide her fate. Dante fills his film with heartfelt homages to The Wolf Man and other classic horror movies, as well as a few clever visual puns and in-jokes from his tenure with Roger Corman, but never strays from the path to genuine horror, particularly when Rob Bottin's chilling monsters are onscreen. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, (more)
- 1980
Old-time Hollywood director Vincent Sherman brings a glossy studio-bound look to The Dream Merchants, a two-part, four-hour adaptation of Harold Robbins' novel. The story follows the career of a pioneer filmmaker (Mark Harmon), who comes to Hollywood in the early 20th century with a pocketful of dreams and helps build the sleepy California orange-grove community into the world's entertainment capital. Typical of the Harold Robbins ouevre, most of the characters are based on real-life movie personalities: Robert Goulet's vainglorious matinee idol is a combination of John Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks, while Vincent Gardenia's vitriolic mogul can be taken as a low-budget Louis B. Mayer. The film is rife with historical inaccuracies (Goulet is informed that the closeup has "just been invented by D. W. Griffith" as a means to convince him to sign a long-term contract assuring him plenty of closeups!), while the haircuts and speech patterns are firmly locked into the 1980s. All the same, The Dream Merchants was a profitable entry in the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series of TV specials. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Stressed out from juggling her job as a cabbie with her responsibilities as a single mother and her burgeoning art-curator career, poor Elaine (Marilu Henner) finally snaps during a major art-gallery event. Reliable old Alex (Judd Hirsch) offers to drive Elaine home and help her calm down -- a gesture which Elaine apparently misinterprets as an invitation to have sex. But it is only after Elaine agrees to undergo therapy that Alex allows any thoughts of romance to dance in his own head. Cult-film favorite Mary Woronov (Eating Raoul) guest stars as an avant-garde artist, while future Star Trek: Voyager regular Robert Picardo also makes an appearance. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Ewell, Mary Woronov, (more)
- 1977
In the first episode of a two-part story, Kojak (Telly Savalas) is all set to spend a romantic day off with his current lady love Laura Martinson (Maud Adams). Alas, the detective is persistently interrupted by the demands of his job. For starters, a stolen Rolls Royce is recovered with a corpse in its trunk; and as if that wasn't enough, a woman (Kitty Wynn) who has deserted her child is also suspected of killing her husband. The huge supporting cast features early TV appearances by William Hurt, Ken Kercheval, Danielle Brisebois and Fyvush Finkel, the latter showing up in the uncredited role of a tailor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In the conclusion of a two-part story, any hopes of Kojak (Telly Savalas) enjoying a day off are dashed when a dead body is found in the trunk of a white Rolls Royce. Now the overworked detective must tear Manhattan apart in search of a woman (Kitty Winn) who has killed her husband, abandoned her child, and is now determined to commit suicide. And all the while, Kojak's romantic rendezvous with his lady friend Laura Martinson (Maud Adams) is repeatedly--and frustratingly--postponed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
