Susan Ruttan Movies
This slow-moving occult thriller has Pamela Sue Martin and hubbie Tim Matheson menaced by a coven of witches when they move to an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Director Carl Schenkel -- who went on to make the interesting Knight Moves -- does the best he can with a tedious script and a lot of miscasting, but it doesn't make the movie any more interesting. It looks like a who's who of '80s sitcoms, with Woody Harrelson, Jeff Conaway, and Inga Swenson along for the evil doings, but some viewers will be rolling on the floor when they see Leave It to Beaver's Barbara Billingsley as a 300-year-old witch. The highlight of the film is an exploding church, which may just be loud enough to wake you up so you can rewind the tape. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Pamela Sue Martin, (more)
- 1986
Under the Influence is a TV movie about an alcoholic, scripted by recovered alcoholic Joyce Rebeta-Burdett. Andy Griffith plays the head of an outwardly respectable New England family. Griffith drinks heavily, but the rest of the family sweeps his addiction under the rug. When Griffith lands in the hospital, he must come to grips with his illness--and the rest of the family must stop lying to each other and to themselves. Under the Influence is remarkable not only for the intelligent, unsensational handling of its subject, must also for Andy Griffith's convincing portrayal of a New Englander. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Though the series proper debuted on Friday, October 3, 1986, L.A. Law was heralded by a two-hour TV movie, which aired Monday, September 15. The Steven Bochco production gets off to a good start, with no fewer than three cases resolved within the first installment. We first meet law-firm partner Michael Kuzak (Harry Hamlin) compromising his personal values with an odious client; our introduction to Arnold Becker (Corbin Bernsen) finds him personally involved in a divorce settlement; and Ann Kelsey (Jill Eikenberry) and Douglas Brackman Jr. (Alan Rachins) spar over a pro-bono case. Also starring is Richard Dysart as senior partner Leland McKenzie, and Jimmy Smits as tyro lawyer Victor Sifuentes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Given the credibility of the story and the sincerity of the players, it is surprising to learn that the made-for-TV Do You Remember Love? is not based on a true story. Joanne Woodward stars as a brilliant college professor and poet, struck down in her prime by Alzheimer's disease. Her husband Richard Kiley tries to cope, but is ultimately disheartened by Woodward's degenerating condition. Even sadder is the fact that Woodward, in her cogent moments, is fully aware that she is losing her ability to function. Written by Vickie Patek, this potentially depressing drama has a logically conceived uplifting finale. Do You Remember Love? was first telecast May 21, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In the first episode of a two-part story, the Night Court staff is cut off from their paychecks by a municipal budget crisis. This freeze could not have come at a worse time for Harry, who is trying to save a cleaning lady (Susan Ruttan) and her troubled son (Harold P. Pruett) from being tossed into the street by a nasty landlord (Charles Bouvier). Ultimately, tragedy strikes--and a frustrated Harry quits his job! This episode marks the first appearance of the Wheelers, a rambunctious family of indigents who claim to hail from West Virginia (future Star Trek: The Next Generation regular Brent Spiner is seen as Bob Wheeler). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The ongoing professional war between George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) and his dry-cleaning rival Cunningham results in another round of lavish promotions. This most recent battle proves so strenuous that Cunningham suddenly drops dead. George must now face the unbridled wrath of Cunningham's vindictive widow (played by future L.A. Law regular Susan Ruttan). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
- 1985
Murder: By Reason of Insanity was inspired by a disastrous series of events occurring in New York State in 1979. Candice Bergen portrays a Polish immigrant housewife whose husband Jurgen Prochnow has subjected her to years of physical abuse. At first, she tells herself that he is acting out of frustration over his business failures, but the attacks become increasingly life-threatening. Adjudged mentally unbalanced, Prochnow cannot be sent to prison, but instead is checked into a hospital. Thanks to bureaucratic oversights and sheer laxity, Prochnow walks out of the hospital, fully intending to carry out his death threat against his wife. Despite her frenzied phone calls to the authorities, and the many empty restraining orders issued by the courts, Ms. Bergen's ultimate fate is inexorable. Made for television, Murder: By Reason of Insanity has been released to videocassette under the irresponsibly antiseptic title My Sweet Victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Everyone is a stereotypical extreme in this sometimes mean-spirited black comedy about the vicious staff at an orphanage, the garrulous punk kids who live there, and the pretentious overblown rich couple who adopt one of the orphans -- this is not a happy world. In the Bleeding Heart Orphanage, Sister Serene (Anne De Salvo) applies all the mental and emotional restrictions she can to her wild charges, while Kurtz (Murphy Dunne) applies the electric cattle prod. When one of the children (all around 10 years old, more or less) is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick (Martin Mull and Karen Black), his cohorts come to rescue him from the terrors of an upper-class Santa Barbara existence -- and subsequent mayhem ensues. With a low-brow, low-budget approach, the premises are obviously meant to key in to the slapstick characterizations, but for some viewers, even the comic moments may not assuage the meaner undertones of the film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Mull, Karen Black, (more)
- 1984
In this crime drama, an antique dealer falls and marries a seemingly successful businessman who ends up conning her out of every penny and leaving her. Unlike the many others he has conned, this plucky lady decides to stop him once and for all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tuesday Weld, Peter Coyote, (more)
- 1984
If Elizabeth Montgomery must continue to play put-upon women in her TV movies, it cannot be denied that she possesses the superior talents to pull it off. In Second Sight: A Love Story, Ms. Montgomery portrays a woman who has been blind for 20 years. Worried that people will try to get close to her out of pity, she distances herself emotionally from everyone but her seeing-eye dog Emma. A romance with Barry Newman begins to pull Montgomery out of her shell. When the opportunity arises for a delicate operation that may restore her sight, Ms. Montgomery is alternately elated and perplexed: will the loss of her handicap also lose her the affections of Newman--not to mention Emma? Second Sight: A Love Story was inspired by Sheila Hocken's autobiographical novel Emma and I. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1983
Thursday's Child is full of woe in this made-for-TV drama. Rob Lowe was given "and introducing" billing in the role of a teenaged athlete in dire need of a heart transplant. As Rob's parents Gene Rowlands and Don Murray prepare to face the possibility that they may lose their son, his aunt Jessica Walter remains relentlessly optimistic and cheerful. For various reasons, the debut of Thursday's Child was twice postponed. The film finally aired February 1, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
- R
In this run-of-the-mill romantic drama, the title Independence Day refers to the usual Fourth of July fireworks festival in the U.S. but also to the dilemma of Mary Ann Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan) who lives in a small town but has a big ambition to go to the city and study photography for a profession -- should she go, or should she stay in her hometown with the man she loves? Focus on Mary Ann's dilemma slips to other characters -- her boyfriend's suicidal sister (Dianne Wiest) who is abused by her husband, the abusive husband's equally nasty father, and Mary Ann's boyfriend himself who is preparing his Camaro for the annual Fourth of July race. With the story moving from here to there, hampered by some extraordinary leaps of imagination, the narrative is thinned considerably by the time the Fourth is at hand. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Quinlan, David Keith, (more)
Initially titled Fighting Chance, the made-for-TV The Fighter stars Gregory Harrison in the title role. Unable to support himself or his wife Glynnis O'Connor when he's laid off from his job, Harrison decides to give boxing a try. Glynnis is dead-set against this decision; she takes a job at a beauty salon to make ends meet, which irritates her husband to no end. Working off his hostilities in the ring, Harrison becomes fairly adept with his fists-but the movie's not quite over yet. Featured in the cast of The Fighter is Ray Notaro Jr., a real-life pugilist who served as Gregory Harrison's trainer. The film first aired on February 19, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
In this serio-comic made-for television adventure, an L.A. family gets more than it bargained for when it abandons the smog and hubbub for the peace of rural Oregon. Unfortunately, instead of finding a violence-free environment, they discover that they are surrounded by ultra-right-wing survivalists. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Dick Van Dyke is the Drop-Out Father in this lighthearted TV movie. A successful but unsatisfied insurance executive, Van Dyke decides one day to kick over the traces. As his wife (Mariette Hartley) and family listen in fascinated horror, our hero announces his plans to move from the suburbs to a Manhattan loft, there to "find himself." With the exception of his loyal youngest daughter, Van Dyke's family elects to stay put, permitting him to carve out a new life on his own. Peter Matz won an Emmy nomination for his sprightly musical score. Originally telecast September 17, 1982, Drop-Out Father was followed in 1988 by a made-for-TV sequel, innovatively titled Drop-Out Mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
