Leonard J. Goldberg Movies

Norbit writing duo Jay Scherick and David Ronn re-team to pen this family-friendly Eddie Murphy comedy adapted from the popular late-'70s/early-'80s television series and featuring the former SNL funnyman in numerous roles -- including that of the white-suited host originally played by Ricardo Montalban. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on "The Dead Zone," a magazine article by Malcolm Gladwell, the made-for-TV Runaway Virus pits a team of dedicated scientists against a deadly virus. A particularly nasty form of influenza, which leaves its victims with bloody noses and blackened feet before their inexorable demise, has spread to Los Angeles, courtesy of an illegal alien. Although the scientists work as a team to prevent a horrendous epidemic, there is ample time for individual heroics, much of these manifested in the actions of reclusive vaccine specialist Jenny Blanchard (Paige Turco) and Center for Disease Control doctor Daniel Rothman (Jason Beghe). Runaway Virus debuted January 29, 2000, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alex: The Life of a Child is based on the true story of Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford and his dying 8-year-old daughter Alex. Craig T. Nelson plays Deford and Gennie James is Alex, both of whom come to grips in different ways with Alex's fatal cystic fibrosis. A subplot involves the torment of Deford's wife (Bonnie Bedelia), who wonders whether she should adopt a child after Alex's death in 1980. Alex: The Life of a Child is effective, but not as well made as its subject matter deserves. Better examples of this particular TV-movie genre include Death be Not Proud (75), based on author John Gunther's recollections of his son's struggle against a degenerative brain tumor, and Mary White (77) the story of a personal tragedy in the life of Kansas journalist William Allen White. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Canceled by ABC at the end of its fourth season, the weekly, hour-long cop drama T.J. Hooker was picked up by CBS for 19 additional episodes, to be telecast during the 1985-1986 season. Because the series would now be seen in the late night hours rather than in prime time, the producers were forced to cut budgetary corners. Stars William Shatner (Sgt. T.J. Hooker), Heather Locklear (Officer Stacy Sheridan), and James Darren (Officer Jim Corrigan) were willing to take salary cuts in order to keep their series alive. But co-star Adrian Zmed said "no" to a lowered salary -- and thus, T.J. Hooker did without the services of Zmed and his character, Officer Vince Romano, for its fifth and final season. The initial CBS episode is built around the kidnapping of T. J. Hooker's daughter Chrissie, played by Jennifer Beck (taking over from Nicole Eggert, who'd outgrown the role). In another domestic development, John McLiam is seen as T.J.'s ex-police detective dad, John P. Hooker, in "Return of a Cop." Also, William Shatner doubles as star and director for a brace of episodes, "Shootout" and "Partners in Death," the latter written by Shatner's daughter Lisabeth Shatner. Finally, co-star James Darren likewise gets to wield the megaphone in another episode, "Into the Night." Of the remaining fifth-season installments, the two-part "Blood Sport" has since its original telecast sometimes been syndicated as a stand-alone "TV movie." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This short-lived TV series was based on the 1982 television movie of the same name and focused on two young women and their mothers negotiating the New York modeling scene with the rich, the fashionable, and the powerful. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

With the departure of Herve Villechaize as Tattoo at the end of Fantasy Island's sixth season, enigmatic entrepreneur Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban) finds himself with a brand new assistant as Season Seven gets under way: Christopher Hewitt as the veddy British, veddy proper Lawrence, who is just as expert in helping Roarke pull off his wish-fulfillment miracles as Tattoo had been. Lawrence is introduced in the season's opening episode, which guest stars which guest-stars Juliet Prowse as a lonely middle-aged widow desirous of a romance with a younger man, and Jamie Rose as a disgruntled bride-to-be who unexpectedly becomes emotionally involved with the traditionally noncommittal Roarke. Several of the guest actors this season are returnees from previous years, including Peter Graves, Mary Ann Mobley, Markie Post, Carol Lynley, Lynda Day George, Barbara Rush and Vic Tayback. Also on hand are such intriguing guest performers as country singer Tanya Tucker, "Mr. Television" Milton Berle, theatrical "renaissance man" Jose Ferrer. . .and Victoria Spelling, the daughter of series producer Aaron Spelling. Fantasy Island's concluding episode, the dual-plotted "Surrogate Mother/Ideal Woman", features Juliet Mills as the title character in the first storyline, and John Saxon as the man looking for the woman referenced in the second half of the title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As T.J. Hooker launches its third season, the titular Hooker (William Shatner), a police sergeant, can take justifiable pride in the fact that two of his trainees, Officers Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) and Stacy Sheridan, have both graduated to street patrol. Hooker remains partnered with Romano, while Stacy's partner is veteran officer Jim Corrigan (James Darren) -- introduced at the end of season two, and now a full series regular. Recognizing Heather Locklear's popularity (she was then also appearing on the nighttime soap opera Dynasty), the producers made certain that viewers would see more of Stacy during T.J. Hooker's third season -- sometimes literally so, as when our heroine goes undercover as an exotic dancer. Evidently not to be upstaged, Adrian Zmed likewise poses as a male stripper in another episode, while William Shatner also gets to don an unusual disguise -- as a department store Santa! Beginning this season, Hugh Farrington, a real-life paraplegic, makes a number of memorable appearances in the recurring role of wheelchair-bound Detective Pete O'Brien, a longtime pal of T.J. Hooker with an uncanny talent for sniffing out clues at any crime scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ricardo Montalban is as suave, poised and mysterious as ever in the role of Mr. Roarke, owner of a lush tropical resort where dreams literally come true, as Fantasy Island launches its sixth season. Also on hand is dwarf actor Herve Villechaize as Roarke's versatile assistant Tattoo--but not for long. Having made several public pronouncements about his dissatisfaction over the size and conent his role, and beset by numerous health and emotional problems, Villechaize would exit the series at season's end. The Season Six opener is a supremely typical effort, with the series' setting and its two main stars acting as the link between two separate stories, one concerning a mousy secretary (Pamela Hensley) whose fantasy is to turn the tables on her overbearing boss, and the other revolving around a tormented husband (Stuart Whitman) who insists he wants to purge himself of the impulse to murder his wife. In a subsequent episode, frequent guest star Roddy McDowall returns, but not in his by-now-familiar role as the demonic Mephistopheles; ironically, though, McDowell shows up in an episode which features a lovelorn angel named Michael (Gary Collins). Among the many other guest stars this season include all-purpose entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., nightclub entrepreneur Mickey Gilley, country singer Loretta Lynn, soap opera diva Susan Lucci, 1950s favorite Sandra Dee, impressionist Rich Little, and the husband-wife team of Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows The season's penultimate episode serves up the standard usual comedy-drama combo, with one subplot starring Bob Denver and Paul Kreppel as successful but bored ladies' men who desire to meet girls resistant to their charms (!), and the other one headlining Britt Eklund as a desperate woman who wants to meet the sister who was separated from her at birth. The final Season Six endeavor, which also serves as Herve Villechaize's swan song, is Fantasy Island's only "cheater", in which Roarke tries to cheer up a seriously injured Tattoo by conjuring up filmclips from past series episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Considering how seldom she appeared on TV in the 1980s, Donna Reed could have picked a better vehicle than Deadly Lessons. Ms. Reed is cast as the headmistress of an exclusive all-girl's prep school. Like the title suggests, the school is being terrorized by a mysterious murderer. Only by discerning the killer's modus operandi can the Good Guys (or Good Girls) unmask the miscreant. Halfway down the cast list is Nancy Cartwright, better known as the voice of Bart Simpson. Deadly Lessons premiered March 7, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The five-episode "trial run" of T.J. Hooker begins with the 90-minute pilot "The Protectors," in which former police detective T.J. Hooker (William Shatner) voluntarily accepts the lowered rank of sergeant to return to active duty -- and even campaigns to work in the city's toughest and most crime-ridden districts. Given that Hooker is tormented by the death of his former partner, his recent divorce from wife Fran (Lee Bryant), and his ever-mounting debts, it's just possible that Hooker regards his work as "therapy," taking on big troubles to forget his bigger troubles. During the series' inaugural run, Hooker spends most of his time at the Academy Precinct, where, under the stern gaze of Captain Dennis Sheridan (Richard Herd), he acts as trainer, severest critic, and father confessor to rookie cops Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) and Vicki Taylor (April Clough). Somehow, T.J. also manages to spend quality time with his daughters Cathy (Susan McClung) and Chrissie (Nicole Eggert) and his son Tommy (Andre Gower). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The opening episode of Hart to Hart's fourth season demonstrates that, even when doing something as benign as purchasing a new bed, millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) will eventually find themselves neck-deep in danger, intrigue and murder. Nor does the "fun" let up in the next episode, wherein Eva Gabor guests as Jennifer's oft-married aunt, whose latest march down the aisle bids fair to be her last march anywhere. A later visit to Jennifer's old prep school not only features yet another of the Hart's old family friends who has turned murderer, but also rabbets in a clip from one of Stefanie Powers' feature-film appearances from the 1960s (hilariously passed off as a home movie of her "school play"!) And just when the Harts think that they're safe and sound in their own home, they are left at the mercy of homicidal thieves when their chauffeur-bodyguard Max (Lionel Stander) is lured away under false pretenses. As in past seasons, several guest stars show up to join in the merry mayhem. A new spin on the old grand guignol chestnut "The Most Dangerous Game", in which Jonathan and Jennifer become the human prey of a demented big game hunter, features both former Hitchcock protégée Tippi Hedren but also onetime Man From UNCLE costar David McCallum (Stefanie Powers had of course been the "Girl From" that same acronymic organization). Julie Newmar, who'd once been memorably bound and gagged by Robert Wagner in an episode of his 1960s series It Takes the Thief, turns the tables as a hitwoman who holds Jonathan and Jennifer prisoner. And Amanda Blake makes a rare post-Gunsmoke appearance in a tale involving a "trick" cigar that proves anything but funny for poor Max. Season Four ends in a virtual reprise of Hart to Hart's 1979 debut episode, with Jonathan and Jennifer Hart visiting a health club that's not so healthy after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Three of Hart to Hart begins with the emphasis on Max (Lionel Stander), the ratchet-voiced chauffeur and general factotum of millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his globetrotting journalist wife Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers). An amateur horticulturalist, Max creates a rose which he names after Jennifer--but, as usual, the situation becomes "guns and roses" thanks to a homicidal flower expert. Later in the season, the Harts go on one of those vacations which they always hope will take them far, far away from murder and mayhem; alas, after their car breaks down in Acapulco, the couple is swiftly embroiled in a plot to assassinate a political leader. Still later the couple finds themselves in a variation on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, which not only boasts a nifty whodunit plotline, but also accommodates guest appearances by Carol Lynley, Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), Ron Glass (Barney Miller), David Doyle (Charlie's Angels and even Florence Henderson! And speak of guest stars: Magician Harry Blackstone does a villainous turn in an episode aptly titled "Murder Up Their Sleeve"; a pre-"Freddie Krueger" Robert Englund shows up in a story involving a glamous singer and a costume made of stolen jewels; future movie headliner Ed Harris is a key figure in an episode in which Jonathan is blinded by a psycho specializing in using poisonous chemicals to kill his victims; and Ray Milland makes his first appearance as Jennifer's father in an adventure wherein "daddy" turns out to have quite a checkered past. Later episodes involve a defecting Russian ballerina, a demented Souther Belle, dirty work in the vineyards of Jonathan's winery, a misdelivered suit leading to the proverbial body in the hotel room, a packet of valuable baseball cards which almost spells three outs for Jonathan and Jennifer. And in Hart to Hart's third-season finale, Jonathan and Jennifer are sucked up in an elaborate insurance fraud in which phony car accidents result in very real deaths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide