Robert Klane

In this comedy, stockbroker Jon Aldrich (Tom Selleck) is the man who has it all, until his ill, aging parents (Don Ameche and Anne Jackson) move in with him. As his perfect life begins to disintegrate bit by bit, Jon becomes more and more depressed and disillusioned. Finally, broke and friendless, Jon begins to listen to his addled parents' insistence that he do away with them and use their insurance money to start again. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this lively comedy, an animal behaviorist is out studying wolves and she finds a young man who has been raised by the wild canines. Intrigued, she takes him back to the city to tame him. Later she learns that Bobo, as she calls him, is the long-missing heir to $30 million. His sudden reappearance causes his low-life brother Reggie to have apoplexy and he does everything he can to keep Bobo from becoming civilized and claiming his rightful fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold and his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) -- and their two generally repulsive children, Rusty (Jason Lively) and Audrey (Dana Hill) -- are off on a European vacation thanks to a winning stint on a quiz show. As the movie unfolds in brochures featuring London, Paris, and regions in Italy and Germany, the family undergoes a series of slap-schtick misadventures that include thinking an overwhelmed German husband and wife are long-lost relatives and getting into a funk in their train compartment. Not on a par with the first National Lampoon vacation, the end of this European vacation is something that cannot come too soon for many viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Zoo is the hottest disco in town, and on the night of the big dance contest, a wild assortment of disparate characters find themselves out on the floor together. DJ Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte) is convinced that broadcasting the show live on the radio waves and having the Commodores as musical entertainment will boost his career, but when their equipment gets lost on the highway, he starts to lose his cool. Nicole (Donna Summer) is a bumbling but beautiful neophyte singer who schemes to earn her big break on the disco's stage. Frannie and Jeannie (Valerie Landsberg and Terri Nunn) are underage high school girls who need the contest prize money to buy Kiss concert tickets. A bored married couple (Mark Lonow and Andrea Howard) stumble into the Zoo on their anniversary; their relationship is tested by a wacky pill-popping vixen (Marya Small) and the disco's womanizing owner (Jeff Goldblum). A host of mismatched singles make the scene hoping for a chance at love (or at least a one night stand), though the exuberant Marv "Leather Man" Gomez (Chick Vennera) lives only to dance, and expounds on his philosophy at length. There's plenty of thumping disco action and nothing but happy endings in this colorful period comedy. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Robert Alda, father of series star Alan Alda, makes the first of two M*A*S*H guest appearances, here cast as the brilliant and famous Dr. Anthony Borelli. Arriving at the 4077th, Dr. Borelli is challenged to demonstrate his revolutionary arterial-transplant technique under wartime conditions. Unfortunately, three wars have taken an awful emotional toll on Borelli, and his heavy drinking gets the best of him before he is able to enter the O.R. "The Consultant" was first broadcast on January 21, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The action in this episode alternates between "business as usual" at the 4077th and a tacky USO Show headed by second-rate comic Jackie Flash (Joey Forman). Thing of it is, nothing that Jackie says or does is nearly as funny as the average goings-on within the M*A*S*H unit. One of the many plot strands involves one Captain Kaplan (Harvey J. Goldenberg), whose tour of duty is over, but who is convinced that disaster will befall him if he attempts to leave for home. "Showtime" was originally telecast on March 25, 1973, as the final episode of M*A*S*H's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Carl Reiner, most closely associated with the homey values of situation comedies, shocked, surprised, and (in some cases) delighted his admirers with the jet-black comedy Where's Poppa?. George Segal plays Gordon Hocheiser, a New York attorney whose love life is constantly being sabotaged by his senile mother (Ruth Gordon), who constantly asks the question of the title. (She doesn't realize Poppa is dead). Every time Gordon has a prospective bride or lover lined up, Mrs. Hocheiser gums up the works with her insane behavior. The attorney at last finds a kindred spirit in the beautiful caregiver Louise Callan (Trish VanDevere), who has likewise been a victim of someone else's eccentricities (her first husband used the conjugal bed as his own personal toilet). When Mrs. Hocheiser chases Louise away like she has all the others, Gordon begins entertaining notions of killing his mother. In desperation, Gordon begs his brother Sidney (Ron Leibman) to take his mother off his hands, which leads to several comic vignettes in deliriously bad taste. The film's incest-themed original ending (trimmed from the video version but still included in cable prints) finds Gordon climbing into bed with Mrs. Hocheiser, only to be greeted with a "Here's Poppa." The celebrated "tush scene," wherein Mrs. Hocheiser bites Gordon on his bare backside while Louise looks on in horror, packed a real wallop back in the early '70s, as did a courtroom scene involving a disgruntled hippie (Rob Reiner) and a psychotic U.S. general who graphically describes his homicidal acts against the Vietnamese. Though Carl Reiner would continue to "push the envelope" in his later films (Steve Martin as a "poor black child"? George Burns as God?) he would never again attempt anything as risky as Where's Poppa?. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide