Gilbert Moses
- 1992
This educational video is aimed at the young set and teaches kids problem-solving skills in an entertaining fashion. A ghost leaves written clues for children to solve various mysteries. Children are invited to join in and keep a log of the clues, using their own materials. Skills that can be developed by this video include reading and writing, logical thinking, deductive reasoning, cooperation, and creativity. The young viewer is offered a fun way to appreciate the value of problem-solving skills. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1992
As detective Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) recovers from his gunshot wounds, Logan (Chris Noth) adjusts himself to his new partner, Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach, in his first Law & Order appearance, save for an earlier guest-star appearance in a different role). Logan and Briscoe's current investigation results in the arrest of a suspect who claims self defense. In mounting his case against the accused, assistant D.A. Stone (Michael Moriarty) is distressed to learn that he will be coming face to face with an old enemy from his law-school days. Elaine Stritch won an Emmy award for her performance in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Besieged with guilt, a teenage boy feels he's to blame for his friend's accidental death and hides away in the subterranean subway world beneath the streets of New York City. His grief and guilt are assuaged somewhat through two friendships he develops. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jasmine Guy, Charles S. Dutton, (more)
- 1986
First telecast October 6, 1986, A Fight for Jenny is the compelling study of an interracial couple's struggle for happiness. White Kelsey Wilkes (Leslie Ann Warren) is married to African American David Caldwell (Philip Michael Thomas). Casting a shadow over the couple is Kelsey's first husband Ben (Drew Snyder). Using antiquated laws as his weapons, Ben demands custody of his daughter Jennifer (Jaclyn-Rose Lester), insisting that a mixed-marriage household is the wrong environment for the girl. A Fight for Jenny enjoyed a healthy second life in reruns, thanks to the Miami Vice-generated popularity of co-star Philip Michael Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this drama an interracial couple in the South tries to build a new life despite the racial discrimination they face. They are hindered by the bride's ex-husband who has filed a custody suit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- PG
The "fish" in the title of this picture refers to the astrological sign Pisces. Not all of Pittsburgh is due to be saved, but the members of a third-rate NBA basketball team could sure use some salvation. When all the team members except for Moses Guthrie (Julius Erving) quit, astrologer Mona Mondieu (Stockard Channing) and streetwise Tyrone Millman (James Bond III) come to the rescue. The supporting cast includes Jonathan Winters in a dual role, as well as real-life basketball champs Meadowlark Lemon and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Jonathan Winters, (more)
- 1977
The seemingly lighthearted title of this made-for-TV movie obscures the film's somber overtones. Good Times star Jimmie Walker was past 30 when he starred as teenaged athlete Morris Bird III in The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened. Stricken with leukemia, Morris nonetheless intends to play in an upcoming basketball tournament. His own personal tragedy is compounded by the surprisingly aloof behavior of his father (James Earl Jones). Set during the 1950s, the film admirably evokes its time-frame without hitting the audience over the head with its attention to period detail. Based on a novel by Don Robertson, The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened was first aired October 26, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This award-winning six-part historical epic was one of the first examples of the miniseries format and one of the highest-rated television programs in broadcasting history. Based on the best-selling novel by author Alex Haley, Roots chronicles the progress of Haley's own family across many generations, from the kidnapping of an African warrior by American slave traders to eventual post-Civil War freedom. Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is a young tribesman of coastal Africa who has passed the rituals marking his transition into manhood. Searching for wood to build a drum, he is set upon by slavers who sell him in the United States after a nightmarish Atlantic crossing. Defiant, Kunta refuses to consider himself a slave, despite some sage advice from his mentor, the more mature Fiddler (Louis Gossett Jr.). As the years pass, the aging Kunta (John Amos) is hobbled for his repeated escape attempts. Realizing he'll never return to Africa, Kunta settles down, becoming husband to Bell (Madge Sinclair) and father to Kizzy (Leslie Uggams), a girl infused with her father's independent spirit. Sold and then raped by her new master, Kizzy has a son, Chicken George (Ben Vereen), a happy go lucky cockfighting expert who uses his skills to buy his freedom. George paves the way for his children, the great-grandchildren of Kunta Kinte, who finally become free in the aftermath of the Civil War. Roots (1977) was followed by a sequel miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and a made-for-television feature, Roots: The Gift (1988), as well as another telefilm based on the family history of the Haley clan, Queen (1993). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman) is a Manhattan pimp whose life and career are documented in this blaxploitation flick. Willie makes it to the top of his precarious profession, only to hit rock bottom again in record time. In her last movie role, Diana Sands plays an ex-hooker who becomes a social worker. She tries to get Willie to clean up his act before it's too late. Willie Dynamite was produced by Richard Zanuck and David Brown, who shortly afterward collaborated on a more upbeat project, The Sting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
