Gus Trikonis Movies

A shipwreck deposits Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) on the shores of Atlantis. Here he meets the fortune-telling Cassandra (Claudia Black), whose efforts to tell the warmongering King Panthius (James Beaumont) that Atlantis is doomed have fallen upon deaf ears. Both Cassandra and Hercules are thrown into prison, where Hercules discovers that Panthius was not only responsible for destroying his ship, but has enslaved thousands of shipwrecked sailors to mine the crystal necessary for the king's deadly, high-powered cannon. This episode was originally aired as the finale of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) vow to rescue young Melina (Mandy Gilette) from the Cave of Echoes, from which no one has ever returned. Our heroes are assisted by a writer named Parentheses (Owen Black), who must first overcome his cowardice before venturing into the forbidding cave. Parentheses' redemption is helped along by Zeus -- not Hercules' immortal father, but a cute little kitten of the same name. When originally telecast, this episode brought the second season of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys to a close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, also titled "Great Pretender," an award-winning reporter, who has been demoted to nowhere position at his paper, reveals a government backed and highly corrupt land deal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

For her shakedown assignment with the Metro Division, Novak (Lauren Lane) investigates a series of bar burglaries. Unfortunately a flu epidemic has severely depleted the Division's manpower, which explains why Novak's "field partner" is nerdish computer expert Hawkins (Gregory Alan-Williams). And where's Hunter (Fred Dryer)? He's off on a mission of his own, racing against a ruthless bounty hunter (Brion James) to locate a missing murder witness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When the made-for-TV The Rumor Mill first aired on May 12, 1985, it bore the title Malice in Wonderland. This joyously inaccurate biopic concerns itself with Hollywood's two foremost gossipmongers of the 1930s and 1940s: Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. Long involved in the film industry, Parsons used her ironclad relationship with publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst and the "confidential" information gleaned by her physician husband Harry "Docky" Martin to outscoop every other columnist in Tinseltown. Parsons' awesome power remained unchallenged until 1938, when Hedda Hopper, a character actress fallen on hard times, was hired as a gossip reporter by one of Hearst's rivals. Thereafter, it was every woman for herself: the blood feud between Parsons and Hopper raged unabated until the latter's death in 1966. Jane Alexander's on-target portrayal of Hedda Hopper won her an Emmy nomination; no less impressive (though not as accurate in her characterization) is Elizabeth Taylor as Louella Parsons. Other Emmy nominations went to the costume design and sound mixing, while Philip H. Lathrop won the statuette for his '30s-style photography. The "look who that is" supporting cast includes Richard Dysart as Louis B. Mayer, Eric Purcell as Orson Welles, Tim Robbins as Joseph Cotten (who once booted Louella in the derriere), Jason Wingreen as Jack Warner, Gary Wayne as Clark Gable, Denise Crosby as Carole Lombard, and Thomas Byrd as Hedda Hopper's actor-son William. Adapted from George Eels' waspish book Hedda and Louella, Malice in Wonderland is delightful, high-class claptrap. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Midas Valley might just as well have been titled Falcon Crest Goes to Silicon Valley. The heroes are a pair of handsome young computer executives, played by James Read and Brent Cullen. The boys' most formidable rival is their onetime mentor, electronics mogul Robert Stack. Relationships between these business enemies are further strained when Stack's daughter Shanna Reed joins Read and Cullen's firm. When first telecast in June of 1985, Midas Valley was advertised as an "open-ended" TV movie. English translation: it was a busted pilot film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The First Affair of the title is the one conducted by naïve but nubile college freshman Toby King (Melissa Sue Anderson). Struck by the girl's sense of responsibility, professor Jane Simon (Loretta Swit) hires Toby as a baby-sitter. Soon afterwards, however, Jane's susceptible husband Greg (Joel Higgins) finds himself being won over by Toby's unspoiled beauty and words of endearment. This standard-issue triangle drama was filmed under the title Freshman Year. Lensed on location at Harvard University, the made-for-TV First Affair premiered October 25, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This low-budget jungle adventure tale stars Deborah Raffin as a dedicated anthropologist who hires boozy, woman-hating helicopter pilot Peter Fonda to fly her into the dark inner depths of the Philippine jungle in search of one of her colleagues, who disappeared while searching for the legendary lost tribe of winged dwarf creatures. Re-titled Jungle Heat for video release and packaged like an Indiana Jones-style adventure, this plays like a low-rent, horror-tinged update of The African Queen, focusing more on the constant verbal sparring between the cultured Raffin and the coarse, hard-drinking Fonda than on the weird, gargoyle-like pygmies. The script -- based on the novel by Geoffrey Household -- sacrifices too many potential thrills for plodding exposition and half-baked humor. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

TV movies dealing with Elvis Presley are always good for a few vital extra rating points, and Elvis and the Beauty Queen was no exception to this rule. The King, here played by Don Johnson, is first seen here at the age of 37. Elvis falls in love with 21-year-old Miss Universe contestant Linda Thompson (Stephanie Zimbalist), and the two stay together for five years, remaining as close as it's possible to be a world populated of managers, gophers and sycophants. Linda tries to wean Presley off drugs, but you and I and everyone in the universe knows how that turned out. There's nothing here that hasn't already been trampled to death by the tabloids, but diehard Elvis fanatics will be satisfied. Three surprises: Elvis and the Beauty Queen was not telecast on Elvis' birthday; it wasn't telecast on the anniversary of his death; and it premiered in March of 1981, several weeks after the February "sweeps". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Inspired by Johnny Paycheck's song of the same name, Take This Job and Shove It is a comedy/drama of big business vs. little guys. His corporate employers put Frank Maclin in charge of a project to shape up a newly acquired brewery. It just so happens that this places him back in his Iowa hometown after ten years of being away. He soon is faced with a dilemma and he must consider both his position with the company and the interests of the blue-collar employees. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Ever anxious to enter the "nighttime serial" market engendered by Dallas, NBC commissioned Flamingo Road, a casual remake of the 1949 Joan Crawford film of the same name. The TV-movie pilot, which aired in May of 1980, introduces the dramatiis personae. Howard Duff plays the corrupt political boss of a small Florida town (a role originated by Sidney Greenstreet in 1949). Cristina Raines is the Crawford counterpart, a faded nightclub singer who wanders into Duff's town and upsets the political and social apple cart by shacking up with a local contract (John Beck). Duff tries to destroy Raines by dredging up her past, to no avail. When Flamingo Road became a series in 1981, it manage to hang by its fingertips in the ratings for eighteen months. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Darker Side of Terror is a TV movie that wants to have its cake and eat it too: it is a science fiction drama and a romantic triangle all in one. Researcher Robert Forster submits to an experiment in cloning conducted by his former professor (Ray Milland) The operation is a success--except in terms of Forster's personal life. It seems that the researcher's wife (Adrienne Barbeau) finds the clone to be more desirable than the original. To make matters dicier, the clone is a homicidal maniac! Darker Side of Terror is derivative from start to finish; the producers should have simply put their cards on the table and titled the film The Adventure of Frankenstein's Sexier Brother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide