Shaun Cassidy Movies

As anyone with even a nodding acquaintance with Star Trek can tell you, the (future) birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk is Riverside, Iowa. But how many of those people could tell that there really is a Riverside, Iowa, population 928? It is this cozy little farming community that serves as the locale of the four-part Spike TV reality series, Invasion Iowa. Imagine the surprise and delight of the Riverside citizenry when William Shatner himself shows up in town, ostensibly to film a big-budget sci-fi epic titled "Invasion Iowa," in which he is to star as "Colonel Shane Yeager." And not only Shatner, but a veritable army of filmmakers likewise descend upon Riverside, including Shatner's personal "spiritual advisor" Steve, short-tempered female studio executive Max, vainglorious leading lady Gryffyn, clumsy production assistant Herb, and Shatner's body double (and favorite nephew), Tiny. As the people of Riverside open their hearts, their homes and their businesses to the visitors from Hollywood, not a single one of them suspects that the entire affair is a hoax: there is no film in production called "Invasion Iowa" -- and except for Shatner, the movie personnel are all phonies! Of course, this being Spike TV, the cruel deception is played for all it is worth (and the worth is considerable!), climaxing with the episode in which we get to savor the reactions of the locals when they find out they've been hoodwinked. Debuting March 29, 2005, Invasion Iowa ended its brief run, appropriately enough, on the first of April. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the earliest forays into TV production by former teen idol Shaun Cassidy, the weekly, hour-long supernatural drama series American Gothic debuted September 22, 1995 on CBS. Things weren't quite right in the outwardly peaceful and respectable town of Trinity in Fulton County, South Carolina. Credit (or blame) for the ominous strangeness permeating the area could be laid at the feet of malevolent sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole), who subtly held the populace in thrall, using his demonic powers for coercion, intimidation and murder. Even so, everyone considered Sheriff Buck one of nicest guys in town. . .at least, everyone who voiced no objections to dancing to the crack of his whip. Buck's deputy Ben Healy (Nick Searcy) was the only person aware of the full depth and breadth of Lucas' evil, but he was powerless to stop it. As for Buck's girlfriend, sexy schoolteacher Selena Coombs (Brenda Bakke), she somehow managed to avoid his terrible wrath despite shacking up with practically every other adult male in town--including Dr. Billy Peele (John Mese), who joined the cast mid-season to battle an epidemic in Trinity. Having disposed of teenager Merlyn Ann Temple (Sarah Paulson), Lucas Buck attempted to gain custody of the girl's younger brother Caleb (Lucas Black), whose long-suppressed family ties to Lucas would not be revealed until mid-season. But Caleb's older cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco), a crusading journalist, fought Lucas tooth and nail, and found a strong ally in the form of a stranger in town, Dr. Matt Crower (Jake Weber), who agreed to take care of Caleb himself. Incredibly, even Merlyn Ann, who'd been bumped off by Lucas early in the series, made surprise appearences to offer advice and comfort to her brother, and to steer him clear of Lucas' sinister influence. Too weird and inscrutable for the tastes of most viewers, American Gothic was put on hiatus after only seven episodes on November 3, 1995. The series was brought back on January 3, 1996, but yanked off the network again a scant five weeks later. Six of the remaining ten episodes were run off between July 3 and July 11, 1996, some of them shown out of sequence and thus confusing those viewers trying to make sense of its kinky continuity. The four untelecast episodes of American Gothic would not be generally seen until the series was released to DVD nearly a decade later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Once Upon a Texas Train offers us the once-in-a-lifetime teaming of Richard Widmark, Willie Nelson and Angie Dickinson. Nelson plays a veteran outlaw who robs a bank less than 6 hours after being paroled from jail. He uses the money to reunite his old gang, then sets about to repeat the train robbery that had gotten him arrested 20 years earlier. This time, however, Nelson is himself targetted for theft by a young, hungrier band of desperadoes. Widmark plays the lawman who caught Nelson before and intends to do so again. Written and directed by the reliable Burt Kennedy, Once Upon a Texas Train premiered January 3, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Like Normal People IS the story of a romance between two mentally challenged adults. In his first dramatic acting appearance, Shaun Cassidy plays Roger Meyers, a mildly retarded man who, while living in a home for the handicapped, falls in love with another resident, Virginia Rae Hensler (Linda Purl). Despite the fierce opposition of their parents--not to mention one of the administrators, who regards such a union as "a social obscenity"--Roger and Virginia are determined not only to marry, but to raise a family. Virtually their only ally is teacher Bill Stein (Zalman King), who formulates a stringent training program to show the couple the obstacles that they will face, and must overcome, in their future lives. Like Normal People made its ABC debut on April 13, 1979, a scant three weeks after the broadcast of the similarly themed No Other Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The eighth volume of the Hardy Boys videocassette collection consists of a 48-minute adventure, originally telecast under the title "Acapulco Spies". A strange phone call from their investigator father Fenton Hardy (Edmund Gilbert) summons Joe and Frank Hardy (Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson) to Acapulco. Upon their arrival, the boys discover that Fenton has disappeared. It soon transpires that the elder Hardy was kidnapped by an American traitor (Craig Stevens), and that a mysterious spy ring is involved. "Acapulco Spies" first aired November 13, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Hardy Boys, Part 7 was first aired over the ABC TV network as "The Mystery of the African Safari." Joe and Frank Hardy (Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson), Franklin W. Dixon's famed teenaged sleuths, are dispatched to Africa by their investigator father Fenton Hardy (Edmund Gilbert). Things get ticklish when the Hardys both fall in love with professional hunter Trevor Masters' pretty daughter Sarah (Anne Lockhart). Originally telecast October 16, 1977, "The Mystery of the African Safari" also features Peter Bromilow and Harold Sylvester. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fifth videocassette in the Hardy Boys collection was originally telecast under the title "Wipe Out." Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson star as Joe and Frank Hardy, the teen-aged detectives created back in the 1930s by Franklin W. Dixon. This time out, Joe and Frank come to Hawaii to participate in a surfing meet. Returning to their hotel room, the boys find out that they've been burglarized. It's obvious that the thieves knew exactly what they were looking for. But what was it? Shelly Novack, Titus Napoleon, James Shigeta and Bruce Gordon co-star in this 48-minute mystery, first shown as the April 24, 1977 installment of TV's weekly Hardy Boys series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hardy Boys, Part 3 consists of "The Mystery of the Flying Coulier," a 48-minute episode of TV's Hardy Boys series. Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson head the cast as teenage detectives Joe and Frank Hardy. While searching for a UFO, the boys come across a bizarre mansion with disappearing floors and rooms that change size. We suspect that Professor Desmond (David Opatoshu) is behind it all. "Mystery of the Flying Coulier" first aired March 6, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Several major changes occur during the second season of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. Whereas in season one the series maintained a alternating-week format -- with teenaged detective Joe and Frank Hardy (Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson) appearing in their own Hardy Boys Mysteries episode one week, followed the next week by 18-year-old sleuth Nancy Drew (Pamela Sue Martin) headlining her own Nancy Drew Mysteries installment -- beginning with the two-part season-two opener "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula," all three leading characters would occasionally appear together, solving the same mystery. Thus, while Joe and Frank soloed in such efforts as "The Mystery of the African Safari" and "The Acapulco Story," and Nancy would go it alone in the likes of "Nancy Drew's Love Match" and "The Lady on Thursday at Ten," the Hardy Boys and Miss Drew would combine forces in such capers as the two-part "The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom" -- which incidentally, featured cameo appearances by Robert Wagner, Jaclyn Smith, and Dennis Weaver. With the episode titled "Voodoo Doll," the two rotating series The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew officially merged into one, with the three major characters appearing together ever afterward. However, the series would do without the services of Pamela Sue Martin, who left the property in protest over having her separate series eliminated. Janet Louise Johnson takes over as Nancy in the aforementioned "Voodoo Doll," remaining with the series until Nancy Drew is completely written out at the end of season two. ~ All Movie Guide

Although the Hardy Boys books are credited to Franklin W. Dixon and the Nancy Drew mysteries are signed by Carolyn Keene, both of these children's literature properties were created by one man -- Edward R. Stratemeyer -- who, using a wide variety of pen names and a huge staff of ghost writers, churned out hundreds of "Hardy," "Drew," and similar book series from the WWI years onward. Curiously, while both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew had been adapted for films and television, the two properties never "merged" until ABC got the bright idea of creating the Sunday-evening TV series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in late 1976. In this incarnation, teen heartthrobs Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson were respectively cast as Joe and Frank Hardy, the amateur-sleuth sons of celebrated private investigator Fenton Hardy (Edmund Gilbert), while Pamela Sue Martin was seen as Nancy Drew, the bright, insatiably inquisitive daughter of criminal lawyer Carson Drew (William Schallert). In keeping with their common "parentage," The Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Nancy Drew Mysteries both found their young protagonists seeking out clues and risking their lives in order to solve baffling cases, much to the dismay and disapproval of their respective parents -- not to mention the Hardy kids' aunt Gertrude (Edith Atwater) and the Drew family's maid Bess (Ruth Cox). Joe and Frank Hardy were occasionally assisted by their school friend Callie Shaw (Lisa Eilbacher), while Nancy Drew's partners in deducing were her erstwhile beau Ned Nickerson (George O'Hanlon Jr.) and her tomboyish gal pal George Fayne (played first by Jean Rasey, then by Susan Buckner).

Debuting January 30, 1977, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was during its first season a "rotating" series, with a Hardy Boys episode one week, followed by a Nancy Drew installment the next. Beginning with season two, the Hardys and Nancy would occasionally appear in the same episode; in February of 1978, the two shows became one (albeit under the same "blanket" title), with Joe, Frank, and Nancy appearing together in every episode. At that time, Pamela Sue Martin left the series, balking at the notion of her "separate" vehicle being eliminated. Janet Louise Johnson then stepped into the role of Nancy Drew, remaining with the property until it was decided to drop Nancy altogether. Thus, though The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries officially ended in the fall of 1978, the series hung on as simply The Hardy Boys until August 26, 1979. ~ All Movie Guide