Sarah Chalke

Jeff Daniels, Jon Heder, and Diane Keaton star in director Tim Hamilton's domestic comedy concerning a slacker who finds his status as man of the house challenged when his single mother begins dating a self-help guru. As the influence of youth gradually gives way to the wisdom of age, the stage is set for a confrontation from which only one side can emerge victorious. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

By this time a key element of NBC's Thursday-night sitcom lineup, Scrubs launches its sixth season as protagonist/narrator J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff), an attending physician at Sacred Heart Hospital, learns to his astonishment that his urologist girlfriend Dr. Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks) is pregnant. Also in "a family way" this season is nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), impregnated by Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), and Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller), ex-wife of Sacred Heart's long-suffering chief of surgery Perry Cox (John C. McGinley). In fact, virtually the only principal female character who isn't pregnant is the hapless Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), who's miserable about her non-preggie status. This year's plot developments include Elliot's desire to go into private practice, whereupon she is mercilessly needled by Dr. Cox, who at one juncture begins acting exactly like the antihero of the TV medical drama House; a curious malady which causes J.D. to black out at inconvenient times; the unfortunately-not-permanent vacation of J.D.'s nemesis The Janitor (Neil Flynn); the sudden departure of Sacred Heart's resident gossip Nurse Laverne Roberts (Aloma Wright); and a touching story arc involving an Iraq war veteran (Michael Weston). Other choice moments include an impromptu musical comedy inspired by a patient (played by Broadway actress Stephanie D'Abruzzo); the change-of-pace episodes His Story IV, narrated by Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), and "Their Story," with the narration chores shared by Sacred Heart's lawyer Ted (Sam Lloyd), sex-obsessed doctor Todd (Robert Maschio), and Jordan Sullivan; and the guest appearance of Keri Russell as Elliot's freewheeling sorority sister. In the events leading up to the season finale, Elliot becomes engaged to mild-mannered resident Keith Dudemeister (Travis Schuldt), causing J.D. to have second thoughts about breaking up with Elliot -- even as he prepares to move in with Kim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A single and freewheeling travel writer finds that adapting to the nine-to-five lifestyle isn't as easy as it looks when her ailing father hires her to take control of his successful bridal magazine in this marriage-minded comedy starring Heather Graham, David Sutcliffe, Sandra Oh, and Taye Diggs. Upon returning to her hometown to once again be a bridesmaid in yet another wedding, jet-lagged, gin-soaked travel writer Pippa McGee (raham) soon learns that her tyrannical publishing magnate father has been hospitalized after suffering a serious heart attack. As Pippa rushes to his bedside and the ailing mogul asks her to take editorial control of one of his most popular magazines, her excitement soon turns sour upon learning that the magazine in question is not a political or travel magazine, but the one and only Wedding Bells monthly. Determined to succeed despite the constant reminders of just how single she truly is, Pippa is horrified to learn that the man her father has chosen as her publishing mentor is the same man that she drunkenly came on to at her close friend's recent wedding. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Series star Zach Braff begins double duty as actor (in the role of young Dr. J.D. Dorian) and director during the fourth season of the NBC hospital "dramedy" Scrubs. In addition to such familiar series regulars as Donald Faison (Dr. Chris Turk), Sarah Chalke (Dr. Elliott Reid), Judy Reyes (Nurse Carla Espinosa), Ken Jenkins (Dr. Bob Kelso), and John C. McGinley (Dr. Perry Cox), season four marks the first of several appearances by Heather Graham as the maddeningly eccentric Dr. Molly Clock, a pyschologist at Sacred Heart Hospital. Also seen this season is former ER star Julianna Margulies as malpractice attorney Neena Broderick, who launches into an affair with J.D. even as she takes Turk apart in court; and Matthew Perry and Colin Farrell, both cast as seriously weird characters. Noteworthy plot developments include J.D.'s brief romance with a girl named Kylie (Chrystee Pharris), kindled after J.D. treats her then-boyfriend for gonorrhea; the ongoing mental torment visited upon J.D. by the hospital's increasingly bizarre janitor (Neil Flynn); and Turk's discovery that he has Type II diabetes. Arguably the season's most memorable episode is "My Life in Four Cameras," in which J.D. fills a former Cheers writer in on life at Sacred Heart Hospital -- while the action plays out in "traditional" sitcom fashion in front of a live studio audience! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second season of Scrubs opens as the various staffers try to come to grips with surprising season-one revelations. Meanwhile, in his characteristically demonic fashion, chief of medicine Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) deliberately steps up the competition amongst the younger staffers of Sacred Heart Hospital, putting a strain on the friendship between doctors J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison). As for sexy Dr. Elliott Reid (Sarah Chalke), she hasn't much time to pursue her romance with J.D., owing to a problem involving her living arrangements...or lack of same. In a later development, Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller), the ex-wife of bombastic veteran doctor Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), reveals that she's pregnant, which serves only to make Dr. Cox even more ballistic than usual. And near the end of the season, Turk plans to propose to nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), only to lose the engagement ring in a patient's digestive system! Appearing as guest stars this season are three veterans of Scrubs producer Bill Lawrence's first hit sitcom, Spin City: Heather Locklear (as toothsome pharmaceutical sales rep Julie Keaton, who has a fling with Dr. Cox), Richard Kind, and Alan Ruck. Also on hand are John Ritter, who plays J.D.'s dad; Ed star Thomas Cavanaugh, cast as J.D.'s near-lookalike brother Dan; D.L. Hughley as Turk's brother Kevin; Dick Van Dyke as a brilliant but enfeebled surgeon whom Kelso hasn't the heart to fire; Rick Schroder as a "murse" -- male nurse -- whom Elliott briefly falls for; and Jay Mohr as a former student of Dr. Cox, who knows a little too much about his mentor for his own good. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As the dawn of the year 2000 rolls around, a nervous military leader (Malcolm McDowell) assembles a team to help him deal with an unforeseen problem. In the early 1960s, the CIA hid a stash of nuclear weapons in a secret base in the Colombian jungle, and the aging computer system that governs it will set things off soon if someone doesn't find a way to let it know the proper date. A high-ranking CIA agent (Ed O'Ross), a decorated military veteran who helped design the facility (Louis Gossett Jr.), a beautiful former agent of the KGB (Sarah Chalke), and a computer expert well versed in debugging systems for Y2K (Jaimz Woolvett) are dispatched to deal with the crisis, but it turns out that one of the party isn't so sure about seeing the system made safe. If you're reading this after Jan. 1, 2000, chances are good that everyone got the millennium bug worked out in time. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Strange happenings occur when California teenager Sarah (Sarah Chalke) and her mother Rosemary (Markie Post) relocate to the small New England town of Pinecrest. It seems that Sarah shares the same name with a notorious witch who'd been burned at the stake three centuries earlier. Before her death, the "original" Sarah had vowed to get even with all the descendants of the people who persecuted her. A group of snotty high schoolers who've formed The Descendants' Club decide to give the hapless Sarah a very, very hard time -- but the fun is over when, while posing as a fortuneteller at a Halloween party, Sarah discovers that she possesses genuine psychic powers, and foresees a series of disasters that foment a frenzy of mass hysteria in the tiny community. Also tossed into this witches' brew is a mentally challenged serial killer, decked out in a Mike Myers-style mask. Adapted (and heavily laundered) from Lois Duncan's novel Gallows Hill, the made-for-TV I've Been Waiting for You debuted over NBC on March 22, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This fact-based TV movie stars John Ritter as Ed Chandler, whose life is torn asunder when his daughter Missy (Anna Chlumsky) is diagnosed with cancer. The nature of Missy's illness obliges Ed to spend many hours away from his job as a car salesman to commiserate with her daughter's doctors at the hospital. Then one day, Ed shows up at work to be coldly informed that he has been fired--and there is no one to whom he can go to plead his case. The plight of the Chandler family ultimately leads to the creation of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows persons up to six weeks' leave from their jobs when their family members are suffering from serious illnesses. Telecast by CBS on January 21, 1997, Child's Wish (cable title: Fighting for Justice made headlines when it first aired because of the appearance of President Bill Clinton in the final scene--the first time that a sitting President ever starred as "himself" in a dramatic film (as well as the first such scene to be lensed on location in the Oval Office!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anne Scripps (Roxanne Hart) is the divorced mother of two teenage girls and the heir to the Scripps family fortune. Daughters Alex (Holly Marie Combs) and younger sister Annie (Sarah Chalke) are very close to their mother. When their mom becomes involved with Scott Douglas (James Wilder) the sisters question the relationship between their refined, elegant and educated mother to the surly blue-collar worker nine years her junior. After the couple marries, younger sister Victoria is born. Now having a heir to the family fortune, Scott becomes outwardly hostile towards the girls and abusive towards his wife. Alex does everything she can to help her mother, who is in denial over her abusive treatment. Anne talks to a therapist in an effort to save the troubled marriage. Annie and Alex contact the police when their mother's dead body is found in a running car on the Tapping Zee Bridge, the victim of a crushed skull. The search immediately goes out for the main suspect, her husband Scott. This made-for-TV movie debuted on July 16, 1997 on the USA Network. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this modestly suspenseful backwoods thriller, a hostage situation turns an ordinary mom into a fearsome huntress, thereby bringing her family together. Set in a heavily forested part of the Oregon coast, the tale of terror begins when a quartet of desperate bank robbers botch their escape and end up taking a young boy (Brendan Fletcher) hostage. His mother (Stephanie Zimbalist) and sister (Sarah Chalke) were saved from capture when the mother drove their car into frozen water. The crooks hightail it to the deep forest where they force the boy, who is experienced in wilderness survival and navigation like his mother, to locate a remote airstrip. Meanwhile, the angry mother grabs her trusty bow and sets out to find her endangered son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Season seven opens with Roseanne announcing her pregnancy, which later becomes medically complicated. Darlene and David break up and Roseanne tells Darlene she can't go back to school. Meanwhile, David still lives in the Conner family house, causing increasing tensions between him and Mark, which leads to an even bigger fight between Darlene and Becky. Eventually, Mark and Becky move out of the house and into a trailer. Darlene gets a new boyfriend (Danny Masterson), and David shows an interest in a couple of girls (Lisa Rieffel, Traci Lords). However, they get back together toward the end of the season when Darlene reluctantly confesses her true feelings to him on the front porch. This season contains two really memorable episodes: "All About Rosey" is the hour-long clip show featuring classic sitcom moms and the season finale, "Sherwood Schwartz," is a hilarious tribute to the legendary television writer/producer and his magical creation Gilligan's Island. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide