Mark Withers Movies
- 2001
Yes, it's a day in May, and a very busy one for the Frasier gang. First off, Daphne (Jane Leeves) befriends a dog lover named Jim (Tom Verica), which makes Niles (David Hyde Pierce) jealous. Second, the caustic Lana (Jean Smart) suddenly warms up to Frasier (David Hyde Pierce). And finally, Martin (John Mahoney) is unexpectedly reunited with the person who brought about the injury that caused him to retire from the Force. This episode originally aired back-to-back with "Cranes Go Caribbean" as Frasier's eighth-season finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The death of a close friend sends a troubles soul on a rampage in this psychological drama. L.J. (Mark Withers) is a struggling actor who moved to Hollywood from Nashville in hopes of making a name for himself in television or the movies. However, things have not gone well for him and he's become even more lonely and emotionally on edge than he was before he left. When L.J.'s best friend dies, his psyche begins to unravel and he heads back to Nashville for a while. En route, L.J.'s long-dormant memories about his abusive childhood rise to the surface and when he sees his family, he decides it's time he got revenge for the scars of his past. Southern Man also features Ellia Viertling, Jesse Head, Leigh Rose, and Jason Stuart. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Withers
- 1986
Alex: The Life of a Child is based on the true story of Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford and his dying 8-year-old daughter Alex. Craig T. Nelson plays Deford and Gennie James is Alex, both of whom come to grips in different ways with Alex's fatal cystic fibrosis. A subplot involves the torment of Deford's wife (Bonnie Bedelia), who wonders whether she should adopt a child after Alex's death in 1980. Alex: The Life of a Child is effective, but not as well made as its subject matter deserves. Better examples of this particular TV-movie genre include Death be Not Proud (75), based on author John Gunther's recollections of his son's struggle against a degenerative brain tumor, and Mary White (77) the story of a personal tragedy in the life of Kansas journalist William Allen White. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
When private eye Joe Ellis is killed while investigating a San Francisco suicide, Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) travel to the City by the Bay in hopes of solving the murder. Entering the jurisdication of Frisco police detective Valerie Foster (Laura Johnson), Rick and DeeDee meet Casey Hendricks (Philece Sampler), who accuses Ellis' son (and Casey's stepson) David (Mark Winters) of committing the crime. But when David himself turns up dead, it becomes painfully obvious that a hitherto unsuspected third party is the real culprit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
First shot as "Up the Pentagon," this comedy is about a sexy worker who shuns the quick-handed advances of her Pentagon boss and gets fired. To pay him back for her unjust dismissal, she and two other gals manipulate their way back into Pentagon jobs and go about setting up a bunch of top-level male lechers for early unscheduled retirements. This is a lady-payback type film with plenty of dirty talk, but not much else. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Dusenberry, Rhonda Shear, (more)
- 1984
First offered as an ABC Theatre presentation on January 9, 1984, Something About Amelia stars Ted Danson in an "against type" role to end them all. Danson is the well-to-do, loving husband of Glenn Close, and the doting father of teenager Roxanne Zal. Zal's mother can't understand why the girl has been depressed and withdrawn of late. It takes a session with her school guidance counselor to get Zalto admit the source of her depression: Her father has had sexual relations with her. Zal's mother goes through the expected anger and denial upon hearing this news....but the girl is, alas, telling the truth. Wisely, scriptwriter William Hanley does not present Ted Danson's character as a monster, despite the monstrosity of his behavior. The point of the drama is that incest is not exclusively the dominion of lower-class, poorly educated, abusive parents--and that it is tragically possible for even the most "mature" of grownups to confuse love with sex. Dismissed by an otherwise perceptive TV movie critic as merely "typical," Something About Amelia chalked up one of the highest-ever ratings for a TV movie, and won a well-deserved Emmy for young Roxanne Zal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Glenn Close, (more)
- 1982
Taking over the Boars' Nest, a team of armed robbers take everyone in the establishment hostage, then post a fake evacuation notice to clear the rest of town. The crooks' plan is to heist an armored truck, and they don't plan to leave any witnesses behind. If they want to save their collective hides, captives Jesse Duke (Denver Pyle) and Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) must forget their feud long enough to formulate a plan of escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Magnum (Tom Selleck) wakes up in a hospital bed suffering from injuries apparently sustained in a spectacular car crash involving Robin Master's beloved Ferrari. He is also suffering from amnesia, and can remember nothing about the case he was working on: the search for a missing girl. The situation gets worse when the girl turns up murdered--and Magnum's Detroit Tigers baseball cap is found alongside her body. Kwan Hi Lim makes his first series appearance as Police Lieutenant Tanaka. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story is a surfacy TV-movie rehash of the same real-life events which inspired the 1980 theatrical feature Star 80. Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Dorothy Stratten, here depicted as an ingenuous, highly vulnerable Canadian girl who aspires to show business stardom. Decked out with a generous toupee, Bruce Weitz co-stars as Paul Snyder, the "fringie" who married Dorothy and managed her career. The girl is discovered by Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, who features Dorothy in a nude foldout spread. As Dorothy's fame grows, Snyder becomes more obsessive and difficult to control. Dorothy tries to make a clean break from Snyder, which culminates in tragedy. Death of a Centerfold initially aired on November 1, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
