Scatman Crothers Movies

Season three of the cartoon series The Transformers opens with an elaborate five-part story (eminently suited to be "transformed" into a single two-hour TV movie), "The Five Faces of Darkness," set largely on Cybertron, home planet of the warring Autobots and Decepticons. This plotline serves to introduce a new human ally for the good-guy Autobots, Marrisa Fairborne of the Earth Defense Command. In other developments this season, the Autobots' earthling chum Spike, long married to a girl named Carly, inadvertently involves his son Daniel in the neverending Autobot-Cybertron conflict; the ghost of Decepticon Starstream goes on a relentless search for a new host body; and several new groups of characters are brought into the action, the better to sell more toys for the Hasbro company: among these are the Technobots, the Junkions, and the Quintessons. The season ends with a two-parter wherein Autobot mentor Optimus Prime, long presumed dead, makes a spectacular return in an all-out final(?) assault against the despicable Decepticons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Transformers was one of several syndicated half-hour cartoon series of the 1980s designed to promote a line of toys. In this instance, the playthings, marketed by Hasbro, were tiny robots that could be "transformed" into automotive vehicles, and vice versa. It was not for nothing that the series' theme song boasted that its characters were "more than meets the eye." Basically, the series chronicled the eons-old battle between two branches of the Transformer family: the Autobots, mentored by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, headed by Megatron. After battling for centuries on their home planet Zobitron (also known as Cybertron), the two warring factions decided to move their battleground to another world, and in the process crash-landed on a prehistoric Earth. Released from suspended animation in 2005 A.D., the good-guy Autobots (bearing such names as Inferno, Grapple, Red, and Smoke Screen) and the bad-guy Decepticons (numbering among their ranks the likes of Dirge and Thrust) resumed their conflict as though no time had passed at all. The Autobots managed to win several humans over to their side, notably earthlings Spike and Sparkplug, and, when the battle returned to the Autobots' home planet, Marrisa Fairborne of the Earth Defense Command. Although the animation was mediocre, The Transformers boasted excellent writing and story values, thanks to the input of such fantastic-fiction specialists as Donald F. Glut and Marv Wolfman. Also, the writers did a nice job weaving the Hasbro-licensed characters into the action, rather than have them merely show up as walking and talking advertisements. Debuting in daily "strip" syndication in September of 1984, the series remained in active production for three years. After its syndicated run, The Transformers was rebroadcast by cable's Sci-Fi Channel from 1992 to 1997. The series has also spawned a number of sequels, among them Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and several Japanese anime versions of the property, released in the U.S. under such titles as Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Transformers Armada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Once again, Jim (Christopher Lloyd) has been carried to extremes by his latest enthusiasm. In this instance, Jim is obsessed with notion that, in order to experience full happiness, one must be generous with those less fortunate than themselves. Thus, Jim hands each of his fellow cabbies 1000 dollars -- on the condition that they immediately give it away. Busy character actor Tracey Walter has a small role in this, the final Taxi episode filmed (though not the final one to be shown). ~ All Movie Guide

Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Caine (Jose Ferrer) gives Magnum (Tom Selleck) 24 hours to locate the woman Caine married in Honolulu on December 6, 1941, when he was a Navy ensign and she was a prostitute. Someone is blackmailing the Judge, and he thinks that the long-lost (and presumed dead) "Diana" is responsible. But when Magnum catches up with the woman (June Lockhart) matching Diana's description, she gives him an entirely different story--one that casts some decidedly sinister aspersions on Magnum's client. In a brilliant piece of casting, Miguel Ferrer and Anne Lockhart, respectively the son and daughter of guest stars Jose Ferrer and June Lockhart, portray their parents' characters in a lengthy flashback sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) are still trying to solve a murder while hurtling towards Canada on the Moosejaw Express. The girls have been warned to "beware the bald man"--who has apparently already caught up with them and poisoned their food. Meanwhile, stowaways Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) hope against hope to rescue the girls in the nick of time, but unfortunately they're a little tied up at the moment! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this film, the whereabouts of a runaway teenage girl are sought by a Las Vegas detective (Robert Urich), whose investigation uncovers more than he bargained for. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Season Three of the Freddie Prinze sitcom Chico and the Man begins with a two-part episode, as Ed Brown (Jack Albertson), curmudgeonly owner of a barrio garage and the employer of lovable Latino Chico Rodriguez (Prinze, of course), discovers to his dismay that his new landlady is his old enemy Helen Rogers, the woman who'd committed the unforgivable sin of converting Ed's late wife from a Republican to a Democrat. Della Rogers is played by new series regular Della Reese, who'd been seen the previous season as a long-suffering judge in the episode "The Juror". In addition to her landlady duties, Della Rogers also runs a mobile snack wagon, thereby setting up several situations whereby the resourceful Chico tries to cadge a free meal. In another new development, retired letter carrier Louie Wilson (Scatman Crothers) is also working in Ed's garage. Guest stars this season include Dick Van Dyke Show veteran Rose Marie in the episode "Ready When You Are, CB" (the title refers not to DeMille but to the then-current CB radio craze); onetime matinee idol Cesar Romero as Chico's long-lost father in "Chico's Padre"; deadpan comedian George Gobel in "Louie's CanCan"; and perennial western sidekick Pat Buttram in "Gregory Peck is a Rooster." The third-season episode that garnered the fewest audience laughs when it originally aired on NBC was "Champs Ain't Chumps". Not that this episode was any less hilarious than its predecessors, merely that it was first telecast on January 28, 1977--one day after the suicide of 22-year-old Freddie Prinze. This devastating tragedy would have seemed to spell the end of Chico and the Man, but both NBC and producer James Komack were grimly determined to keep the franchise alive--and to that end filmed an episode in which a new and entirely different "Chico" was introduced in the form of 12-year-old newcomer Gabriel Melgar. That episode, however, would not be aired until Chico and the Man returned for its fourth and final season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Man on the Outside was the pilot film for the weekly ABC TV series Griff. Lorne Greene stars as retired police captain Wade "Griff" Griffin, who is galvanized back into active duty when his police-officer son is murdered before his eyes, and his grandson is kidnapped by a mob functionary. None of the supporting cast of the subsequent series (Ben Murphy, Patricia Stich, Vic Tayback, et al.) was seen in this pilot episode; instead, future Jaws costar Lorraine Gary, cast as Griff's daughter-in-law, acted as his assistant. Curiously, Man on the Outside did not air until June 29, 1975, a full year and a half after the cancellation of Griff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season One of Chico and the Man begins as crotchety garage owner Ed Brown (Jack Albertson), the last remaing WASP in a predominately Mexican-American neighborhood of Los Angeles, begrudgingly hires affable Hispanic youth Chico Rodriguez (Freddie Prinze) as a mechanic and Jack-of-all-trades. Although Ed is bigoted, abrasive, and stingy, lovable Chico is able to discern that the old guy is a sweetheart deep down inside, and the two men become friends--or at least, they don't try to kill each other. During the first-season episodes, Scatman Crothers makes regular drop-ins to Ed's garage in the role of neighborhood garbage collector Louie Wilson ("I'm the man who empties your can"). Less frequently seen are Bonnie Boland as letter carieer Mabel, Isaac Ruiz as Chico's friend and confidante Mando, and Rodolfo Hoyos as Ed's old buddy and verbal sparring partner Rudy. Guest stars this season include Jim Backus as a philandering husband in "The Beard", Shelley Winters as a predatory widow in "Ed Steps Out", and Sammy Davis Jr. as Himself in "Sammy Steps In." Thanks largely to Freddie Prinze's bottomless reserve of comic catchphrases ("Looking gooood!") and his warm rapport with costar Jack Albertson, Chico and the Man proved an audience favorite from the get-go, closing out its first season as America's third highest-rated TV program (only All in the Family and Sanford and Son attracted more viewers). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by James Komack (Welcome Back, Kotter), the weekly, half-hour NBC sitcom Chico and the Man was built around the talents of 20-year-old standup comedian Freddie Prinze, who had scored a sensation during his first appearance on The Tonight Show. Born in the LA barrio, the "Hugarican" (Hungarian-Puerto Rican) Prinze based his comedy act upon the eccentricities of various ethnic groups, peppering his routines with such catchphrases as "Looking Goooood" and "Is not MY job!" Cashing in on Prinze's gift for dialects and his inherent likability, producer Komack cast him as Chico Rodriguez, a flamboyant, good-hearted Latino youth who sweet-talked his way into a mechanic's job in the garage owned by crusty Ed Brown, the only Anglo-Saxon in a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood. To help teach Prinze the pacing and rhythm of TV situation comedy, Komack cast Jack Albertson, veteran vaudevillian and Oscar-winning film actor, as Ed Brown. Despite old Ed's grouchiness and disdainful opinion of anyone who spoke with an accent and wasn't lily-white, Chico knew deep down that his boss had a heart of gold--and, of course, he was right. Even before the series debuted on September 13, 1974, Chico and the Man was under fire from several prominent Chicano organizations, who complained that, although Ed's garage was supposed to be in an Mexican-American area, there were no Mexicans in the cast or on the crew. This was quickly remedied when Komack hired two semi-regulars of Mexican descent: Rodolfo Hoyos as Ed's buddy Rudy and (Isaac Ruiz) as Chico's pal Mondo. Also, certain pressure groups complained that the name "Chico" was considered derogatory in many Chicano circles, resulting in a number of hastily added closeups in which Chico Rodriguez explained his true ethnic heritage and the "harmless" origin of his nickname. Finally, the writers were chastised for Ed Brown's occasional racial slurs, and as result such lines as "Get outta here--and take your flies with you" were carefully weeded out of late scripts. Eventually, a handful of African American organizations chimed in with their casting "suggestions", but Komack beat them to the punch by hiring veteran black showman Scatman Crothers to play affable neighborhood garbage collector Louie Wilson. During the second season, only Prinze, Albertson and Crothers remained of the original cast; added to the lineup was Ronny Graham as Reverend Bemis. Season three began with a two-parter introducing Della Reese as Della Rogers, an old "friendly enemy" of Ed Brown's who'd become his landlady. Things proceeded along smoothly thereafter until tragedy struck on January 27, 1977, when Freddie Prinze, who despite his "carefree" TV persona suffered from a variety of personal problems, committed suicide. Since Prinze had already taped most of the season's episodes, his death would not be addressed on the show until the beginning of Season Four (surprisingly those media pundits who assumed that, without Chico, there would be no Season Four for Chico and the Man!) At that time, Ed Brown adopted an 11-year-old Mexican orphan named Raul Garcia (played by 12-year-old Gabriel Melgar), who'd stowed away in Ed's car when he and his pal Louie had gone on a south-of-the-border fishing trip. Conveniently enough, Raul preferred to be called "Chico", enabling the series to retain its title. But audiences, already depressed by the devastating loss of Freddie Prinze, did not warm up to the Ed-Raul combination, nor did the addition to the cast of flamboyant entertainer Charo as Raul's eccentric Aunt Charo help matters any. The final episode of Chico and the Man was telecast on July 21, 1978. Throughout its run, the series had been introduced by a lively theme song, written and performed by Jose Feliciano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Much against the wishes of Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr), Mark (Don Mitchell) goes undercover to smash an extortion ring preying on ghetto dwellers. It's a personal crusade for Mark: one of the ring's victims is his friend Gilbert, who is forced to pay huge sums of money each week lest harm befall his mother. This episode was cowritten by frequent Ironside guest star Felton Perry, who also appears as Gilbert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide