Ted Danson Movies
The son of a prominent archaeologist/museum director, American actor Ted Danson grew up near the Navajo reservation in Arizona. He played basketball while at Kent School Connecticut, and then moved on to Stanford University. It was in the process of getting acquainted with an aspiring actress at Stanford that Danson found himself attending his first audition-- and by years' end had transferred to the drama department at Carnegie Tech. Marking time in non-speaking roles, Danson left the stage for the more lucrative world of TV commercials, some of which have been well-circulated on videotape since Danson has become famous. Danson's first steady TV work was as a slimy villain on the NBC soap opera Somerset. Shortly afterward, the actor attained his first film role, as a murdered cop, in The Onion Field (1978). After seeing Danson in the movie Body Heat (1981) and in an episode of the TV series Taxi, producer Glen Charles cast the actor as Sam Malone, ex-sports star and full-time barkeeper and womanizer, on the long-running, well-loved sitcom Cheers He won Emmys for the 1989-90 and 1992-93 seasons. Frequently making attempts at film stardom during the 11-season run of Cheers, Danson finally struck gold in Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its sequel Three Men and a Little Lady (1990). Danson's most recent work includes the 1996 starring role in the TV miniseries Gulliver's Travels and a co-starring role, opposite his new wife Mary Steenburgen, in the television sit-com Ink (also 1996). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season 2 follows cutthroat legal do-gooder Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) as she goes after the murderous CEO of a rapacious energy company, while Patty's no-longer-naive associate Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) goes after her because she thinks Patty tried to have her killed. Guiding Ellen in this effort are two FBI agents (Mario Van Peebles, Glenn Kessler) out to entrap Patty in a bribery scheme. Two of the ways they try to get to her are through her second-in-command, Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan), and Uncle Pete (Tom Aldredge), her Mr. Fix-it (with no questions asked). Meanwhile, Ellen meets a sympathetic, if secretive man named Wes Krulik (Timothy Olyphant) at a grief-counseling session, and they're immediately attracted to each other. What Ellen doesn't know is Wes has ties to Rick Messer (David Costabile), the rogue cop Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) hired in Season 1 to murder her fiancé. As for Frobisher, Patty's first-season target, he's now her uneasy ally in her effort to take down Walter Kendrick (John Doman), the CEO of Ultima National Resources. Kendrick is accused by scientist Daniel Purcell (William Hurt) of knowingly polluting land around a UNR facility in West Virginia. Purcell's wife is soon murdered and he's charged with the crime. As it happens, Purcell once had an affair with Patty but now he's secretly seeing Kendrick's lawyer, Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden). Patty's husband, Phil (Michael Nouri), who's having an affair as well, gets mixed up in the UNR affair when he's offered the post of U.S. energy secretary. Working for Kendrick are math whiz Finn Garrity (Kevin Corrigan), a cocaine-snorting, price-rigging energy trader, and the Deacon (Darrell Hammond), whose dirty work is less cerebral. ~ Paul Droesch, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, (more)
A woman who was used to the finer things in life is suddenly thrust back into the work force after her husband gets downsized in writer/director Callie Khouri's (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) American adaptation of the hit British comedy Hot Money. Faced with the prospect of losing her home as her debt begins to mount, posh housewife Bridget (Diane Keaton) accepts a job on the midnight cleaning crew at a local branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. When the growing temptation of the cash that surrounds her night after night ultimately proves too powerful to resist, Bridget teams with two of the other cleaners for a criminal exercise in creative moneymaking. Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes co-star in a crime comedy inspired by actual events. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, (more)
Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith makes her feature directorial debut with this drama about a tormented businessman (Jason Clarke) whose life crumbles to ruins when he meets a free spirited temptress (Paz Vega) who lures him towards a dangerous existence of reckless abandon. Ted Danson and Idris Elba co-star in a film penned by director Pinkett-Smith, and executive produced by her husband Will Smith. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Clarke, Paz Vega, (more)
- 2008
- NR
- Add The End of the Line to Queue
As the world's demand for fish and other seafood increases and the technology available to commercial fisherman becomes more sophisticated, the annual harvest from global seaports has grown tremendously in recent years. However, the rise of industrialized fishing has not come without consequences, and many environmentalists and oceanographers believe that the current demand for fish and the methods used to fulfill it are taking an irreparable toll on the world's oceans, with some speculating that the seas could be literally fished-out by 2048 if current trends do not change. Filmmaker Rupert Murray offers an in-depth look at the crisis in the world's oceans in the documentary End of the Line, in which experts discuss some of the key factors behind the looming shortage -- increased demand for endangered species, irresponsible methods employed by major fishing lines, lax enforcement of current regulations -- and what can be done to head off the famine before it's too late. End of the Line was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A young man's moment of triumph is spoiled when he gets kidnapped before he can impress his father in this black comedy. Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman), a well-respected scientist, has learned that he's won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which is a mixed blessing for his friends and family; while Eli's ego is a bit strong under the best of circumstances, this affirmation of his talent and intelligence has made him insufferable. Eli's wife, Sarah (Mary Steenburgen), a talented forensic psychiatrist, is more than annoyed by Eli's fondness for extramarital affairs (and lack of concern about hiding them), while his son, Barkley (Bryan Greenberg), has spent much of his life struggling to live up to his dad's expectations, with little success. Barkley is about to receive his Ph.D, just in time for his father's prize ceremony, when he's abducted by a pair of hapless crooks. The kidnappers demand Eli's two-million-dollar Nobel honorarium in exchange for Barkley's safe return. Also starring Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito, Eliza Dushku, and Shawn Hatosy, Nobel Son received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenberg, (more)
Season 1 of this dense and time-tangled Glenn Close legal thriller begins with a flash-forward: %Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), a brilliant and, at that moment, very bedraggled Manhattan lawyer, has just discovered the bludgeoned body of her fiancé, medical resident David Connor (Noah Bean). An attempt on Ellen's life is made as well, and both attacks stem from her association with Patty Hewes (Close), a power litigator who uses devilish tactics to fight on the side of angels. Six months prior to David's death, Ellen joins Hewes & Associates to work on a class-action suit brought by former employees of Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), a corporate shark whom they accuse of selling his company---and their pensions---out from under them. As it happens, David's sister Katie (Anastasia Griffith), a talented young chef, catered a Frobisher event in Florida the night before he dumped his company's stock. Katie also had a fling that night with waiter Gregory Malina (Peter Facinelli), who is later befriended by Frobisher's lawyer, Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek), whose folksy Southern charm masks demons. As the Frobisher case plays out over the season, Ellen is arrested for David's murder; Patty's loyal No. 2 at the firm, Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan), struggles to emerge from under her shadow; and a number of characters emerge from the shadows, notably "Uncle Pete" McKee (Tom Aldredge), Patty's avuncular Mr. Fix-it (and her actual uncle), George Moore (Peter Riegert), a former SEC official with ties to Frobisher, and freelancing NYPD detective Rick Messer (David Costabile). ~ Paul Droesch, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, (more)
- 2006
Sitcom veteran Ted Danson starred in this 30-minute ABC series, characterized by more than one critic as an edgier, up-to-date Bob Newhart Show. This time, Danson was seen as outwardly cool, calm, and collected psychotherapist Dr. Bill Hoffman, who conducted a weekly therapy session with a group of truly messed-up people. So beneficial was Dr. Bill's advice to his charges that it was just as well they had no inkling about his own chaotic private life, in which he continued to moon over his ex-wife (a recurring character played by Jane Kaczmarek) and brood over the fact that his restless daughter, Sasha (Lindsay Sloane), was carrying on with a much-older man. Dr. Bill's patients included Darlene (Darlene Hunt), whose nymphomania was but one of many hang-ups; Michael (Jere Burns), who had serious issues with anger; Dave (Charlie Finn), an office worker and would-be suicide who was inept at both pursuits; and Inger (Suzy Nakamura), who was bereft of all forms of basic social graces. Help Me Help You first hung up its shingle on September 26, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Charlie Finn, (more)
Based on the book by Newsweek senior editor David France, the made-for-cable Our Fathers dramatizes the pedophilia scandal that literally tore apart the Catholic Diocese of Boston. The story is set in motion when the Boston Globe gets wind of a determined effort by lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (Ted Danson) to get belated justice for his client Angelo DeFranco (Daniel Baldwin), who as a youngster was repeatedly abused sexually by Father John Geoghan (Steve Shaw). Several of Angelo's contemporaries had previously come forth with stories of Father Geoghan's misdeeds, and the similar outrages of other priests, but they had made the error of complaining to the head of the Boston Diocese, the arrogant Cardinal Bernard Law (Christopher Plummer), who turned a deaf ear to the claims and in some cases went so far as to tell the complainants that they, and not the priests, were somehow to blame. All the while, Law and his colleagues covered up the scandal through a series of covert transfers of the offending priests, allowing the perpetrators to continue their sexual activities with shocking impunity. The film also details a number of related subplots, including the plight of Mary Ryan (Ellen Burstyn), all of whose seven sons suffered from the priests' abuse, and Father Spagnolia (Brian Dennehy), who dared to attack Law's handling of the scandal from his pulpit -- only to have the sexual skeletons in his own closet revealed. Our Fathers made its Showtime cable debut on May 21, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A man down on his luck hatches a different kind of get-rich-quick scheme in this independent comedy. Andy Sargentee (Jeff Bridges) is a middle-aged divorcé who is down in the dumps after the departure of his wife, Thelma (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and son, Billy (Alex D. Linz). The fact that Thelma's new hubby is quite wealthy only makes things more troubling for Andy, and he keeps thinking that if he had more money he could be back in her good graces. One night, while knocking back drinks with his friends, Andy has a brainstorm -- pornography is big business these days, so why not round up the local talent and make an adult movie? Andy persuades his friend Barney (Tim Blake Nelson) to sign on as co-producer, and they start putting together a crew, including Emmett (Patrick Fugit), a kid with a video camera who becomes director of photography, Otis (William Fichtner), who volunteers to be the gofer who doesn't really do anything, and as director a guy known only by his nickname, Some Idiot (Joe Pantoliano). Casting proves to be a bit more problematic, especially after they discover that Moose (Ted Danson), who has been cast in the male lead, may be gay when he repeatedly fails to rise to the occasion. The Amateurs also stars Lauren Graham, Valerie Perrine, and Glenne Headly as some of the local women drafted into appearing in the movie; the picture was released in the United Kingdom under the title The Moguls. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, (more)
Inspired by the true-life tale of a dedicated elementary-school teacher who inspired his inner-city students by teaching them the game of chess, Allen Hughes' uplifting made for television feature marks a noted departure from such previous efforts as From Hell and Menace II Society. Richard Mason (Ted Danson) was middle-aged and unemployed when he decided to take up teaching inner-city students, and though most of the kids in his classroom couldn't have cared less about their education in the beginning, something curious happened as time went on. Realizing that he wasn't getting very far with his students through conventional means, Richard realized that he would have to innovate in order to encourage critical thinking among the impressionable youngsters. By breaking the curriculum and instead teaching his pupils the finer points of chess, the man who had once lost all motivation in life suddenly realizes just what a difference one teacher can make if they simply become more attuned to the needs of their students. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Malcolm David Kelley, (more)
- 2005
- Add The Untold Secrets of Television's Greatest Hits to QueueAdd The Untold Secrets of Television's Greatest Hits to top of Queue
The Untold Secrets of Television's Greatest Hits offers stories about the productions of eight famous programs. Among the shows discussed are Cheers, L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, he Addams Family, The Munsters, and I Love Lucy. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2004
The made-for-TV It Must be Love is based on "Rediscovered Love", a chapter in Meant to Be, a book by marital-advice columnists Barry Vissell and Joyce Vissell. Both film and chapter were inspired by the true story of Nancy and Leo Whitmore, a divorce-bound couple who learned the hard way how to truly appreciate their life together--and to truly appreciate life itself--when they trapped in a snowbound camper for a month. As adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart), the film stars real-life married couple Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen as George and Clem Gazelle, who labor under the misapprehension that just because they are being "amicable" and "civilized" about their impending divorce, their split-up will be a happy one with no unpleasant side effects for their children. All this changes when George and Clem are trapped in their camper by a freak Main snowstorm. As they hope and pray for rescue, the couple begins to ponder the reasons for their breakup, and wonder if perhaps they should have given their marriage a second chance. As the days turn into weeks, and despite their ever-diminishing health, the Gazelles carry on lively domestic debates in their "Divorce Camper", concluding at last that if they must die (which may indeed happen at any moment), they would much rather die together than apart. One of the highest-rated TV movies of its year, It Must Be Love was seen February 15, 2004, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The show business comedy Fronterz concerns three struggling actors who grow disenchanted with their profession after seeing so many rappers without any acting experience winning major roles. They decide to start their own rap act, the Large Money Mercenaries, and invent fake personalities to fit. Soon they are skyrocketing to fame, but leading double lives produces serious problems for each member of the trio. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reno Wilson, Dennis Pressey, (more)
- 2004
Larry (Larry David) visits his dentist, Len Funkhouser (Saul Rubinek), who insists on rolling up Larry's sleeve to inject a sedative, causing Larry's cuff to lose its elasticity. Larry plans to attend the reception for Len's uncle Leo (Lou Cutell), who is suffering from Hodgkin's disease. Len naturally objects when Larry refers to it as "the 'good' Hodgkins." Jeff (Jeff Garlin) and Susie (Susie Essman) invite everyone to dinner, where many things go wrong. Larry gets into a tiff with the Russian cousin of the Funkhousers (Boris Krutonog), who asks to try on his glasses. Susie sees him playing with Oscar, their German shepherd, and mistakes it for something more sinister. Larry is outraged when, at dinner, he learns that Len's hygienist (Maria Canals) has been circulating a rumor that he has a plaque problem, and then little Sammy (Ashly Holloway) is traumatized when she finds the dentist's photo of Larry's rotting tooth. Aside from revealing to many people that he pees sitting down, Larry also puts his foot in it when he accuses a local weatherman (Gary Kroeger), a friend of Marty Funkhouser's (Bob Einstein), of falsely forecasting rain in order to clear the golf course. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Larry (Larry David) comes home to find Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) laughing it up with her actor friend and tennis partner, Brad (Josh Temple). "Maybe I'll go out and get myself a heterosexual woman to play golf with," Larry suggests. Cheryl says she wouldn't see Brad if Larry would play tennis with her, and Larry says he will. At the restaurant, Larry is amazed when the manager (Jim Staahl) removes a wine stain from a couch with club soda and salt. Then Randy (John Hayman), the chef, tells Jeff (Jeff Garlin) and Larry that he can't handle the pressure of the high-profile job, and he quits. Ted Danson suggests they hire his cook, Josh (Daniel Escobar), but Larry and Jeff insist on giving him a tryout. Later, Larry and Cheryl run into some old friends, who treat them coldly, and Cheryl is embarrassed to realize that it's been over a year, and they never got their friends a wedding gift. The tennis goes badly because Larry is irritated by Cheryl's grunting. Or maybe it's just that she beats him. Cheryl tells Larry she's going to see a play, but is slow to mention that Brad is starring in it. Larry finds chef Josh's food "too saucy." When Cheryl and Larry go shopping for a wedding gift, Larry is accosted by an overzealous saleswoman (Laura Silverman) who doesn't seem to understand the concept of "browsing." ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
This two-part CBS TV movie was filmed as Talking to Heaven, the title of the autobiographical book upon which it was based. Ted Danson stars as real-life psychic James Van Praagh, a man who spent much of his life ignoring or denying his clairvoyant gifts until it became impossible for him to suppress them any longer. After experiencing several "visitations" from dead people in his youth, Van Praagh was tagged as a freak and shunned by friends and family members alike. It is only during a particularly difficult period of his adult life that James is willing to acknowledge his special talents, and then only because he has had visions of a forlorn young boy with bound hands. Galvanized into action by such grim images, not to mention the plaintive voices of several additional ghostly youngsters, James agrees to assist the authorities in locating the buried victims of a serial killer who may still be at large. Living With the Dead originally aired on April 28 and 30, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, (more)
Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed this comedy about a young psychologist named Mumford (Loren Dean), who arrives in a small town and sets up a practice. Mumford's style is short on analytic mumbo-jumbo and long on practical advice, and he soon finds that he has a long list of satisfied clients in his new home town, including many of the city's most prominent citizens. Mumford's advice also helps love bloom among the city's single residents. However, the city already had a psychologist, Ernest Delbanco (David Paymer), who is quickly losing business to Mumford. So Ernest starts asking questions: who is this Mumford, and just what are his qualifications? Mumford's supporting cast includes Ted Danson, Martin Short, Alfre Woodard, Hope Davis, Jason Lee, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loren Dean, Hope Davis, (more)
- 1998
Reuniting several China Beach talents, this three-hour, fact-based TV miniseries dramatizes the apparent government cover-up of the after-effects of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Exposure to toxic agents by some 100,000 men and women led to skin rashes, respiratory infections, and cancer, but the Department of Defense claimed the Gulf War Syndrome was psychosomatic. When Vietnam veteran and retired U.S. Secret Service agent Jim Tuite (Ted Danson) begins work with Sen. Donald Riegle (Brian Dennehy), he sees vets denied proper medical benefits and concludes billions in payouts would result if the government admitted that toxic chemicals were sprayed about during the war. Healthy Chris Small (Matt Keeslar) comes back from the Gulf War in only a few months with digestive and respiratory problems, while his wife Teri (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and baby daughter both experience rashes from contact with Chris. In the post-war operations, Waco farmer Jared Gallimore (Steven Weber) stumbles across uranium dust and has brain tumors by the time he goes home to his sister Jerrillyn Folz (Marg Helgenberger). Interview footage with real soldiers and officers is intercut into the drama, filmed in Toronto and the California Mojave Desert. Premiered May 31, 1998 on Showtime. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American soldiers is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt. James Ryan (Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and he chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. The film's historical consultant is Stephen E. Ambrose, and the incident is based on a true occurance in Ambrose's 1994 bestseller D-Day: June 6, 1944. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, (more)
