Jim Davis Movies

In this bargain basement sci-fi film Time Warp-The Day Time Ended, a family moves into their state-of-the-art solar-powered home in an isolated part of the desert to start a new peaceful life. Meanwhile, far away in deep space, three stars simultaneously explode, sending disruptive, time-bending shock waves through the cosmic void. These waves hit the house and soon some mighty bizarre things begin to happen, including a sudden resurgence of dinosaurs in their backyard, visitations from diminutive aliens, and a robot from outer space. The film is also titled Time Warp. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The whole gang of Looney Tunes accompanies Bugs as he gives a fun animated tribute to moms. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Having proven itself as a viewer magnet during its five-episode trial in the spring of 1978, the multi-plotted prime-time serial Dallas launched its second season (and its first "full" one) in the fall of that same year, though it would not be until the series was moved from Saturday to Friday night that it would begin its rapid upward climb in the ratings. Already established as the series' antihero is the charming but thoroughly untrustworthy J.R. Ewing, eldest son of Texas oil millionaire Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) and his wife, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes). Throughout the second season, J.R. carries on a two-pronged battle, not only feuding with the politically ambitious Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), the son of Jock's hated rival Digger Barnes (played briefly by David Wayne before the role is taken over by Keenan Wynn), but also engaging in a fierce power struggle over control of Ewing Oil with his honest younger brother, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) -- who happens to be married to Cliff's sister, Pam (Victoria Principal). This season marks the first appearance by J.R. and Bobby's other brother, Gary, played in the first three episodes of the year by David Ackroyd, who would be replaced by Ted Shackelford when it was decided to spin Gary and his wife, Valene (Joan Van Ark), into their own series, Knots Landing.

Perceiving Gary as a threat, J.R. connives to get Gary's daughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) to move out of the family mansion, Southfork; however, many of his schemes come a cropper, such as his plan to marry off Lucy to millionaire Kit Mainwaring (Mark Wheeler) -- who turns out to be gay. J.R. also does his best to undermine Bobby by trying to break up his marriage to Pamela. This may not be too difficult, inasmuch as Bobby is considerably put out when he discovers that Pam was married before, to Vietnam veteran Ed Haynes (Robin Clarke). Meanwhile, J.R.'s troubled wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), worried that Pam will bear a child before she will, embarks upon a "conception race" with her sister-in-law. Also, the viewer is introduced to Pam's mother, Patricia (Martha Scott), and her younger sister Kristin, played in two episodes this season by Colleen Camp (the role would be taken over on a permanent basis by Mary Crosby in season three). Almost immediately upon arrival, Kristin makes a play for Bobby -- which of course delights the devious J.R. In other developments, Morgan Fairchild makes her one and only appearance as Bobby's old flame Jenna Wade, a role that would ultimately be played, as a "regular," by Priscilla Presley. Miss Ellie faces a crisis when her presumed-dead brother, Garrison (Gene Evans), shows up, insisting that he is rightful owner of Southfork; Susan Howard is introduced as the politically well-connected Donna Culver, who proceeds to cheat on her husband with Southfork's sullen and secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly); and after facing political ruin at the hands of J.R., Cliff Barnes steps up his vendetta against the "man you love to hate." As the season rushes to a close, a pregnant Sue Ellen is rushed to the hospital to bear a son, John Ross Ewing III -- but J.R., who doesn't trust his wife any farther than he can throw her (he's already tried to have her locked away in a sanitarium), is convinced that his rival Cliff is the baby's father! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Old man Ewing (Jason Robards) owns a ranch right next to the ranch of Ella (Jane Fonda). This is a source of two problems: Ewing wants to gobble up most of the land around the two ranches and also wants Ella's ranch; secondly, when Ella was too young to know better, she went to bed with the man, which, many years later, she considers to have been a grievous error on her part. A third problem arises when oil companies begin pressuring both of them to allow drilling on their land, and Ewing won't allow it -- on his or anyone else's land. Before long, war-veteran Frank (James Caan) enters Ella's life and helps her fight to save her land and her sanity, with added assistance from Dodger (Richard Farnsworth), an old local who knows the score. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Actor James Stacy, who in real life lost and arm and a leg in a motorcycle accident, won an Emmy award for his performance as double-amputee Kenny Briggs in this made-for-TV movie. Disabled in Vietnam, Kenny is not only embittered by his plight, but also holds his best friend and fellow soldier Frank Logan (Lee Majors) responsible for the tragedy. In concert with Kenny's girlfriend, Nikki (Barbara Hershey), Logan tries to snap Kenny out of his self-pitying doldrums -- while Kenny himself struggles with physical rehabilitation, in hopes of returning to his favorite sport of skiing. Written and directed by Theodore J. Flicker (The President's Analyst), Just a Little Inconvenience debuted October 2, 1977, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A quick-shot rifleman with a tragic past seeks refuge in a God-fearing Arizona town, only to discover that there's no running from the way of the gun in directors Hagen Smith andRichard Robinson's bullet-riddled Western. It was self-defense when Frank Woods killed three drunken hoodlums in a moment of desperation, but he knows as well as anyone else that he'll be heading for the hangman's noose if the law catches on to him. Though the citizens of the small religious town to which Frank has relocated welcome the even-handed newcomer and his commendable quest to clean the town of corruption, the criminal element doesn't take kindly to his presence and soon sets out to bring Frank down once and for all. Once again backed into a corner from which the only escape is to start shooting and pray that luck is still on his side, Frank fights for his life the only way he knows how -- with plenty of gunpowder and a fistful of bullets. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this feature-length pilot for an unsold TV series, Bo Hopkins, Tim Matheson and Jim Davis star as Ezel, Owens, and Buckshot, three men carving out a living as the owners of a Mississippi river tugboat. Balancing comedy with melodrama, the story manages to involve our heroes with a gang of hijackers and kidnappers. The film originally aired March 24, 1975, on NBC. For its subsequent overseas release, The Runaway Barge was retitled River Bandits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While the Watergate scandal filled the headlines, Alan J. Pakula's 1974 thriller took its inspiration from the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination. Journalist Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) misses witnessing the assassination of a senator at Seattle's Space Needle, but his newswoman former girlfriend Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss) was there. Even after a government commission concludes that it was a freak lone assassin, Lee tells Joe that she fears for her life since other witnesses keep dying. After she too turns up dead, Joe investigates, travelling to the small town where another witness has mysteriously expired. Stumbling on a corporate identity for the killers, Joe decides to dig deeper by infiltrating the Parallax Corporation as one of their hired assassins. As Joe becomes increasingly isolated in his assumed identity, he discovers what Parallax is all about -- but Parallax knows all about Joe too. Made between Klute (1971) and All the President's Men (1976), The Parallax View was the second film in Pakula's "paranoia" trilogy; it proved too dark even for a 1974 audience that embraced such other challenging films of that year as The Godfather, Part II and Chinatown, making The Parallax View the sole flop of Pakula's trilogy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) investigate when a successful and universally admired politician dies in what appears to be an accident. As usual, Stone suspects foul play, and isn't afraid of ruffling a few feathers among the political elite to prove his point. The key to the solution of this case involves a complicated relationship among several prominent people with more than a few skeletons in their closets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The exciting world of rodeo provides the framework for this western saga that centers around a temperamental bronc rider who tries prove himself worthy of his wife, son, and his best friend's respect. He also wants to keep his freedom. Songs include: "Easy Made for Lovin," "My Special Day," "I'm a Rodeo Cowboy." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A rancher sets out to find the party responsible for killing his son and kidnapping his daughter. He enlists an arrogant professional tracker to help him in his search. Ernest Borgnine and Sammy Davis, Jr. star in this made-for-television western. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide