Bruce Kirby

The bane of the existence of city attorney Elizabeth Gates (Shelley Long) is the jovial, widowed former barber (Bruce Kirby) who has chosen to be a year-round Santa Claus, transforming his house into a permanent "North Pole" village and giving away free presents to needy children. Unfortunately, "Santa" is operating out of a residential zone, and thus is technically running an illegal commercial business. Elizabeth's problem is to evict the would-be Kris Kringle without endangering her mayoral campaign -- and to hide from her impressionable son Tommy (Nathan Lawrence) the real reason behind her dislike for "Santa." Meanwhile, a cynical big-city reporter (Barry Bostwick) follows the case with interest (his interest is mainly in Elizabeth, of course), and a local land developer goes into "Scrooge" mode as he schemes to tear down a landmark train station. Based on an actual 1989 court case, A Different Kind of Christmas was made for cable, airing originally over the Lifetime network on December 9, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alice's 14-year-old son Tommy (Philip McKeon) is in the throes of his first case of puppy love. Not that there's been any real physical contact: in fact, Tommy mostly conducts his courtship by telephone. And it is precisely for this reason that mom Alice (Linda Lavin) is up in arms--the kid spends so much time yakking that she can never get to the phone herself. Appearing as the father of Tommy's girlfriend is Bruce Kirby, the father of comic actor Bruno Kirby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Armed and Dangerous, John Candy plays a cop who has been kicked off the force on a trumped up charge. Eugene Levy costars as a disbarred lawyer. The two outcasts take low-paying jobs as security officers at a company controlled by mob boss Robert Loggia. In their own stumblebum fashion, Candy and Levy uncover a smuggling operation masterminded by Loggia. Meg Ryan also shows up in an early leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Restrelli (Brian Bloom) left his San Diego mobster family after college to "go straight" on Wall Street. Not only did he flourish, but he met the woman of his dreams in Gloria (Alicia Coppola), a beautiful and smart businesswoman. But when Tony's beloved younger brother Primo (Rocco Vienhage) is gunned down, Tony and Gloria return to San Diego for the funeral -- and Tony is convinced by longtime family friend Willy "the Hammer" (Alan Arkin) to stick around to straighten out affairs. Tony begins to unspool a plot to get his family out of massive debt using money from competing mobs against the other -- and in the meantime exact revenge for the death of his brother. Gloria's financial wizardry comes in handy, as well. But these two yuppies, who are more comfortable reading stock tickers than shooting pistols, have no idea how dangerous a game they are playing. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Steve Ihnat guest-stars as a self-proclaimed journalist named Gans, who shows up with his entourage in Virginia City to cover the signing of a treaty between the Paiute Indians and the Army. In truth, however, the rabidly racist Gans plans to kill everyone at the ceremony with his Gatling Gun. It is up to Joe Cartwright to rescue one and all from Gans and his fanatical followers-and he has less than one hour to do so. Written and directed by series star Michael Landon, "Terror at 2:00" originally aired on March 7, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Mike Nichols and writer-actor Buck Henry followed their enormous hit The Graduate (1967) with this timely adaptation of Joseph Heller's satiric antiwar novel. Haunted by the death of a young gunner, all-too-sane Capt. Yossarian (Alan Arkin) wants out of the rest of his WW II bombing missions, but publicity-obsessed commander Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) and his yes man, Colonel Korn (Henry), keep raising the number of missions that Yossarian and his comrades are required to fly. After Doc Daneeka (Jack Gilford) tells Yossarian that he cannot declare him insane if Yossarian knows that it's insane to keep flying, Yossarian tries to play crazy by, among other things, showing up nude in front of despotic General Dreedle (Orson Welles). As all of Yossarian's initially even-keeled friends, such as Nately (Art Garfunkel) and Dobbs (Martin Sheen), genuinely lose their heads, and the troop's supplies are bartered away for profit by the ultra-entrepreneurial Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight), Yossarian realizes that the whole system has lost it, and he can either play along or jump ship. Though not about Vietnam, Catch-22's ludicrous military machinations directly evoked its contemporary context in the Vietnam era. Cathcart and Dreedle care more about the appearance of power than about victory, and Milo cares for money above all, as the complex narrative structure of Yossarian's flashbacks renders the escalating events appropriately surreal. Confident that the combination of a hot director and a popular, culturally relevant novel would spell blockbuster, Paramount spent a great deal of money on Catch-22, but it wound up getting trumped by another 1970 antiwar farce: Robert Altman's MASH. With audiences opting for Altman's casual Korean War iconoclasm over Nichols' more polished symbolism, the highly anticipated Catch-22 flopped, although the New York Film Critics Circle did acknowledge Arkin and Nichols. Despite this reception, Catch-22's ensemble cast and pungent sensibility effectively underline the insanity of war, Vietnam and otherwise. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Squad 51's emergency hotline is tied up a hysterical woman (Fintan Meyler) who is convinced that her husband (Charles Aidman) is being stalked. . .by the ghost of her late sister. Elsewhere, a tranquilizer overdose results in a quick trip to the E.R., a diver is trapped fifteen feet beneath the waves in his own car, and there's another crisis situation in a warehouse. The episode's guest cast includes a young Bruno Kirby, here billed as Bruce Kirby Jr.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Robert Anderson's novel, the made-for-television Getting Up and Going Home is a drama about a divorced attorney (Tom Skerritt) who copes with a mid-life crisis by having affairs with no less than three women: his ex-wife, a single mother, and a married suburbanite. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The Germans install a fueling station in Barracks 12, right next to Stalag 13. Hogan must hatch a scheme to blow up the station without blowing up himself or his men. Mariana Hill, best known for her performance as a blind-drunk Corleone bride in the Oscar-winning The Godfather II, is cast as Louisa. Written by Laurence Marks, "The Gasoline War" made its first CBS network appearance on October 17, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a bungling bookkeeper's assistant works in the Dalton city hall and finds himself framed for embezzling by his corrupt superiors. A sweet young woman helps him clear his name. He is also assisted by Leo the computer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of a three-part story, the teenage hooker who'd busted a corrupt judge (Robert Reed) is abducted by a band of Satanists. Meanwhile, Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) is stymied in his efforts to trap a serial rapist by lack of evidence; Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) and undercover cop Kitty O'Hearn are served papers by the lawyer representing the ex-wife of police sergeant Navarro (Erik Estrada); and politically ambitious Commander Cain (Arthur Rosenberg) learns to his chagrin that his friends may do more harm to his career than his enemies. This episode is adapted from a novel by former police detective Dallas L. Barnes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hunter's boss Devane (Charles Hallahan) is aroused from his slumbers late one night by his ex-wife Sarah (Frances Lee McCain), who shows up at his doorstep with an incredible story about finding an abandoned car and a dead woman. Even worse, Sarah has been drinking, and is convinced that she is responsible for the woman's death. Though Devane doesn't believe his former wife's ramblings, further investigation proves that Sara was telling the truth. Unfortunately, she doesn't live long enough to tell anything else--and now Hunter (played by Fred Dryer, who also directed this episode) has to work with the slimmest of leads to solve two seemingly unrelated murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It has been three years since Tony (Larry Hagman) and Jeannie (Barbara Eden) first met. The couple plans to go out and celebrate, but Tony is called back to the base and assigned to deliver a top-secret film to NASA headquarters. Unfortunately, Tony is not allowed to tell Jeannie anything about his mission, leading her to conclude that he's stepping out with another woman--a misunderstanding that nearly results in a court-martial for our hero. Vinton Hayworth, later as semi-regular in the role of General Schaeffer, is here cast as General Watson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide