Paul Redford Movies

Debuting August 21, 2006, the hour-long Fox network series Vanished was a serialized drama in the tradition of 24 and Prison Break, this time with a bit of the "procedural" genre (à la Without a Trace) thrown in. Things got under way when Sara Collins (Joanne Kelly), the wife of prominent Georgia senator Jeffrey Collins (John Allen Nelson), abruptly disappeared during a fundraising dinner, the apparent victim of a kidnapping. Assigned to locate -- and, possibly rescue -- Mrs. Collins were FBI agents Graham Kelton (Gale Harold) and Lin Mei (Ming-Na). While Lin approached her job with a cynical sense of humor and an abundance of energy, Kelton was morose and taciturn, still blaming himself for the horrible death of a youthful kidnap victim which occurred right before his eyes. As the plot thickened, it became obvious that the two agents had more than a common, everyday abduction on their hands: the number-one suspect was killed off at the very start of the series; the trail was strewn with bizarre, contradictory clues and DaVinci Code-like cryptic messages; and finally, not only had Sara Collins mysteriously vanished on previous occasions, there was every indication that she wasn't really Sara Collins at all. Clearly, the missing Mrs. Collins was but a cog in the wheel of a larger conspiracy, in which (naturally) no one could be completely trusted. Other characters included Rebecca Gayheart as an unusually ubiquitous investigative reporter and Eddie Cibrian as Kelton and Mei's enigmatic FBI superior. Vanished was created by Josh Berman of CSI fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the eve of her birthday party, First Lady Abbey Bartlet (Stockard Channing) runs afoul of the medical board vis-à-vis her controversial treatment of Jed's (Martin Sheen) multiple sclerosis. Elsewhere, Sam (Rob Lowe) must deal with prickly Senator Enlow (Robin Thomas) over the issue of a controversial superconductor. British ambassador Lord Marbury (Roger Rees) protests the administration's decision to invite an IRA terrorist to the White House. And Donna (Janel Moloney) loses her security clearance...because, technically, she is not an American citizen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) has 48 hours to commute the death sentence of a man convicted of a controversial murder after the Supreme Court refuses to stop the execution. While struggling with the moral, ethical, legal, and religious issues of his decision, he calls on his former priest, Father Thomas Cavanaugh (Karl Malden) for guidance. Toby (Richard Schiff) weighs in on the topic after having a conversation about the death penalty with his rabbi (David Proval). Political strategist Joey Lucas (Marlee Matlin) wants to ask the president why her candidate has not received enough money from the Democratic National Committee. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The Sports Night crew returns to the studio from a bomb scare 15 minutes before the show goes on-air and naturally everyone is a little worked up. Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan (Josh Charles), however, can't seem to get over the fact that someone would try to blow up their building and they proceed to obsess about their near-death experience for some time to come. Dana (Felicity Huffman) has bigger issues to deal with, since Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) stroke has left her in charge of running the operations of the show in addition to her production responsibilities. The network sends J.J. (Robert Mailhouse) to talk with Dana about how to run the show and convinces her that Sally (Brenda Strong) is CEO Luther Sach's choice in assisting Dana, and not Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd). Still freaked out about his parents' divorce, Jeremy (Joshua Malina) makes the bizarre decision to break up with Natalie -- only Natalie calmly refuses to let him. Meanwhile, Rebecca (Teri Polo) tracks Dan down and accuses him of hiding from her and demands to know why. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

When Tori Spelling starred in the Dickens-inspired 2003 TV movie A Carol Christmas, more than a few viewers with long memories could not help but point out the similarities between Spelling's film and the 1995 made-for-cable Susan Lucci vehicle Ebbie--beginning with the fact that both films were distaff versions of the venerable "A Christmas Carol." It's Christmas Eve, and ruthless department store owner Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge (Lucci) is cruelly running her employees ragged, dangling their meager bonus checks over their heads to get them to work all the harder. Just before closing time, Ebbie manages to fire a longtime security guard, humiliate her niece, and force her aide Roberta "Robbie" Cratchet (Wendy Crewson) to work on Christmas day rather than spend precious time with her family. Thus the stage is set for the inevitable nocturnal visitation from Ebbie's long-dead partner Jake Marley (Jeffrey DeMunn) and the usual Three Spirits, bound and determined to transform the vituperative Ms. Scrooge into the salt of the earth. And yes, Tiny Tim shows up too, in the person of dewey-eyed kid actor (Taran Noah Smith). To her credit, Susan Lucci plays this nonsense as if it were Shakespeare, bringing depth and conviction to an impossibly contrived teleplay (for which Charles Dickensreceives no screen credit!) Ebbie was first telecast by the Lifetime cable channel on December 4, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide