Robert DoQui Movies
African-American stage and film actor Robert Do Qui was first seen by televiewers on a weekly basis as Detective Cliff Sims in Felony Squad (1968-1969). Do Qui has worked extensively with director Robert Altman, most prominently as the sympathetic nightclub manager in Nashville (1975). In the 1980s and 1990s, he became familiar to action fans as Sgt. Reed in the three Robocop flicks. In addition to his many acting credits, Robert Do Qui served several terms as an officer of the Screen Actors Guild. He died at age 74 in 2008. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideCSI: Crime Scene Investigation moved from Fridays to a Thursday-night time slot with this episode, in which Frank Damon (Sterling Macer Jr.) is facing execution for killing his wife and child in a fire. With time running out, Damon begs Grissom (William L. Petersen) to prove his innocence. Elsewhere, Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) and Nick (George Eads), investigating the murder of a 16-year-old, follow the trail of clues to an illegal sports-gambling operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Carol (Julianna Margulies) comforts a security guard (Michael Rapaport) as he lies dying from severe chemical burns. The other staffers tend to a young man (Keith Bogart) who fell 75 feet into the Chicago river. Also part of the ER caseload is an elderly couple who may or may not have AIDs, and a heroin-addicted infant named Josh McLean. And elsewhere, Benton (Eriq La Salle) is none too happy that Carla (Lisa Nicole Carson) has invited her boyfriend to Reese's baptism. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tony Todd, previously cast as the 80-year-old Jake Sisko in the 1995 episode "The Visitor," guest stars as Worf's outcast brother Kurn. Having been exiled from the Klingon society because of Worf's allegiance to the Federation, Kurn begs Worf to kill him. Reluctantly, Worf carries out Kurn's request, but that is hardly the end of the story, or of Kurn himself. Written by Ronald D. Moore, "The Sons of Morgh" was initially telecast on February 12, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ray DiSalvo (Jay Acovone), a friend of Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits) who is currently in prison, offers Bobby new information on an unsolved cop-killing -- a case previously handled by the contentious Det. Roberts (Michael Harney). While investigating a multiple shooting within a black family, Fancy (James McDaniel) and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) suspect that the self-confessed gunman isn't telling the whole truth. And Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) looks into an assault charge surrounding the "accidental" injury of an actor in a staged fight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Made for the TNT cable network, The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson concentrates on the wartime service of major league baseball's first black player. Robinson (Andre Braugher), a star athlete at UCLA, is drafted during World War II. He hopes that his academic record will assure him entry into Officers Candidate School, but the racism inherent in the military at the time puts several roadblocks in his way. After finally making OCS, Robinson's belief in himself is strengthened tenfold--to the point that he refuses to bow to the "Jim Crow" laws regarding the seating arrangements on an Army bus, and is subsequently threatened with a court martial. Stan Shaw costars as boxing great Joe Louis, likewise a victim of prejudice during the war years (the script intimates that Louis was more willing to roll with the punches than Robinson). Ruby Dee, who played the ballplayer's wife in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story, is here seen as Robinson's mother. The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson premiered on October 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Her fantasy is to possess him. But now, it had become an obsession." The ad copy for the TV movie Obsessive Love said it all. Yvette Mimieux stars as the "number one fan" of soap-opera actor Simon McCorkindale. Not content with an autographed 8X10 glossy, Mimieux plots and plans to seduce McCorkindale and ruin his marriage to Constance McCashin. It could be worse: Yvette Mimieux could have been Kathy Bates. The best scenes go to Lainie Kazan as the Agnes Nixon-ish soap opera creator. Co-produced and co-written by Ms. Mimieux, Obsessive Love made its TV debut on October 2, 1984 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The original 1946 Dark Mirror starred Olivia de Havilland as twin sisters, one of whom has committed a murder. Since each twin can provide an alibi for the other, a rumpled detective (Thomas Mitchell) and a handsome shrink (Lew Ayres) are compelled to get to the truth through patience and not a little sneakiness. Dark Mirror was remade as a TV movie in 1984, this time with Jane Seymour in the "leads" and Vincent Gardenia as the detective. Seymour has a field day alternating between the good and bad twin; would that the audience was having as much fun. There really isn't any point to this dour remake, except perhaps to honor a contractual commitment to Jane Seymour, whose playing is so ripe that we secretly hope both twins will get the chair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The dangers facing teenaged hitchhikers are forcefully brought home in this uncompromising ABC Afterschool Special. Though she has been warned never to hitch a ride, Andrea Cranston (Michele Greene) feels that she has no choice when she and her boyfriend are stranded in the middle of nowhere. Besides, the man offering the ride seems like such a nice, harmless fellow. But he is nothing of the kind, as Andrea learns to her horror when she is raped and abandoned. Unable to discuss her ordeal for several days, Andrea is further traumatized when she finally breaks down and tells her parents: her furious father threatens to kill her assailant, while her mother wants to keep the whole incident quiet. Meanwhile, the serial rapist who attacked Andrea is poised to strike again...and again....The winner of five Emmy awards, this film is based on Gloria D. Miklowitz' novel Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea? (which is also the drama's alternate VHS title). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michele Greene, Moosie Drier, (more)
Joan Collins tops the cast of the made-for-TV The Making of a Male Model. No, silly: Joan doesn't play the title role. Rather, she is cast as the barracudalike owner of a top modelling agency, while Jon-Erik Hexum (at the time, a real-life male model) costars as a Nevada rancher whom Joan selects for stardom-or, if you prefer, hunkdom. Watch for Rosemary Stack, the wife of actor Robert Stack, in a juicy cameo as Collins' chief rival. Making of a Male Model was originally telecast October 9, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Names have been changed to protect the innocent" in this infamous fictionalization of the tragic mass suicide of 914 followers of Jim Jones' "People's Temple" in Guyana in the fall of 1978. Rev. James Johnson (Stuart Whitman) is a charismatic but deeply paranoid man of the cloth who moves his flock from Northern California to a settlement in Guyana, where he intends to create an interracial socialist utopia. Addicted to prescription drugs and convinced he is surrounded by enemies, Johnson rules his colony, "Johnsontown," with an iron fist, torturing anyone who violates his rule, seducing both women and men from his congregation, confiscating money and property from his followers, and forcing them to work long hours in the fields for meager rations. Lee O'Brien (Gene Barry), a California congressman who represents the district Johnson and his followers once called home, has received complaints from friends and relatives of the Johnsontown settlers, convinced something is wrong. O'Brien and a team of reporters fly to Guyana to find out the truth about what is happening; Johnson is convinced O'Brien has seen too much, and armed gunmen ambush his party before they can return to the United States (with a number of Johnsontown residents who wish to leave). After a failed attempt to arrange exile in the Soviet Union, Johnson convinced his followers to perform a "final revolutionary act" before authorities arrive. This oddball blend of fact and fiction also features Joseph Cotten and John Ireland as Johnson's lawyers, Yvonne de Carlo as Johnsontown's press officer, and Bradford Dillman as the doctor who mixes the punch for Johnson's final gathering. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Gene Barry, (more)
The child stealer of the title is Beau Bridges, the self-centered ex-husband of Blair Brown. She has custody of the kids, and he has been slapped with a restraining order. Bridges waits until Brown's guard is down and kidnaps his two daughters. Told by the authorities that there's little they can do, Brown seeks out her fugitive "ex" on her own. Of minor interest in this made-for-TV tract is the fact that future Growing Pains costar Tracey Gold plays one of the daughters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An affirmative-action program at a major metropolitan hospital is threatened when a young African American resident, who owes his job to the program, is suspected of causing a patient's death through negligence (to use the old cliché, the operation was successful but the patient died). The young man's mentor, Dr. Frank Matthews (Brock Peters), takes the blame for the tragedy, arousing the suspicions of Matthews' longtime friend Quincy (Jack Klugman). Racing against time, Quincy must determine the actual cause of the patient's death--and, hopefully, save the affirmative-action program from being eliminated by a disgruntled hospital official. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The longest (26-1/2 hours), most expensive ($25 million) and most complicated (four directors, five producers, five cinematographers, almost 100 speaking parts, several hundred extras) project made for television up to that time, Centennial was shown in two- and three-hour installments over a period of four months. An adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel, it told the story of the settling of the American West by looking at the founding of the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, from the settling of the area in the late 18th century to the present. Emmy-nominated for film editing and art direction, it boasts of sterling performances from Richard Chamberlain as frontiersman Alexander McKeag, Robert Conrad as the French-Canadian trapper Pasquinel, and a surprisingly powerful performance from former football star Alex Karras as compassionate but iron-willed immigrant farmer Hans Brumbaugh. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Jim (James Garner) infiltrates a sanitarium called Horizon's Crest to rescue T.T. Flowers (Strother Martin), who is being victimized by evil land developer Jack Muellard (Scott Brady). But though Muellard is temporarily stopped in his tracks, T.T. still isn't out of the woods yet--and in fact, the poor fellow may be "legally" murdered by a police SWAT team. This episode marks the spectacular demise of Jim Rockford's beloved Firebird 100! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on the story by Richard Wright, Almos' a Man stars LeVar Burton as a black teenager in the South of the 1930s. Working as a field hand, Burton is frustrated at being considered inferior to the local whites. Perhaps if he purchases a gun, he can prove his manhood. This is the decision he makes-much to the anguish of his mother, played by Madge Sinclair. Originally a PBS American Short Story presentation, Almos' a Man was first telecast April 26, 1977. Running some 45 minutes, it was offered in tandem with a dramatizaton of Ernest Hemingway's Soldier's Home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton, Henry Fonda, (more)
The made-for-TV Green Eyes stars Paul Winfield as a Vietnam veteran who feels like a fish out of water in civilian life. Shunned by his family and friends and pushed aside by the Establishment, Winfield decides to find the one person who truly needs him. That person is the Vietnamese child whom he fathered and left behind in Saigon. Burrowing through miles of red tape and wandering the bombed-out Vietnamese streets, Winfield searches for his lost son. Filmed in the Philippines, Green Eyes originally aired January 3, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
With this episode, Richard Hatch "officially" becomes a series regular in the role of Dan Robbins, the brash new partner of veteran SFPD homicide detective Mike Stone (Karl Malden). The case at hand involves Larry Dobbs (Howard Duff), the wealthy father of a girl who has been raped and murdered. Placing no faith in the authorities, Dobbs posts a million-dollar reward for the capture of suspected rapist Don Wilton (Maxwell Gail), dead or alive. This action transforms virtually the entire Bay Area population into a mob of greedy vigilantes--and it is up to Stone and Keller to stop the resulting wave of violence, which gets even worse when the desperate Wilton begins striking back at his pursuers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
George (Sherman Hemsley) is shocked upon discovering that his maid, Florence (Marla Gibbs), has allowed her latest boyfriend (Robert DoQui) to spend the night in the Jefferson apartment. After the inevitable loud and abrasive argument, Florence quits her job. This episode was later "replayed" -- and mercilessly lampooned -- on a 2002 installment of The Rerun Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
New police recruit Ernie Sampson (Warren Munson) is afraid to reveal the fact that he stutters when under pressure. In his efforts to hide his impediment, Ernie fails to warn Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) that they're about to be ambushed by an armed robber. After this near-fatal incident, Ernie's training officer is all for washing the young man out of the program--but surprisingly, Jim and Pete are convinced that the rookie deserves a second chance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Having suffered a splitting headache for two weeks, Lamont (Demond Wilson) goes to see a doctor. When it turns out that the headache is psychosomatic, Lamont is referred to a psychologist -- who determines that the pain is being caused by Lamont's own father Fred. The problem: How can Lamont break the news to Fred that he is literally making him sick? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, (more)
A group of solid citizens, upset by the increase of crime in their neighborhood, form a vigilante team. During the team's assault on a sleazy bar, a street informer is killed and the head of the vigilantes--who happens to be an old college friend of detective Steve Keller (Michael Douglas)--is accused of murder. As it turns out, however, the killing has far more serious and wide-ranging ramifications, with a vicious drug ring ultimately taking center stage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The title of this episode is something of a misnomer: It's anything but routine for Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) when they pursue four young car thieves. The quartet has stolen a vehicle full of weaponry and ammunition, and now they're taking advantage of this fact by going on a violent crime spree. Other crises facing Jim and Pete tonight include a "dead spouse" report and an outsized bar fight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) are intrigued when an off-duty officer makes a citizen's arrest of a female shoplifter (Pamela Jones). The woman insists that she has resorted to stealing in order to feed her starving baby. As it turns out, the woman is indeed caring for an infant--but it isn't hers. When all the facts come to light, Jim and Pete race against time to avert a tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Created by Earl Hamner, A Dream for Christmas is set in the 1950s. African-American minister Will Douglas (Hari Rhodes) moves his family from Arkansas to the Watts section of Los Angeles to take charge of an impoverished church. The attendance, at least at first, is as poor as the congregation. Worse still, the church is slated to be demolished. But it's close to Christmas, a time when miracles have been known to happen. Featured in the all-black cast are Beah Richards, Lynn Hamilton, Robert Do'Qui, Juanita Moore, and Clarence Muse. Appropriately enough, A Dream for Christmas originally aired on December 24, 1973. It was originally designed as the pilot for a never-sold TV series titled The Douglas Family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide


















