Ardon Bess Movies

Based on fact, the made-for-TV drama Jewel begins in 1945, a time when children afflicted with Down Syndrome were casually and cruelly dismissed as "Mongoloid Idiots." Already a mother with four healthy, normal children, 40-year-old Mississippi woman Jewel Hilburn (Farrah Fawcett) gives birth to daughter Brenda Kay, a Down's baby who will forever be challenged both mentally and physically. Urged by the local authorities to surrender Brenda Kay to an institution, Jewel defies the "experts" and packs herself and her family off to Los Angeles, where she hopes that her daughter will have a better chance at a normal life. But in her zeal to shower affection and attention on her "different little girl", Jewel sorely strains her relationships with her husband Leston (Patrick Bergin) and her other four kids. Cicely Tyson makes what the CBS publicity flacks labeled a "special appearance" in the role of a loving caregiver named Cathedral. Based on the novel by Bret Lott, Jewel originally aired February 7, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In yet another modern-dress version of The Prince and the Pauper, Joey Lawrence plays Ricky Prince, a famous pop star who has grown tired of the spotlight and the pressures of fame. Ricky makes the aquaintance of Ralph Bitondo (also played by Joey Lawrence), a pizza delivery boy who looks almost exactly like Ricky -- so much so that the two decide to trade identities for a while. Ricky enjoys being able to live like an average guy for a change, and Ralph gets a kick out of the perks of stardom, but predictably enough they both learn the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Also known as The Prince and the Pizza Boy, Prince for a Day also stars Richard Belzer and Khrystyne Haje. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Taken from the television series "Shining Time Station," this holiday special tells the story of an unusual passenger, Mr. Nicholas, as he passes through the station shortly before Christmas. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

The inadvertent theft of a valuable Renoir force an actor and an unemployed salesman into the limelight in this crime comedy. ~ Rovi

Mixing a tongue-in-cheek approach with thriller action, this routine caper story features Christopher Plummer as James Hatcher -- a businessman who has just double-crossed both the CIA and the Mafia and has to hide out -- and Richard Harris as Louis Kinney, an unemployed accountant who takes on the job of bodyguard to Hatcher's sister and mother. Eventually, both the CIA and the Mafia catch on to the fact that they have been mutually bilked out of $10 million by Hatcher, but they are further befuddled when Hatcher manages to portray Kinney as a murderer. This, of course, sets Kinney off on a manhunt for Hatcher, who is now most-wanted by just about everybody. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Playwright Neil Simon got his first big break in the early '50s as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's fabled television series Your Show of Shows, and this comedy (adapted by Simon from his play) takes a fictionalized look at the backstage chaos that went into producing one of the landmarks of television's golden age. Max Prince (Nathan Lane) is the star of The Max Prince Show, a popular comedy-variety series with ratings that have begun to slip; Prince's show is still a major hit on the East Coast, but network executive Cal Weebs (Colin Fox) insists that it's too sophisticated for the Midwest, and urges Prince to dumb down his act. Prince has also become the whipping boy of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (Frank Proctor), and between the tensions of producing a hour of top-quality comedy each week and being pestered about his ratings, Prince is beginning to unravel. His relationship with his wife Faye (Sherry Miller) and their children is falling apart, and stress is eating him alive. Prince's brother Harry (Richard Portnow) is Max's assistant, and his last line of defense against both the network and his writing staff, which spend its days coming up with business for the show while hurling humorous invective at each other and anyone else within earshot. (The actors playing Max's writers include Mark Linn-Baker, Victor Garber, Dan Castellaneta, Saul Rubinek, Peri Gilpin, and Zach Grenier.) Laughter on the 23rd Floor received its world premiere at the 2001 Palm Springs Film Festival and was scheduled for showings several months later on the Showtime premium cable network (who co-produced the feature). The film was directed by Richard Benjamin, who previously teamed with Mark Linn-Baker for another comedy inspired by the career of Sid Caesar, My Favorite Year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This isn't the Fatal Attraction, but instead a 1980 Canadian erotic melodrama. Psychologist Sally Kellerman meets teacher Stephen Lack when both are involved in an automobile accident. As their relationship deepens, Lack coerces Kellerman into a series of bizarre sexual games. Things get out of hand due to Kellerman's ardor and Lack's wanton cruelty. Fatal Attraction was originally titled Head-On, tipping the viewer off as to how the film will both begin and end. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The two-part British miniseries Soul Survivors was all about second chances. Ian McShane was cast against type as Otis Cooke, a disc jockey on a Liverpool soul music station. After the cancellation of his radio program , Otis whimsically headed to America in hopes of reuniting his favorite soul band, The Tallahassees (whose big hit was, appropriately enough, "Pickin' Up the Pieces"). In bringing the singers back together, Cooke reasoned that somehow he'd give his own life some meaning. Real-life musician Isaac Hayes co-starred as the Tallahassees' contrary lead singer Vernon, while other roles were filled by Derrick O'Connor, Antonio Fargas, Taurean Blacque, and Scott Wilson. The two 90-minute installments of Soul Survivors were seen over BBC 2 in 1995, and later re-edited into a single 125-minute feature. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Peter Fonda and Jerry Reed star as truckers pitted against a rival big-rig boss who wants them off the highway. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi