Robin Duke Movies

In the final episode of Monk's first season, the ultra-phobic Mr. Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is forced to take his first plane ride. Galvanized by sheer terror, Monk spends the first part of the flight driving his fellow passengers crazy with his anxious questions. Before long, he really has something to obsess over when he deduces that passenger Stephan Chabrol (Carl Marotte) has murdered his wife in mid-flight--even though a woman claiming to be Mrs. Chabrol is seated right next to him. The topheavy guest cast includes Tony Shalhoub's former Wings costar Tim Daly) as himself; Shalhoub's real-life wife Brooke Adams as a suspicious stewardess; and prolific producer-director Garry Marshall as a garrulous extension-cord salesman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this zany comedy, Michael Keaton is Doug Kinney, a man with too many tasks and not enough time to complete them. When he feels too much pressure, his temper explodes with disastrous results. So when researcher Dr. Owen Leeds (Harris Yulin) offers him a somewhat unusual remedy for his problem, he gives it a try. Soon, a fully grown clone of Doug is delivered, complete with his memories up to the time of its "birth." Being in two places at once offers some advantages, but problems arise when Doug #2 can't handle the stress of overwork any better than the original. Perhaps Doug #2 could benefit from having his own helper. Versions of Doug multiply, each of them emphasizing some facet of his character, and complications multiply. For instance, having more of him around doesn't make life simpler for Doug's wife Laura (Andie MacDowell). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The late comedian John Candy directed this made-for-television black comedy. George Wendt stars as Warren Kooey, a poor slob with a vicious wife and a nasty boss. Wooey wants to escape his miserable existence, so he decides to stage his own kidnapping to get away from his tormentors and find some peace far, far away. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

The feature film directing debut of actress Betty Thomas, this romantic farce attempts to mimic the screwball comedies of the 1930s. Andrew McCarthy stars as Cliff Godfrey, a doll house designer and perpetual loser in love who is dumped by his fiancee on the eve of their pre-nuptial vacation to Mexico. Informed by pretty travel agent Claire Enfield (Helen Hunt) that his tickets are non-refundable, the depressed Cliff goes to a bar, where he picks up a drunk party girl, Amanda Hughes (Kelly Preston), who agrees to accompany him on the trip south of the border. Once she sobers up, however, Amanda proceeds to make Cliff's vacation a nightmare, alternately flirting with and teasing him, then rejecting him for more studly prospects. But Cliff runs into Claire, who's staying at the same hotel while photographing a travel brochure, and the two begin spending time together, as Cliff helps her on the project by modeling for her pictures. Though Cliff and Claire are discovering that they are each other's soul mate, the flighty Amanda threatens to destroy their nascent romance. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This black comedy offers a rather twisted version of the classic road movie, as it tells the story of a ten-year-old boy who is determined to win the "Motorama" road game, a promotional effort by a major gas station that promises winners 500 million dollars. In order to win, one simply has to collect enough game cards from Chimera gas stations all over the country to spell out the word "Motorama." Since his parents are not interested in the contest, the lad feels he has no other choice than to steal a bright red classic Mustang and set off across several fictional states to do it by himself. Along the way, he has assorted adventures, and many of them are not at all pleasant, but most of them are very strange. The film features cameos from several notable cult favorites, including Jack Nance, Drew Barrymore, Dick Miller, and even the pop singer Meat Loaf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Robin Williams' comic shtick sabotages any attempt at comic development in Harold Ramis' patchy comedy farce Club Paradise. Williams plays Jack Moniker, a Chicago fireman injured in the line of duty, who uses his disability money to open up a run-down Caribbean resort. Jack eagerly awaits the planeload of tourists who will be his first patrons. This group of low-rent jackanapes include Barry Nye (Rick Moranis) and Barry Steinberg (Eugene Levy), a couple of horny geek bachelors; Phillipa Lloyd (Twiggy) and Terry Hamlin (Joanna Cassidy) as a couple of gals on the make; and Linda White (Andrea Martin), as a bossy American tourist. While the tourists shindig around Jack's ramshackle resort, a revolution is brewing on the island headed by revolutionary Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff). Trying to prevent the revolutionary upheaval is the dissipated British governor-general of the island, Governor Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole), and the pompous Prime Minister Solomon Gundy (Adolph Caesar). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Although former stalwarts John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, and Harold Ramis are no longer part of the action, the third season of SCTV still boasts some of the Canadian-based sketch comedy series' best material. For starters, the season opener offers a special presentation of My Fair Lady...that is, a special presentation of the promotional trailer for My Fair Lady. This is just a warm-up for the first appearance of the beer-guzzling McKenzie Brothers (Dave Thomas and new series regular Rick Moranis), fulfilling Canadian broadcast requirements by hosting the free-form chat fest "Great White North" ("How's it going, eh, you hoser?"). With several minutes still to go in the opener, we're treated to "The Lee Iacocca Rock Concert." In later season three offerings, Harvey K-Tel presents a "fast talking" version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (But wait! There's more!); Molly Earle (Robin Duke) revises her celebrated series "Crazy Crafts" after a 15-year absence, by no popular demand whatsoever; Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty) emcees a live production of Death of a Salesman starring Ricardo Montalban (Eugene Levy) , Margaret Hamilton (Andrea Martin), George Carlin (Rick Moranis), and DeForest Kelley (Dave Thomas); "Monster Chiller Horror Theater" presents "Death Motel" with Woody Tobias Jr. (Eugene Levy) and plenty of scary 3-D effects; and "The Lone Ranger Show" finds the masked man (Rick Moranis) and Tonto (Joe Flaherty) welcoming Wishbone from Rawhide and arresting Kip Addotta for violating the Code of the West by doing a bad standup routine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An outgrowth of Chicago's Second City comedy troupe, which was created in 1959, the Toronto branch of Second City invaded Canada's CBC in the fall of 1976 with a weekly, half-hour sketch comedy series, making up in talent and energy what it lacked in budget and production polish. Taped in Edmondton, Alberta, Second City TV had an angle which its spiritual predecessor, NBC's Saturday Night Live, lacked. Each episode purportedly took place during a typical broadcast day at Channel 109, in the "SCTV Studios"; thus, the satire and spoofery were aimed almost exclusively at popular television of the late '70s, with savage lampoons of vapid variety programs, glitzy game shows, pretentious miniseries, pompous newscasters, cheesy children's shows, and dopey do-it-yourself programs. Each member of the series' brilliant repertory company essayed a variety of roles, some of them recurring, but most of them hilarious one-shots. The cast included Joe Flaherty, often seen in the guise of the studio's shamelessly crooked owner, Guy Caballero; Andrea Martin, whose best-known characterization was obnoxious station manager Edith Prickley, who only got the job by default when her predecessor, Moe Green, was kidnapped; Harold Ramis as that selfsame Moe Green, along with several other characters; Eugene Levy, best known as self-important news anchor Earl Camembert; John Candy, who was usually cast as the station's lazy, overweight physical fitness guru Johnny LaRue; Catherine O'Hara, a specialist at playing such strident, superficial faux celebrities as Lola Heatherton; Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, best known for their appearances as the beer-guzzling McKenzie Brothers, hosts of "The Great White North" (a sequence contemptuously added to the proceedings when the CBC demanded that Second City TV include three weekly minutes of "exclusively Canadian content"); and in a variety of characterizations, Tony Rosato and Robin Duke. Second City TV was syndicated in the U.S. beginning in the fall of 1977, its exposure initially limited to the NBC-owned stations. After three seasons and 78 episodes produced between 1976 and 1980, the series was picked up by NBC and retooled in an expanded format (including guest stars and musical numbers) as SCTV Network 90. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The highlight of this episode is, of course, "Shock Theater," in which little Billy (Donald Cowper) makes a fatal mistake when he demands a really scary story from his dad (Joe Flaherty). Elsewhere on the dial, the management of SCTV condemns sex on television (though they're partial to violence); Dave Thomas hosts the talk show "Extreme Closeup" in -- er -- extreme close-up; Johnny LaRue visits an Italian restaurant and ends up in a scene from The Godfather; and the new game show "The Wacky World of Poverty With Chuck Barrett" shows poor folks humiliating themselves for big cash prizes. (The idea! A show like that would never be tolerated on American television!) And don't leave out "Margot Fonteyn at the Russian National Circus"; nor can we ignore the jerry-built robot of Lin Ye Tang (Dave Thomas). ~ All Movie Guide