Arlene Sanford Movies
- 2005
The whole truth concerning the "extracurricular activities" of über-mom Daisy Gibbons (Sharon Lawrence) has a disturbing effect on the ladies of Wisteria Lane -- not to mention some of the husbands. However, Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) can't be bothered with this crisis in the face of their ever-mounting debts. Meanwhile, Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Edie (Nicolette Sheridan) unexpectedly call a truce; and Lynette (Felicity Huffman) continues to be plagued by the misdeeds of her young boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Ryan O'Neal guest stars as Rodney Scavo, father-in-law of Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman). Rodney has a few surprises in store for Lynette and her husband, Tom -- and they don't come wrapped up in pretty ribbons. (Also, listen for an inside reference to the old TV soaper Peyton Place, which also featured Ryan O'Neal.) Meanwhile, Susan (Teri Hatcher) looks askance at the growing relationship between her daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen), and the secretive Zach Young (Cody Kasch). Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) is shocked by a favor asked by the parents of her teenage paramour, John (Jesse Metcalfe). And Bree (Marcia Cross) doesn't seem all that eager to get back together with her estranged husband, Rex (Steven Culp). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Andy (Justin Kirk), due to a court order, is attending Marijuana Anonymous when he meets the lovely Sharon (Brooke Langton). He makes up some shameless lie about being abused as a child in order to convince her to become his sponsor. Doug (Kevin Nealon) and Dean (Andy Milder) help the sexually frustrated Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) set up the bakery she'll use as a front for her pot dealing, and Conrad (Romany Malco) shows up to tell her how she should store her drugs. Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) stops by while Conrad is in the store, and invites him out dancing. "I have cancer and jungle fever," she tells Nancy, "and tonight one of them is going to get cured." While Nancy is out clubbing, interesting things are going on at home. Silas (Hunter Parrish) makes up with Megan (Shoshannah Stern), and Lupita (Renee Victor) hears from a friend that her employer is a drug dealer. She goes on a room-to-room search of the house, looking for Nancy's stash. His elders preoccupied, Shane (Alexander Gould) spends his day directing a mock terrorist beheading video with a schoolmate. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tonye Patano, Yvonne DeLarosa, (more)
- 2004
In memory of their dear departed friend Mary Alice (Brenda Strong), the women of Wisteria Lane go through with her planned dinner party -- at their own peril. An inquisitive nine-year-old may blow the whistle on Gabrielle's (Eva Longoria) trysts with hunky John (Jesse Metcalfe). Susan (Teri Hatcher) leaves nothing to the imagination when confronting her ex-husband, Karl (Richard Burgi). Bree's (Marcia Cross) marriage is rapidly deteriorating, but you'd never know it from her sunny demeanor. And the contents of the box that Mary Alice's husband, Paul (Mark Moses), threw into the river are revealed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Already anxious to hide her clandestine romance from her husband, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) is further confounded by the arrival of her troublesome mother-in-law, Juanita (Lupe Ontiveros). Susan (Teri Hatcher) impulsively dates Officer Rick Thompson (Steven Eckholdt), who is investigating a break-in in the neighborhood -- for which Susan's erstwhile beau Mike Delfino (James Denton) may be responsible. And Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and her husband, Tom (Doug Savant), enroll their contentious twins in a private school -- as if that will solve the problem! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
David Sheridan, comic actor and star of MTV's Buzzkill, co-created this goofy comedy with debut screenwriter Mark Perez as the first in a two-picture deal with Disney. Frank McKlusky (Sheridan) is an insurance claims investigator who has been zealously safety conscious since witnessing a horrible motorcycle stunt gone awry in his childhood, an accident that left his father (Randy Quaid) comatose. Frank still lives at home under the watchful eye of his mother (Dolly Parton) and wears a helmet everywhere he goes. When his partner is killed, Frank is forced to leave his safe and secure life behind, go undercover, and crack the case, which he discovers is a sinister conspiracy. Unfortunately for the villains, Frank turns out to be a first-class bumbler in the Inspector Clouseau mold. Frank McKlusky, C.I. co-stars Kevin Pollak, Andy Richter, and Enrico Colantoni. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave Sheridan
- 2000
Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston)'s anniversary is coming up. Lois gets an unexpected gift from Craig (David Higgins, brother of producer/writer Al Higgins), her amorous co-worker at the store. Lois tells Craig she's got the perfect red dress picked out for the occasion. Getting ready to go meet Hal at a fancy restaurant, Lois is aghast to find her red dress badly burned and soaking in the toilet. She confronts the boys, expressing her horror -- "Fire?! Is this what you want? Where we have to identify your charred little bodies through their dental records?" Malcolm (Frankie Muniz), Reese (Justin Berfield), and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) issue panicked denials while accusing each other of the deed. While Lois prepares for a prolonged interrogation, Hal arrives at the restaurant, confirms that the resident violinist received the sheet music for their song, "Tears of a Clown," and gives the maître d' a watch to put on Lois' lobster claw. With Malcolm getting strategic advice from Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson) over the phone, the boys put up a unified front to stymie Lois' inquiry. She refuses to give in, though, so Hal decides to order without her, and ends up sharing a pleasant dinner with the restaurant's helpful washroom attendant (Joel McCrary). Keen-eyed viewers (or those who listen to the DVD commentary for this episode) will spot the prop guy handing Lois the ruined dress in one shot. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Serious health problems befall the White House as President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) passes out while preparing for the State of the Union Address, and Leo (John Spencer) publicly admits to his previous addictions to alcohol and pain killers. Lord Marbury (Roger Rees) finds a peaceful solution to the Pakistan/India issue. C.J. (Allison Janney) and Leo's daughter, Mallory (Allison Smith), each reveal romantic feelings for men in their lives. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2000
While getting ready for the funeral of her Aunt Helen, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) takes the time to answer one of little Dewey's (Erik Per Sullivan) questions about life: "Whaddya mean, 'What happens when you die?' You're dead. That's it." Hal (Bryan Cranston) gently corrects her, and helpfully explains how the human body decomposes to the boy. Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) is angry because he has to cancel a date with Julie (Landry Albright) to attend the funeral. Lois makes him feel too guilty to find a way out of it. A strange boy, whom Dewey has named "Egg," (Alexander Gould) shows up at the breakfast table and spends the tumultuous day at the house, despite the fact that no one seems to know who he is. The only one in the house who seems to want to go to the funeral is Reese (Justin Berfield), who plans dispose of secret evidence of one of his misdeeds in the open casket of Aunt Helen. When Malcolm learns that Lois actually hated Aunt Helen, he invites Julie over, planning to get out of going to the funeral. Fed up with all the complaining, Lois decides that from now on, nobody has to do anything they don't want to. As the household descends into anarchy, Julie stops by, leading to an embarrassing disaster for Malcolm. A call from Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson) provides Malcolm with the key to resolving the family's woes. ~ All Movie Guide
- 2000
Oversleeping on the day that her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), is to enter the prestigious Chilton Prep School, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) hastily slaps together a "wardrobe" that proves most embarrassing. Things get worse when Lorelai is summoned to the principal's office where she faces a showdown with her own mother, Emily (Kelly Bishop). Meanwhile, Rory has problems of her own with an extremely daunting classload and a whole passel of snobbish classmates -- foremost among them the redoubtable Paris Geller (Liza Weil), editor of the school newspaper. ~ All Movie Guide
Teen heartthrob and Home Improvement star Jonathon Taylor-Thomas stars in this Disney Christmas film that is a teenaged variation on the Planes Trains and Automobiles theme. Jake has missed Christmas in New York with his family these past few years, so as an incentive, his father promises him a 1957 red Porsche if he makes it home by Christmas Eve. No sweat, until an unexpected twist blows up in poor Jake's face. It seems that the "cheat sheet" he supplied the college football team was incorrect, and the whole team is out to get him. For revenge, they leave him in the middle of the California desert in a Santa Claus suit (his hat and white beard are glued to his face) with no wallet, no cash, and no identification. To make matters worse, Eddie, one of the football players and Jake's arch-nemesis, is now hitting on Jake's girlfriend Allie. What's poor old Jake to do? Well, if you guessed hitchhike, freeload, con, fly, crawl, race and bully an array of colorful characters, you guessed correctly. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, (more)
Like its lively predecessor, The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), this mild comic send-up takes its characters and situations from the popular family sitcom of the 1970s, The Brady Bunch. Set in the '90s, it is filled with in-joke references to American pop culture. However, one need not be familiar with the original series in order to enjoy this film. Bad guy Trevor Thomas (Tim Matheson) is posing as supermom Carol Brady's long-dead first husband Roy Martin. He claims to have been amnesiac and made unrecognizable by plastic surgery after suffering disfiguring injuries, but in truth, he is on the hunt for a very valuable artifact, an ancient Chinese horse carving which Roy sent to his family from the field. Because of the family's sheer niceness, they could never imagine such deception, and husband Mike Brady (Gary Cole) welcomes him into their midst. This causes Roy no end of frustration, as not only must he live with this incredibly sweet and cheerful family while he searches for the carving, but he must endure having his ill-tempered sarcastic jibes go completely unrecognized. When Carol (Shelley Long) is kidnapped, the whole family goes a-hunting. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Gary Cole, (more)
- 1994
The new Al Pacino picture is in need of a "stunt butt," giving Joey (Matt LeBlanc) his first -- er -- crack at the big time. Monica (Courteney Cox) tries to prove that she is spontaneous and wacky, but her friends aren't buying. And Chandler's (Matthew Perry) problem involves his new lady friend, Aurora (Sofia Milos), a married woman with very kinky tastes. June Gable makes her first series appearance as Joey's agent, Estelle. The DVD version of this episode includes material not available in the syndicated version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
$Arlene Sanford's docudrama Seeds of Deception stars Melissa Gilbert as the female half of an infertile couple who seek help conceiving from a doctor who specializes in fertility issues. While by all appearances everything seemed to work well, the couple discovers that they, and many of the doctor's other patients, actually were impregnated with the doctor's own semen. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, George Dzundza, (more)
- 1966
No sooner has Sophia (Lesley Ann Warren) moved in with her daughter Susan (Teri Hatcher) than she sets to work stage-managing her daughter's love life -- and, by extension, hopes to reactivate her own. Bree (Marcia Cross) has no idea what her son, Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom), has in store for her; the only one who does know is bound by a vow of silence. Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) unwittingly drives Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) back into the arms of her stud-muffin lover, John (Jesse Metcalfe). And in a moment of near-fatal weakness, Lynette (Felicity Huffman) thinks kindly of the monumentally unkind Mrs. McClusky (Kathryn Joosten). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
