Johnny Brown Movies
- 1998
Monica (Roma Downey) and Andrew (John Dye) are assigned to the old-time comedy team of Salt and Pepper, who are about to be inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Maury Salt (Jerry Stiller) and Ed Pepper (Tom Poston) have hated each other ever since the argument that broke them up thirty years ago. Reluctantly reunited for the induction ceremony, the two showbiz veterans start quarrelling all over again, and it takes the intervention of Monica, posing as Salt's woefully inept new comedy partner, to restore a semblance of peace and quiet. As it turns out, if a reconciliation is to take place, it had better be soon; one of the partners hasn't much longer to live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
This is the only Moonlighting episode in which neither Cybill Shepherd nor Bruce Willis appear. Instead, the focus is on nerdish detective Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong), who has gone into a deep blue funk over an imagined slight from Blue Moon secretary Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley). In the course of a very long night in which Bert is required to guard an "experimental grapefruit", he dreams of his future with Agnes, in sequences inspired by Rudolph Valentino's silent "Shiek" pictures and the 1940s classic Casablanca (in which "As Time Goes By" is replaced by "Chopsticks"!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gene Wilder stars as Michael Jordon, an architect on the run from false murder charges, who hooks up with Kate Hellman (Gilda Radner), the sister of a recent suicide victim. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, (more)
- 1982
Johnny Brown guest stars as Johnny Moore, an irredeemably obnoxious jokester. Although Johnny is the best friend of George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), George's wife, Louise (Isabel Sanford), can't stand the man. Even so, Louise accidentally invites Johnny to stay in the Jefferson apartment -- and stay, and stay, and stay.... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
Assured that the character played by her co-star Jimmie Walker, brash, budding inner-city artist J.J. Evans, had become more mature and responsible during her year-long absence, actress Esther Rolle agreed to return to the role of J.J.'s mom, Florida Evans, as Good Times launched its sixth season. Conspicuous by his absence was Moses Gunn as Florida's second husband, Carl Dixon, whom she ostensibly married at the end of season four -- and with whom she'd been living in Arizona while "missing in action" throughout season five. When Florida made her comeback to the Evanses' tiny Chicago apartment, it was minus Carl, with no explanation given as to what had happened to him; indeed, it was if Carl had never existed. The series' scripters contrived to bring Florida back into the Evans fold by having her invited to the wedding of her daughter, Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and up-and-coming, award-winning football flash Keith Anderson, played by new Good Times regular Ben Powers. It was hoped that Keith's impending contract with the Chicago Bears would enable the Evanses to at last leave the Projects and move into more attractive surroundings. Alas, no sooner had Thelma and Keith said "I do," than Keith tripped and broke his knee, thereby effectively squashing any hopes he had for a pro football career. Thus did Keith move into the increasingly crowded Evans apartment, contributing to the family's meager finances by working as a cab driver. Since Keith could only work a few hours a day, and J.J. had just been fired by the ad agency where he worked, former maid Florida had to go job-hunting, landing a part-time position as a school bus driver. J.J.'s efforts to make ends meet caused him to cross paths more than once with brutish neighborhood loan shark "Sweet Daddy" Williams, played by Theodore Wilson, a formerly recurring character who graduated that season to semi-regular status.
As for the other cast members, younger brother Michael Evans (Ralph Carter) continued to seek out his niche in the world; neighbor Willona (Ja'net Dubois) was relatively content in her new role as single adoptive mother to the precocious Penny (Janet Jackson); and usurious landlord Bookman (Johnny Brown) continued to pinch as many pennies as possible in maintaining the Evans apartment. Beginning the season in a "death" time slot opposite NBC's Saturday-night league leader, CHiPs, Good Times continued to lose viewers at an alarming rate. Having already gone on a brief hiatus in November 1978, the series left the air entirely in December, resurfacing in May 1979, only so that the remaining episode could be played off, thereby avoiding a total loss of CBS' investment. In a Wednesday-night time slot that was no more beneficial than its previous Saturday berth, the series died a quiet death on August 1, 1979, with one of the most outrageously unrealistic "happy" endings in TV series history: To make a long story short, everything turned out all right. Only 21 of the 24 episodes filmed for the 1978-1979 season were telecast by CBS; the three "orphaned" episodes would not be seen until Good Times entered local syndication in the fall of 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As for the other cast members, younger brother Michael Evans (Ralph Carter) continued to seek out his niche in the world; neighbor Willona (Ja'net Dubois) was relatively content in her new role as single adoptive mother to the precocious Penny (Janet Jackson); and usurious landlord Bookman (Johnny Brown) continued to pinch as many pennies as possible in maintaining the Evans apartment. Beginning the season in a "death" time slot opposite NBC's Saturday-night league leader, CHiPs, Good Times continued to lose viewers at an alarming rate. Having already gone on a brief hiatus in November 1978, the series left the air entirely in December, resurfacing in May 1979, only so that the remaining episode could be played off, thereby avoiding a total loss of CBS' investment. In a Wednesday-night time slot that was no more beneficial than its previous Saturday berth, the series died a quiet death on August 1, 1979, with one of the most outrageously unrealistic "happy" endings in TV series history: To make a long story short, everything turned out all right. Only 21 of the 24 episodes filmed for the 1978-1979 season were telecast by CBS; the three "orphaned" episodes would not be seen until Good Times entered local syndication in the fall of 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Just as season four of Good Times was marked by the defection of actor John Amos as James Evans, so too was the series' fifth season distinguished by the conspicuous absence of another leading character. Having already gone on record over the dissatisfaction with the direction in which the series had gone -- that is, from a positive depiction of a closely knit inner-city family headed by a strong male parental figure to a somewhat stereotypical portrait of a fatherless ghetto clan dominated by the buffoonish behavior of the family's oldest son -- Esther Rolle (aka Florida Evans) decided to follow Amos' lead. Citing "illness," Rolle was off the Good Times cast list as of September 1977. Her character's sudden disappearance was neatly compensated for by explaining that, after a whirlwind courtship, Florida had married the irascible but lovable Carl Dixon (Moses Gunn), and had moved with her new husband to Arizona. The three Evans children -- J.J. (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and Michael (Ralph Carter) -- had stayed behind in the family's tiny Chicago apartment, with the tacit understanding that Florida's longtime friend and neighbor Willona Woods (Ja'net DuBois) would drop in from time to time to make sure the kids were doing well. While J.J. was still the prankish "Dy-no-mite Kid," his sudden ascension to head of the Evans household had thrust maturity and responsibility upon him; he even landed a semi-steady job as an ad agency artist. In other words, J.J. began behaving less like a sitcom clown and more like a genuine human being -- precisely what Esther Rolle had been demanding for years. It was this metamorphosis as much as anything else that persuaded Rolle to return to the series at the outset of season six. To counteract the depletion of the basic Good Times ensemble, the producers contrived to add a brand new character and to build up an older one. A very young Janet Jackson was added to the cast as 13-year-old Penny Gordon, the product of an abusive home. Taking pity on Penny, the childless (and husbandless) Willona adopted the girl, thereby opening up a whole new realm of plot possibilities. In addition, the Evans' penny-pinching landlord Nathan Bookman (played by Johnny Brown) was promoted from recurring character to full regular. Theoretically, the time-honored ritual of cast additions and deletions is supposed to breathe new life into old sitcoms (look what that ritual did for M*A*S*H). Unfortunately, Good Times showed few signs of resuscitation. Although the series still had a loyal coterie of fans, it continued to plummet in the ratings, losing out to ABC's Eight is Enough on Wednesday nights, then to NBC's Little House on the Prairie when Good Times moved to Mondays in mid-season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season four of Good Times marked the first of the series' significant cast changes -- or, to be more precise, cast deletions. Long disenchanted with the way in which the series had devolved from the weekly saga of a poor but indomitable ghetto family into a vehicle for the brash buffoonery of Jimmie Walker (aka J.J. Evans), actor John Amos, who had played Evans family patriarch James from the outset of the show in January 1974, quit the series outright. Amos' abrupt departure prompted the series' producers to exhume a script that had initially been written for another Norman Lear TV sitcom, All in the Family. Originally conceived to compensate for the possible defection of series star Carroll O'Connor, the script, as written, showed the members of Bunker household -- mother Edith, daughter Gloria, and son-in-law Mike -- coping with the accidental death of bumptious bigot Archie Bunker. As it happened, O'Connor remained with All in the Family, and thus this pivotal script went unfilmed -- until John Amos quit Good Times. Undergoing a hasty rewrite, the script emerged as the two-part opener for Good Times' fourth season; it was thus James Evans, and not Archie Bunker, who was killed in a traffic accident while on an out-of-town trip. Esther Rolle, who played James's wife, Florida, was not altogether pleased with Amos' departure, but she could understand his motivation. She, too, regarded the character of J.J. as a poor role model for African-American youths, and she hoped that J.J.'s sudden ascension to "man of the house" status would force the character to grow and mature. At the same time, one of the reasons that Rolle signed on to Good Times was because of the series' depiction of an closely knit inner-city family with a strong and positive father figure at the head. With Amos gone, Rolle was herself less than anxious to continue with her participation in the series. And this, coupled with the producers' insistence upon retaining the "zany" qualities that had endeared J.J. to millions of viewers, prompted her to consider leaving the series as well -- which indeed she did, at the end of season four. Before this happened, however, the series' writers contrived to pair off Florida Evans with a new sweetheart in the form of Carl Dixon (Moses Gunn), the employer of Florida's youngest son, Michael (Ralph Carter). Although Carl was obstreperous, profane, and something of an atheist, Florida managed to bring out the best in the man, and with the blessings of her children -- including daughter Thelma (BernNadette Stanis) -- Florida and Carl had decided to wed by the time the last fourth-season episode had rolled around. The many changes in Good Times' basic premise, combined with its move to a suicidal Wednesday-night time slot opposite ABC's surprise hit The Bionic Woman, had an injurious effect on the program's ratings. Having already dropped from seventh to 24th place during season three, the series failed to even crack the Top 25 during season four. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ohio businessman Jack Lemmon is offered a golden job opportunity; all he has to do is relocate himself and wife Sandy Dennis to New York City. What follows has led some critics to complain that playwright Neil Simon has written a "hate letter" to Manhattan. Within a 36 hour period, the couple (a) loses their airplane luggage; (b) are forced to travel from Boston to New York in a greasy old train; ( c ) can't get any sort of service because virtually everyone in Fun City is on strike; (d) are mugged twice, once while they're asleep; (e) are reduced to sleeping on Central Park benches in their day clothes.....and so it goes, until the shabby, disheveled Lemmon tells his prospective bosses off, and he and his wife head back to Ohio---- almost. Punctuated by Sandy Dennis' plaintive "Oh, my Gawwwwd", The Out of Towners tightens the screws and ups the ante on the classic "comedy of errors" formula. Filmed on location, the picture features a who's who of character actors (Milt Kamen, Anne Meara, Phil Bruns, Dolph Sweet, Richard Libertini, Paul Dooley, Robert Walden, Ron Carey etc. etc. etc.) When first shown on network television, the film was shorn of its closing punchline because of an eccentric censorship rule. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Sandy Dennis, (more)
- 1966
A star-studded cast invigorates this film of a jazz trumpeter (Sammy Davis Jr.) who experiences both the prejudices of the music industry and terrible guilt following the traffic accident that killed his family, a tragedy he feels personally responsible for. Co-stars include several giants of jazz and popular music: Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ossie Davis, and Mel Tormé, as well as Peter Lawford and Cicely Tyson. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sammy Davis, Jr., Louis Armstrong, (more)
