Douglas Emerson Movies
An L.A. native, Douglas Emerson began trying his hand at acting in the late '80s as a young teenager. He scored his big break with a regular role on the first season of the series Beverly Hills 90210, playing Scott, the nerdy best friend of Brian Austin Green's character, David. As Emerson's character became more and more estranged from the show's core group of friends, however, producers found less room for him and at the end of the season, Emerson's character accidentally shot and killed himself at a party. Having satisfied his curiosity about acting, Emerson then left show business to follow in the footsteps of his father, who'd served in the British Royal Air Force. Emerson joined the U.S. Air Force, working in intelligence. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
One of the definitive, landmark shows of the 1990s, "90210" quickly became an important fixture on the FOX and in the popular discourse of adolescents and young adults. The first season's main characters, Dylan, Kelly, Donna, Steve, David, Andrea and twins Brandon and Brenda all attended West Beverly Hills High School. Brandon and Brenda Walsh and their parents, transplants from Minneapolis, were the stable nuclear family with strong values; their home was a safe haven for the whole gang and the center of much of the drama. The show dealt with a steady stream of love triangles and other romantic entanglements and occasionally touched on more serious issues as well.
- Starring:
- Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, (more)
After the phenomenal box-office and critical success of David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly, a series of big-budget remakes of '50s horror favorites rode in on its coattails in the late 1980s -- though none managed to rise above mere camp clones of their elders, albeit garnished with modern makeup effects in an attempt to draw modern teen horror-junkies. One remake that managed to live up to its cheesy inspiration was Chuck Russell's version of The Blob, in which the title goo crashes to earth and promptly begins digesting the residents of a small California town while growing to gargantuan proportions. The clean-cut teen hero originally portrayed by Steve McQueen (his first starring role) is replaced here with a rebellious outsider (Kevin Dillon) whose preppie rival (Donovan Leitch) for the affections of the cute heroine (Shawnee Smith) is quickly eliminated by the all-consuming space-gelatin. No sooner has the plasma menace set up house in the town sewers when a shadowy government Blob Squad shows up under the direction of the grandfatherly Dr. Meddows (Joe Seneca), to clean up the mess... or not. This high-spirited remake replaces the '50s "Daddy-O" conventions of the original with '80s cynicism -- not even likeable characters are spared from the slaughter -- and anti-government sentiment. It also pushes the gore envelope in ways unavailable to its low-budget parent -- e.g. the scene in which one victim is sucked through a sink drain was only hinted at in the 1958 film, but here viewers are treated to the entire bone-crunching ordeal. Though the quality of blob effects seems inversely proportional to the creature's size (some of the climactic "wall-of-blob" footage is painfully cheap-looking), the end result is more blob for the monster-movie fan's dollar. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, (more)
A government worker (Tom Bosley) informs several diner patrons of a $4 million treasure he stole from a group of Libyans and then hid, but dies before uttering more than a few clues. What follows is a mad dash for the cash. As part of the film's promotion, the sponsors offered $1 million to the first person to correctly guess the location of the loot. (The winner, Alesia Jones, was selected from over 300,00 entries.) ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Deezen, Wendy Sherman, (more)
- 1986
Yet another crisis hits the courtroom when New York City is rocked by a freak earthquake. Among those suffering is prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), who ends up trapped in an elevator with abrasive court matron Roz Russell (Marsha Warfield)--and a pair of very large, very hungry sumo wrestlers. Meanwhile, Harry (Harry Anderson) has his hands full with a couple of precociously obnoxious adolescents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Originally broadcast as an installment of ABC's Disney Sunday Movie anthology, The Leftovers marked the TV acting debut of singer John Denver. He is cast as Max Sinclair, the director f a foster-care facility for older orphans who, for various reasons, no one has ever adopted. Described themselves as "the leftovers", the six kids form a strong bond, refusing to be farmed out to separate families, even though orders have come down for Sinclair to vacate his facility within five weeks. Amidst the seriocomic intrigue, Max falls in love with widow Heather Drew (Cindy Williams), the facility's housekeeper--and an orphan herself. A few potential stars can be glimpsed among the supporting players, notably a pre-Urkel Jaleel White as wisecracking "leftover" Jake. The Leftovers debuted on November 16, 1986. ~Saw Film/TV Guide/Internet/Marrill/Expert ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Something in Common is a made-for-television comedy about a middle-aged, widowed career woman (Ellen Burstyn) who discovers that her grown son is having a love affair with a woman (Tuesday Weld) her own age. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the portmanteau pilot film for the subsequent TV revival of Hitchcock's celebrated anthology series of the 1950s and '60s. Four short tales are presented, each of them remakes of earlier Alfred Hitchcock programs. "Incident in a Small Jail," originally presented in 1961 with John Fiedler in the lead, stars Ned Beatty as a traveling salesman who finds himself sharing a jail cell with an accused rapist -- the target of an angry, indiscriminate lynch mob. "Man from the South," based on an oft-adapted Roald Dahl piece, stars John Huston as a cagey gambler who makes a grisly wager with novice Steven Bauer. The original 1959 Hitchcock version of this tale starred Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen; featured in the cast of the remake are former Hitchcock movie leading ladies Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren, as well as Hedren's daughter Melanie Griffith. "Bang, You're Dead" is a taut, tension-filled tale of a child who wanders around town with a loaded gun. The child is a little girl (Bianca Rose), but in the initial 1961 version the protagonist was a boy, played by Billy Mumy (who appears in this remake in a small role). The final playlet, "The Unlocked Window," is an abbreviated version of a story first shown on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965. Bruce Davidson is featured in a virtual reprise of that beloved old Hitchcock protagonist Norman Bates. Each of the four stories in Alfred Hitchcock Presents had its own director -- in order of appearance, they are Joel Oliansky, Steve De Jarnatt, Randa Haines, and Fred Walton -- and all were narrated by co-star John Huston. The late Alfred Hitchcock opens and closes each playlet via colorized footage from the original series -- a bizarre touch that "The Master" might have approved of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When the made-for-TV The Rumor Mill first aired on May 12, 1985, it bore the title Malice in Wonderland. This joyously inaccurate biopic concerns itself with Hollywood's two foremost gossipmongers of the 1930s and 1940s: Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. Long involved in the film industry, Parsons used her ironclad relationship with publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst and the "confidential" information gleaned by her physician husband Harry "Docky" Martin to outscoop every other columnist in Tinseltown. Parsons' awesome power remained unchallenged until 1938, when Hedda Hopper, a character actress fallen on hard times, was hired as a gossip reporter by one of Hearst's rivals. Thereafter, it was every woman for herself: the blood feud between Parsons and Hopper raged unabated until the latter's death in 1966. Jane Alexander's on-target portrayal of Hedda Hopper won her an Emmy nomination; no less impressive (though not as accurate in her characterization) is Elizabeth Taylor as Louella Parsons. Other Emmy nominations went to the costume design and sound mixing, while Philip H. Lathrop won the statuette for his '30s-style photography. The "look who that is" supporting cast includes Richard Dysart as Louis B. Mayer, Eric Purcell as Orson Welles, Tim Robbins as Joseph Cotten (who once booted Louella in the derriere), Jason Wingreen as Jack Warner, Gary Wayne as Clark Gable, Denise Crosby as Carole Lombard, and Thomas Byrd as Hedda Hopper's actor-son William. Adapted from George Eels' waspish book Hedda and Louella, Malice in Wonderland is delightful, high-class claptrap. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
