E. Duke Vincent Movies

Widely touted as NBC's answer to The Sopranos, the six-episode series Kingpin also drew heavily from the British mini-series Traffik. The nominal protagonist in this seamy, violent tale of a Mexican drug-trading family was Yancey Arias as Miguel Cadena, the Stanford-educated heir apparent to the Cardena criminal dynasty. Together with his icy, coke-addicted wife, Marlene (Sheryl Lee), Miguel coolly guided the destinies of his worldwide family business, eliminating enemies, friends, and loved ones alike to maintain his empire. Others in the cast included Bobby Cannavale as Miguel's vicious "enforcer" brother, Chato; Ruben Carbajal as Miguel and Marlene's disillusioned eight-year-old son, Joey; Angela Alvarado Rosa as relentless DEA agent Delia Flores; Brian Benben as the Cardenas' personal plastic surgeon, Dr. Heywood Klein; and Shay Roundtree as Texas-born torpedo Junie Gatling, who acted as a sounding board for the other characters. Among the creative contributors to the series was Allen Coulter, who direct several episodes of The Sopranos. Originally slated for a March 2003 debut, Kingpin was moved up to February 2, 2003 to take advantage of a traditional network "sweeps week." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The dirty laundry of the wealthy and oversexed gets yet another airing in this prime-time soap opera from producer Aaron Spelling. Richard Williams (Perry King) is a tough-as-nails businessman who single-handedly built his aviation business into a powerful multinational conglomerate. Richard is engaged to marry Heather (Yasmine Bleeth), a manipulative woman who only recently had an affair with Chandler (Casper Van Dien), Richard's son. Chandler isn't sure what he should tell his father about Heather, especially when he learns Heather is pregnant. Elsewhere in the family, Peter (John Barrowman) oversees the Williams family's finances, Jenny (Elizabeth Bogush) tries to keep her drinking problem in check (with mixed results), Laurie (Josie Davis) operates a nightclub and keeps her poisoned pen sharpened at all times, and Richard's former wife Gwen (Victoria Principal) observes the action from her bungalow across the street from his Beverly Hills estate. In the midst of all this, Samantha (Lourdes Benedicto), daughter of the family's housekeeper, works for the Williams and keeps track of their many peccadilloes, while also carrying a torch for Chandler (and wishing Heather would dry up and blow away). Got all that? Titans first aired on the NBC television network on October 4, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Three of the most gorgeous TV witches since the days of Elizabeth Montgomery were the heroines of the hour-long WB fantasy series Charmed, which first materialized on October 7, 1998. Reunited in their ancestral San Francisco mansion, the Halliwell sisters -- Prudence (aka Prue, played by Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and came upon a dusty tome titled the "Book of Shadows," which by and by revealed a secret that had long been withheld from them: the sisters were witches known as the "Charmed Ones," blessed with extraordinary powers which they were expected to use in the never-ending fight of good against evil. Prue, the oldest, had the gift of telekinesis, enabling her to move objects at will; middle child Piper was able to stop time; and Phoebe, the baby of the family, was able to see the future. The ritual enabling them to combine their powers involved the linking of hands and chanting in unison, "The power of three will set us free." Of course, now that the girls knew they were witches, they were immediately targeted for destruction by all manner of warlocks, sorceresses, and malevolent spirits, many of these hoping to steal the Halliwells' powers for themselves. Also, in their efforts to lead "normal" lives and not give away their secrets, the ladies encountered a great deal of difficulty in the romance department -- not to mention the holding and maintaining of regular employment.

During season one, Prue worked for the Buckland Auction House, whose owner turned out to be a warlock; she also lost her policeman boyfriend, Andy Trudeau (T.W. King), who was killed in an effort to save the Halliwells from a demon. Phoebe's private life was not quite so tempestuous, though she had a bad habit of losing jobs due to the bad things happening around her. The impressionable Piper, who managed to find work as a caterer and later as the owner of the "P3 Club" nightspot, thought she had found true love in the form of hunky handyman Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), until learning that Leo was a "Whitelighter," a guardian angel fated to protect all good witches from harm -- and as such, was off limits. In later seasons, however, Leo was demoted to "mortality" and was able to marry Piper, with whom he had a "bewitched" son named Wyatt. By the time Leo's powers were back to full steam in season five, he'd been appointed an "Elder" Whitelighter; his former job of protecting the sisters was taken over by another Whitelighter named Chris Perry (Drew Fuller), who turned out to have a hidden agenda.

Season three saw quite a few upheavals in the lives of the sisters, with Phoebe falling for Assistant DA Cole Turner (Julian McMahon) -- who turned out to be the demon Belthazor, and whose mission was to kill the sisters. Cole managed to purge himself of evil, only to revert to wickedness -- a cycle that continued to repeat itself until, in season four, the "bad" Cole married and impregnated Phoebe with his evil seed. Eventually the baby was stolen by a demon called The Seer (Debbi Morgan), and poor, mixed-up Cole wound up trapped in another dimension before being "vanquished" permanently. (At least Phoebe landed a permanent job as a newspaper advice columnist once the dust had settled!) As for Prue, season three of Charmed turned out to be her last when she was killed during a "demon assault." Her place in the Halliwell household was taken in season four by the girls' half sister, Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), who like the late Prue possessed telekinetic powers. Paige would eventually find "civilian" employment as a social worker, enabling her to emulate the other girls by applying her powers for the forces of good on a full-time basis.

There were scores of additional plot complications and story arcs occurring in and out of the "real world" and back and forth in time (at one point, for example, the heroines were converted into Greek goddesses). "Charmed" though the Halliwell girls may have been, it didn't mean that they exactly led charmed lives. Perhaps it was the unstable nature of the world in which our heroines dwelled that made Charmed one of the WB's most successful offerings; viewers literally never knew what to expect from one week to the next! ~ All Movie Guide

One of the most atypical weekly series to emerge from the Aaron Spelling TV factory, 7th Heaven, created by Spelling and Brenda Hampton, has eschewed the sex-and-sin shenanigans of such series as Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place in favor of honest, three-dimensional family values, with generous doses of warmth, heart, humor, and pathos. There can be no doubt that this fundamentally wholesome program has struck a universal chord. The series has not only been lavishly praised by critics, honored by such organizations as the Parents Television Council, the Academy of Religious Broadcasting, and the Anti-Defamation League, and given innumerable industry awards, but it is also one of the most successful offerings of the WB network; indeed, it was the first WB series to run more than seven seasons, and during four of those seasons, it was the network's highest-rated show. Set in the suburban L.A. community of Glen Oak, the series revolves around the Camden family, headed by Eric Camden (Stephen Collins), pastor of the town's Community Church, and Eric's homemaker wife, Annie (Catherine Hicks). In the tradition of The Waltons, loyal 7th Heaven viewers have enjoyed the rare privilege of watching the Camden children grow up before their very eyes. When the series debuted on August 26, 1996, handsome and personable Matt Camden (Barry Watson) was 17 years old; basketball-playing Mary Camden (Jessica Biel) was 13 going on 14; intellectual, inquisitive Lucy Camden (Beverley Mitchell) was 12; happy-go-lucky Simon Camden (David Gallagher) was ten; and precocious Ruthie Camden (Mackenzie Rosman) was five. By the time the series entered its eighth season, the three oldest Camden kids were married and pursuing careers, while the two youngest were seasoned veterans of the school dating scene. (Two more Camden youngsters, twin boys Sam and David, were born halfway through the 1998-1999 season). All of the Camdens, parents included, have had more than their share of setbacks and tragedies (some of them absolutely devastating) as the series has rolled forward, but somehow all of the members of the clan, from patriarch Eric on down, have been able to recover, rally, and persevere with the help and support of their family and friends -- not to mention their inner faith. And unlike so many other TV series which traffic in personal interrelationships, the characters in 7th Heaven are very much a part of the "real" world. During its lengthy WB run, the series has exposed its principals to a wide variety of contemporary issues: teen suicide, racial prejudice, substance abuse, drunken driving, homelessness, negative peer pressure, teen pregnancy, Alzheimer's disease, the Holocaust, the war in Iraq, and the crisis in the Sudan. Eminently suitable for viewers of all ages, but never a mere sop to the "kiddie" trade nor a placebo for the clean-up-TV brigades, 7th Heaven has been and will likely always remain the jewel in the WB crown. ~ All Movie Guide

This WW II-set drama follows the creation of the first atomic bomb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Loretta Young was originally to have starred in made-for-TV Dark Mansions, but she didn't like the script and passed up the project; her role was quickly filled by another Hollywood veteran, Joan Fontaine. Aaron Spelling and Douglas Cramer, the guys who brought you Love Boat, "go gothic" in this Seattle-based tale of the supernatural. While writing the history of a shipbuilding family, Linda Purl learns a little too much for her own wellbeing. Per the film's title, most of the story takes place in a haunted house-and it's a lulu. Michael York, Philip Drake and Melissa Sue Anderson costar. Dark Mansions was first telecast August 23, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fact that this made-for-TV movie is derivation of the megahit Airport is obvious by the presence of novelist Arthur Hailey in the credits. Gil Gerard heads the cast as David Montgomery, manager of a huge and extremely busy airport. As David wrestles with personal problems at home and a crisis with a burned-out air traffic controller (Bill Bixby) at the workplace, his burden is increased by the news that a Hawaii-bound jet has taken off with a bomb on board. George Kennedy, who'd appeared in all of the Airport theatrical films, here contributes an extended cameo role. International Airport first aired May 25, 1985, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Little Mary (Robin Ignico) is haunted by the guilty memory of her sister Jennifer, who died in an auto accident not long ago. Jennifer had always been more adored by their parents, and Mary can't help thinking that her jealousy was behind Jennifer's death. Soon, Mary begins to imagine that there's something, or someone, hiding under her bed, and it becomes apparent that the nocturnal visitor is her dead sister. The apparition, who is only seen by Mary, is not satisfied being the only member of her family to have crossed over; she wants the rest of her family dead. Soon, to Mary's horror, her dead sister is orchestrating the deaths of the other members of the family, one by one. Ned Wynn wrote the screenplay for this TV-movie thriller, which first saw the light of day on December 10, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nick (Mike Conners) is the owner of a luxury liner and casino which cruises its way to action and adventure for those on board. Lackluster direction by Don Chaffey is not aided by a cast including Gary Burghoff, Joseph Cotten, Lynda Day George, Bo Hopkins and Robert Loggia, who seem to all be slightly embarrassed to be in the film. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

The third of ABC's miniseries offerings, The French Atlantic Affair was an expensive but pulpish all-star version of the same-named Ernest Lehmann novel. Chad Everett essays the nominal leading role as Robbins-esque novelist Harold Columbine, one of dozens of wealthy, well-dressed passengers on a luxury ocean liner. Columbine's earlier, sympathetic articles on cult leader Craig Dunleavy (Telly Savalas) may well prove to be life-savers when Dunleavy and his henchmen take over the liner and hold its 3,000-plus celebrity passengers for a 70-million-dollar ransom (that translates to 13 tons of solid gold). The script contrives to include a lavish costume ball wherein most of the younger actresses appear in extremely revealing costumes. Although title designer Phil Norman won an Emmy award for his efforts, viewers and critics were generally cool to the charms of The French Atlantic Affair when the three-part melodrama aired on November 15, 16, and 18, 1979 -- probably because the miniseries' melodramatic convolutions were dwarfed by the real-life hostage drama then unfolding in Iran. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide