J. August Richards Movies

Balden (J. August Richards) was a successful businessman whose adoring father always preferred him over family black sheep Rick (Sharif Atkins). Things for Travis went unexpectedly bad, however, when the pressures at work become too much to bear, a suspicious stock sale prompted a serious investigation, and his wife walked out on him for neglecting their marriage. As a result, Travis ended his own life in a shocking act of violence. In the wake of Travis' death, his brother Rick returns to town to check in on grieving sister Nina. When their father catches wind of Rick's visit, he makes it plain to his son that the wrong boy was buried. Infuriated that his father always favored Travis, Rick sets out to prove that his sibling wasn't the angel that everyone credited him with being. But in the course of Rick's dangerous investigation he realizes that his brother's death was much more complicated than anyone realized, and that perhaps it wasn't his father's eyes that needed to be opened, but his own instead. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

As its final season began, Angel had already established a tone and theme for the year. In "Home," the final episode of season four, the titular vampire hero (David Boreanaz) had agreed to take over the Los Angeles branch of demonic law firm Wolfram & Hart. Vowing to put the firm's vast resources to work in the fight against evil, Angel and company effectively sold out -- with the best of intentions. Parent series Buffy the Vampire Slayer had recently spent its own final season developing an extended metaphor about the "war on terror." Now, Angel sets out to explore a subtler form of evil: the slippery slope of compromised idealism. Given the WB network's continued lack of faith in the show (the fifth season almost didn't happen and the sixth never did, despite a nice ratings bump) critics pointed out that Angel's decision to fight from within the belly of the beast served as a metaphor for the show's quest to tell compelling scripted stories on broadcast TV. Angel spent the season making compromises, so its producers had to settle for smaller budgets and self-contained episodes. They also had to bring Buffy alumnus James Marsters on board as a cast regular, despite his character's heroic death in the Buffy finale. With a ghostly Spike installed as Angel's gleefully snide conscience and rival, the writers brought in several other new and returning characters. Ditzy vampire bombshell Harmony (Mercedes McNab) stepped in as Angel's secretary and the show's central comic relief, while the smarmy Eve (Sarah Thompson) and the affable Knox (Jonathan M. Woodward) served as Wolfram & Hart's human faces.

As for the show's remaining mainstays, Angel romanced a werewolf named Nina (Jenny Mollen) and, along with Spike, came to terms with his feelings for his ex-girlfriend Buffy. (Much to fans' disappointment, though, Sarah Michelle Gellar did not reprise her signature role.) Street-smart demon hunter Gunn (J. August Richards) made a Faustian pact with Wolfram & Hart's senior partners and paid the price for his moral ambivalence. Scientist Fred (Amy Acker) found her soul shattered and her body colonized by an ancient demon named Illyria. Wesley (Alexis Denisof) went off the deep end when Illyria snuffed out his new romance with Fred. Only Lorne (Andy Hallett), the green-skinned empathic demon, got short shrift on the plot points, his presence reduced to the occasional quip or helping hand. This made room for a steady parade of guest stars. For the 100th episode, former Buffy and Angel regular Charisma Carpenter once more brought the caustic and beautiful Cordelia Chase to life. Vincent Kartheiser twice reprised his role as Angel's son, while Buffy vet Tom Lenk helped the fang gang keep tabs on their old friends from Sunnydale. The most unexpected guest of all came in the form of Christian Kane, whose scheming Lindsey McDonald resurfaced to set the stage for a finale that ended as abruptly and heroically as the series itself. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

If Angel's second season explored a darker tone and longer story lines with varying degrees of critical and ratings success, its third season could almost be regarded as the beginning of a single, two-year narrative. Individual episodes focused on new characters such as super-scientist Fred (Amy Acker), who became a key player at Angel Investigations; established characters such as Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), whose very life was threatened by her supernatural visions; and the title character himself (David Boreanaz), who had to deal with the death and resurrection of yet another of his ex-girlfriends. But with parent show Buffy the Vampire Slayer having defected from the WB network to rival UPN, Angel was no longer part of a two-hour Tuesday "Buffyverse" block. Crossover-free, it became its own show, and two words sum up its newfound independence: Darla's pregnancy. The return of Angel's vampire paramour (Julie Benz), pregnant with Angel's human son, set the stage for the show's entire third and fourth seasons. Darla once again received a shot at redemption. Angel was suddenly cast into a new role, that of father and protector. Manipulated into betrayal, Wesley (Alexis Denisof) became a pariah and took up with evil lawyer Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov). Angel's son, Connor (Vincent Kartheiser), was kidnapped to a hell dimension by vengeful vampire hunter Holtz (Keith Szarabajka) only to return, mere weeks later, fully grown and with a chip on his shoulder. By the end of the third season, the characters had scattered: Angel was trapped in a watery tomb, the victim of his son's betrayal; Cordelia had ascended to a higher plane to serve The Powers That Be; and Lorne (Andy Hallett) had skipped town for a gig in Vegas. That left lovebirds Gunn (J. August Richards) and Fred (Amy Acker) to wonder what would become of Angel Investigations -- a question that would be answered over the course of the entire fourth season. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television docudrama that aired on March 28, 1999 on NBC, relates the story of an actual event that occurred during World War II, but is centered around the lives of fictional characters. On July 17, 1944 at a U.S. naval base near San Francisco, a ship exploded causing the deaths of 323 men and injuring another 390. Just over 200 of the dead and another 200 of the injured were African-American Navy personnel. The story begins with the events that led up to the tragedy, with the second half of the film describing the actions of the men who refused to report back to work the next day after the explosion. Initially, 250 of the men refused to return, fearing another catastrophe. When base officers threatened to charge them with mutiny, 200 returned to work. The 50 who refused to return were given dishonorable discharges, in addition to 15 years of hard labor from the mutiny convictions. Eventually, the sentences were reduced to 4 years, but no official governmental acknowledgment of wrongdoing has ever been made. ~ All Movie Guide

The four Sliders materialize on a topsy-turvy parallel Earth, where it is mandatory to take hallucinogenic drugs. This is the method by which the Government keeps everyone under control--and also saps all vestiges of individuality from such people as the short-tempered Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) and the eccentric Colin (Charlie O'Connell), who, under the influence of controlled substances, begin living a life of bland, white-bread marital bliss. Meanwhile, the Drug Empowerment Administration puts out an A.P.B. for the fugitive Quinn (Jerry O'Connell), who is a dead ringer for a notorious anti-drug revolutionary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide