Frank Ashmore Movies

In a modern twist on the classic "old-dark house" genre, Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) are trapped by a raging storm in the mountain home of a murdered financier. Every member of the dead man's family had good reason to see him dead--and accordingly, every member is under suspicion. As the victim's relatives are systematically bumped off throughout the night, Hunter arrives at the conclusion that he'd better solve the mystery in a hurry lest he be the next to die! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Well, it must be the late 1960s on Laverne & Shirley, inasmuch as this episode revolves around a telecast of the vintage TV series The Dating Game. Under the watchful eye of the show's host Jim Lange (playing himself), contestants Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) do their best to impress prospective dates--who, perhaps fortunately, are unable to see out heroes. Meanwhile, back in their apartment, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) endeavor to watch their friends on TV despite a malfunctioning antenna and a renegade roll of tin foil. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This routine, relatively low-budget horror film with a few well-known actors (Peter Graves, Keenan Wynn) unfolds a tale that has echoes in George Orwell's 1984 or in various sci-fi movies. The premise: Americans have not realized that their government is in cahoots with certain industrial and medical giants to clone the citizens and thereby create a society that is easily controlled. Richard, one of the clones (Tim Donnelly) slowly comes to believe that the normal human society is much better than the cloned version and starts a rebellion against the powerful forces in control. What happens after that is about as hard to believe as what has happened before. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Future WKRP in Cincinnati co-star Howard Hesseman reprises his role as Mr. Plager, the gay, culturally inclined member of Bob's therapy group. Urged on by Bob and the other patients, Plager writes, produces, and directs a play. Unfortunately, Plager's masterpiece, though ostensibly set during WWI, is a thinly disguised carbon copy of the group's therapy sessions, replete with characters based on Mr. Carlin, Mr. Petersen, Mrs. Bakerman -- and Bob himself. (For the record, these "faux" roles are filled by Jerry Devine, Lou Cutell, Amzie Strickland, and Frank Ashmore, respectively). Scripted by Andrew Smith, "Group on a Hot Tin Roof" was originally scheduled to air in February or March of 1978, but was moved up to January 28, due to Bob Newhart's absence from several other like-vintage episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Bay Area college campus is besieged by a mysterious sniper, who shoots the mistress of a prominent professor before killing the professor himself. Can it be that the prof's widow Mrs. Shaninger (Celeste Holm) knows more about the supposedly random killings than she's letting on? Featured in the cast as a disabled Vietnam veteran is star-in-the-making Nick Nolte. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi