Mark Piznarski Movies

Another of the many "tough but troubled heroine" cable-TV dramatic series of the early 21st Century, In Plain Sight starred Mary McCormick as Mary Shannon, a no-nonsense US Marshal connected with a Federal Witness Relocation service known as WITSEC. It was Mary's job to "baby-sit" criminals and innocent bystanders who'd been given new identities and homes in exchange for courtroom testimony, and to keep her charges' whereabouts a secret from potential assassins. The pressures brought to bear on Mary during her working hours were exacerbated by the fact that she could not reveal the nature of her work to her friends or family members. Worse still, our heroine was saddled with an overgrown-delinquent sister named Brandi (Nichole Hilz) and a boozy, overbearing mom named Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren). Helping to get Molly over the rough spots were her boss Stan McQueen (Paul Ben-Victor), her partner and best friend Marshall Mann (Frederick Weller), and her lover Raphael (Cristian De La Fuente). Debuting with a special 76-minute episode on June 1, 2008, the sixty-minute In Plain Sight was seen by some 5 million viewers, a near-record for the USA network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The weekly, hour-long series Veronica Mars starred Kristen Bell as the 17-year-old title character, formerly the most popular girl in her high school in the affluent community of Neptune. Ever since her sheriff father, Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), was fired and publicly disgraced for daring to suggest that Jake Kane (Kyle Secor), the town's wealthiest man, may have been responsible for the murder of his own daughter, Lilly (Amanda Seyfried), Veronica had been a social pariah, shunned by all of the "right" people and the "coolest" kids -- including her former boyfriend, Lilly's troubled brother, Duncan (Teddy Dunn). Determined to solve the murder of her best friend Lilly and clear her father's name, Veronica became a crusading reporter for her school newspaper, under the watchful eye of journalism teacher Mallory Dent (Sydney Tamiia Poitier). She also moonlighted as a private eye, helping her dad Keith run his private detective agency, Mars Investigations. In so doing, Veronica forced many of her antagonists in Neptune to face up to the unpleasant truths hidden away in their own souls, and also dug up more than a few inconvenient skeletons in a few high-maintenance closets. The cast included Percy Daggs III as Wallace Fennel, the nerdy new kid in school who became the closest ally of fellow outcast Veronica; Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls, the wildly undisciplined son of Neptune's two resident movie stars, Aaron and Lynn Echolls, and Duncan Kane's closest friend; and Francis Capra as punkish Eli "Weevil" Navarro, head of the school's most feared gang, the PCH Biker Boyz, who through a series of fascinating plot contrivances found himself begrudgingly helping Veronica in her crusade to see that justice was served at all times. Veronica Mars made its UPN network bow on September 22, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A judge and a lawyer receive suspicious-looking envelopes in the mail -- envelopes which both explode, revealing themselves to be full of nothing more than harmless white powder. Or maybe the powder isn't so harmless, since one of the recipients goes into cardiac arrest. As the 15th precinct investigates this case, Capt. Fraker (Casey Siemaszko) of the IAB offers to turn the heat off John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) in the matter of his dead prostitute informant -- provided that John turns up evidence to destroy his own partner, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). Meanwhile, John's detective father (Joe Spano) cuts a deal that bodes ill for the future, and gay cop John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup) makes plans to lavishly spend his huge inheritance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Treat Williams starred in this warm-hearted family drama series as workaholic neurosurgeon Andrew Brown. Upon the death of his wife, Andrew realized that he had been sorely neglecting his children in favor of his work. As means of compensation, he moved his family out of Manhattan and into the mountain community of Everwood, CO, where he opened up a free clinic. Andrew's kids, 15-year-old Ephram (Gregory Smith) and nine-year-old Delia (Vivien Cardone), were at first resentful over being uprooted, while Everwood's resident doctor Harold Abbott (Tom Amandes) regarded Andrew as a threat to his own livelihood. Assembled by several former Dawson's Creek hands, Everwood made its WB Network debut on September 16, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, a young man must make some difficult decisions when he discovers that his girlfriend's future is almost used up. Kelley (Chris Klein) and Samantha (Leelee Sobieski) are waiting out the summer after their high school graduation before moving on to college. Although Kelley comes from a wealthy family and Samantha's folks are working class, they soon find that they have more in common than they imagined, and they fall in love. However, Samantha's parents (Annette O'Toole and Bruce Greenwood) soon learn that their daughter has only a few more months to live. When Kelley learns the awful truth, he must decide if he should stay by the side of the first girl he's ever loved or obey his father's wishes and go to college. This was the second feature film for director Mark Piznarski, who has directed episodes of the TV series E.R., My So-Called Life, and Relativity, as well as the TV miniseries The 60s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this Kentucky-set drama, a tax attorney lays his career and life on the line while endeavoring to prove that a young girl was murdered. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide