Mark-Paul Gosselaar Movies

As if audiences in mid-2002 weren't nervous enough about anticipated enemy attacks on America, this made-for-cable movie speculates on the disastrous possibilities of a tornado hitting a nuclear power plant. Racing against time, nuclear expert Corinne Maguire (Sharon Lawrence), sheriff C.B. Bishop (Corbin Bernsen) and deputy Jake Hannah (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) try to evacuate the locals and prevent the vaporization of Tennessee (if that power plant goes, "it'll make Chernobyl look like a firecracker"). Complicating matters is the fact that Sharon's 12-year-old Campbell (Daniel Costello) is nowhere to be found. Advertised on the strength of the presence of two NYPD Blue stars in the cast -- one former (Sharon Lawrence), one current (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) -- Atomic Twister made its TBS Superstation debut on June 9, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At the end of NYPD Blue's eighth season, Danny Sorenson (Rick Schroder), the troubled young partner of the 15th precinct's Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), had disappeared under sinister circumstances after a botched undercover operation. It was not until season nine got under way that Danny's murder was confirmed, sending Sipowicz -- not to mention the rest of the 15th -- into an emotional spiral. In the fine revolving-door tradition of NYPD Blue, Danny was immediately replaced by another handsome young detective with personal issues: John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), the son of a veteran cop (Joe Spano) who happened to be an old enemy of John's new partner Andy. To compensate for the defection of another longtime series regular, Kim Delaney (Detective Diane Russell), Jacqueline Obradors was added to the cast as Det. Rita Ortiz, formerly of the vice squad who had transferred to the 15th at the insistence of her jealous, possessive Assistant DA husband, Don Harrison (Stan Cahill). Inasmuch as the series was falling into a pattern of predictability by this time, it was hardly surprising that Rita Ortiz would have been minus one husband and plus one new boyfriend (John Clark Jr., of course) by the end of season nine.

Of the holdover actors from previous seasons, Esai Morales had neatly settled into the role of Lt. Tony Rodriguez, the no-nonsense replacement of former 15th precinct skipper Lt. Fancy -- and had brought along his own emotional baggage in the form of a vengeful Internal Affairs Bureau captain (Casey Siemaszko) who had seemingly made it his life's work to force Rodriguez out of his job. The inner demons of Det. Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross) surfaced to plague her when she attempted to touch base with Jennifer (Katie Fountain), the daughter whom she'd given up for adoption 16 years earlier. Homosexual administrative employee John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup) took a brief respite from his duties to embark upon an African "safari" with his new boyfriend. And the off-again, on-again relationship between Det. Baldwin Jones (Henry Simmons) and ADA Valerie Haywood (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) took on a new and slightly melancholy dimension when Valerie became pregnant. As usual, it was top-billed Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz who bore the brunt of the dramatic developments. In addition to having to adjust to the tragic loss of another partner, Dennis also found himself enmeshed in the financial intrigues surrounding wealthy old eccentric Mrs. Hornby (Elmarie Wendel), for whom he worked as a bodyguard in his off-hours. And, of more importance to future plot developments, Andy finally made a romantic decision between two of the women in his life, Connie McDowell and the very-much-younger Cynthia Bunin (Juliana Donald) -- or rather, the decision was made for him following a traumatic hostage crisis. With Steven Bochco replacing the departing David Milch as senior executive producer, NYPD Blue was poised to begin its ninth season in early October of 2001 -- thereby breaking the tradition established in the past two seasons, when the debut date had been moved up to January (or mid-season) due to backstage intrigues and scheduling conflicts. However, the tragic events of September 11 obliged both the producers and the network to delay the season opener until November 6, by which time several scripts had been rewritten to reflect the 15th precinct's reaction to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Before the box-office success of Varsity Blues (1999) and the critical acclaim of Election (1999), the MTV cable channel created this raunchy campus comedy, the debut feature from MTV Films, the network's motion-picture production banner. Josh Miller (Tom Everett Scott) is a studious and responsible pre-med student entering college as a freshman. His wild, hard-partying roommate, Cooper Frederickson (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), on the other hand, is a spoiled rich kid who never studies and spends his time getting drunk and ogling coeds. Before long, Cooper's fun-filled lifestyle has corrupted Josh, and both are on the verge of flunking out of school. That's when they discover a little-used codicil in the college's charter stating that any student whose roommate commits suicide will automatically receive straight A's. Since their third roommate has moved in with his girlfriend, Josh and Cooper set about recruiting the most depressed, suicidal classmate they can find. The prime candidate: Cliff (Lochlyn Munro), a mentally unbalanced wild man. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

14-year-old Holly Nolan (Gina Philips) lives unhappily with her hyperjudgmental mother Donna (Talia Shire) and her brother Ted (Eddie Mills). To escape the pressures of her home life and make herself feel important, Holly begins hanging out with an older crowd, and in the course of events falls in love with 19-year-old Chris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) an Army reservist who has been disowned by his family. When Donna violently objects to Holly's romance with Chris, the couple elope and head off to Calfornia, certain that all they need to survive in the "outside" world is their love for each other. But it isn't enough: Repeatedly battered down by disillusionment and deprivation, Holly and Chris can't even return to her home town, where Chris faces charges for being AWOL--and, thanks to Holly's vengeful mother, for statutory rape. With apparently no other alternative, Chris resorts to the "easiest" way to stay alive, becoming a male prostitute on the mean streets of LA. Innovative direction and a driving musical score featuring such artists as Van Halen, Peter Himmelman, Lisa Cerbone and Sarah McLaughlin) helps sustain the viewers' interest and fascination in this sordid (but not sordidly told) made-for-TV movie. Born Into Exile made its NBC network debut on March 17, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this youthful drama, three 13 year olds come of age when they learn to stand up to a vicious local bully. Joey, Book and Mouth live for baseball. Joey is a superb pitcher and Book an excellent catcher while Mouth dreams of becoming Joey's agent. All three boys have less than perfect home lives, with their chief problem being that their parents are too often gone. Still, they have a good summer until Hayes, a nearly psycho bully begins tormenting them in increasingly violent ways. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A naïve small-town girl struggling just to keep up with the fast pace of college life falls prey to a sadistic sexual predator whose popularity exempts him from suspicion in director Bethany Rooney's cautionary tale of campus sex crimes. Though Melissa Connell (Candace Cameron Bure) is at first intimidated at the prospect of striking out on her own at Pierpoint College, her initial worries are somewhat relieved when she receives a special invitation to attend an upcoming campus party. When Melissa is brutally raped by campus ladies' man Scott (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) at the party, her subsequent attempts at making a case to the school authorities are quickly foiled by a notable lack of evidence. Now ridiculed and ostracized by her campus peers, Melissa is forced into a deadly game with fraternity fiend Scott that could prove his guilt if it doesn't kill her first. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An uneven, patchy script does nothing to help this humdrum story about a man dedicated to obtaining some suitcases full of counterfeit money - just as good as the real thing to him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Real-life recovering anorexic Tracey Gold stars in this emotional drama, which is more than your average disease-of-the-week fare. Based on the true story of college-student Nancy Walsh, this above-average TV-movie focuses on the family dynamic issues often found at the core of the eating disorder known as anorexia. Viewers watch Nancy as she slowly transforms from healthy and outgoing college freshman into a secretive and withdrawn young woman, starving herself in response to pressure. Her frantic parents (Jill Clayburgh, William Devane) try everything possible to save her from the slow suicide and ultimately go to the courts to legally force their daughter into getting help. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Miles (Grant Shaud) puts together a junior version of "FYI" to appeal to preteen viewers, and he asks Murphy (Candice Bergen) to mentor one of the youthful reporters. In her diligence to do the right thing, Murphy succeeds only in creating a Frankenstein--specifically a younger, even nastier clone of herself! Future Blossom star Mayim Bialik appears as the "mini-Murphy", while a very young Mark-Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue) is seen as one of the other student reporters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi