Karen Austin Movies
Austin is a lead actress, onscreen from the '80s. ~ All Movie Guide- 2005
Ryan O'Neal guest stars as Rodney Scavo, father-in-law of Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman). Rodney has a few surprises in store for Lynette and her husband, Tom -- and they don't come wrapped up in pretty ribbons. (Also, listen for an inside reference to the old TV soaper Peyton Place, which also featured Ryan O'Neal.) Meanwhile, Susan (Teri Hatcher) looks askance at the growing relationship between her daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen), and the secretive Zach Young (Cody Kasch). Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) is shocked by a favor asked by the parents of her teenage paramour, John (Jesse Metcalfe). And Bree (Marcia Cross) doesn't seem all that eager to get back together with her estranged husband, Rex (Steven Culp). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Forced by Romano (Paul McCrane) to work a few shifts in the ER, Elizabeth (Alex Kingston) has a run-in with Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) -- and learns for the first time about Greene's (Anthony Edwards) inoperable tumor. Elsewhere, two girls involved in a campus stabbing incident are brought into the ER. Chen (Ming-Na) handles a victim of severe trauma. And when Weaver (Laura Innes) tries to find out if her girlfriend, Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal), has been injured in a fire, she is in for a big surprise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
The Sliders find themselves on an "Old West" parallel version of the earth, where Colin (Charlie O'Connell) disappears after being shot down by a grim-visaged gunfighter known as Mr. K (Reiner Schone). As Colin is nursed back to health by homesteader Amanda Starr (Karen Austin), Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) gets a job as a saloon singer so she can afford the horses needed to launch a search for her missing friend. Meanwhile, Quinn (Jerry O'Connell) is framed for murder, thus setting the stage for the obligatory "High Noon" showdown with an old enemy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Carolinian Sarah Cooper (Linda Lavin) and Texan Harriet Cahill (Gena Rowlands) are lifelong friends who are both widowed at virtually the same time. Although Sarah is financially well off, Harriet is struggling to make ends meet. In her efforts to help Harriet, Sarah is shocked to find out that her old friend has always been jealous and resentful of Sarah's comparative success in life--and that is not the only startling occurrence in the challenge- and crisis-ridden months that follow. Deflty managing to including such TV-movie standbys as adultery, old-age romance and terminal illness, Best Friends for Life made its CBS network bow on January 18, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
The wedding plans of teenagers Greg (Corbin Allred) and Jill (Mercedes McNab) may be scuttled by their overbearingly "perfect" mothers Liz (Alley Mills) and Candice (Karen Austin), who have despised each other ever since their high school days. It turns out that Candice had long ago stolen Liz's boyfriend, and that Liz had spitefully agreed to keep Candice's youthful promiscuity a secret from her daughter Jill on condition that Jill never marry Liz's son Greg. It is up to angels Monica (Roma Downey), Tess (Della Reese) and Andrew (John Dye) to help Candice and Liz overcome their mutual animosity, selfishness and guilt feelings for the sake of their children. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
While accompanying Dr. Bashir on a mercy mission to a battle-scarred Federation colony, Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) experiences the horror of war on an up-close and personal level for the first time in his life. As the dedicated Bashir tends to the wounded and dying, Jake, nervous over an impending Klingon attack, panics and runs off, which serves to put him even further in harm's way. Cowardice ultimately gives way to unexpected reserves of courage, when Jake is himself besieged by marauding Klingons. Scripted by Rene Echevarria from a story by Brice R. Parker, ". . .Nor the Battle to the Strong" was first telecast October 21, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Several people offer advice when it looks as though Adrianne (Justine Miceli) is ready for a night of passion with Martinez (Nicholas Turturro). Tracking a suspected serial killer to Atlantic City, Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) goes ballistic when he hears the possible perp's zany "alibi." And when an arrogant surgeon (Richard Kline) is shot, his wife (Karen Austin) does everything she can to implicate the doctor's mistress. Future Dharma & Greg star Jenna Elfman makes an impressive guest appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- PG
Seinfeld's Jason Alexander stars in this made-for-television remake of the 1963 classic musical. Alexander stars as Albert J. Peterson, a man hoping to make his fortune and get the girl by promoting the big send-off for a newly drafted pop star named Conrad Birdie (Marc Kudish). A song-and-dance movie, actress-dancer Ann Reinking served as choreographer of this film. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1994
In this drama, a mother fights to prove her son is innocent of murder charges. Even though he supposedly confessed while under hypnosis, the woman doubts the veracity of the procedure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh Taylor-Young, Michael Brandon, (more)
- 1993
Another psychopath haunts another baby sitter in this made-for-TV sequel to the 1979 feature When a Stranger Calls. When prim schoolgirl Julia (Jill Schoelen) accepts a last-minute baby-sitting assignment from a doctor and his wife (Kevin McNulty and Cheryl Wilson), she follows all the rules: She studies diligently, checks often on the kids, and refuses to open the door for strangers -- even when a stranded motorist asks to come in and call his auto club. Julia offers to call for him, but the phone is dead, and rather than alert a strange man that she's without a link to the outside world, she lies and says they're on their way. The man returns to the door repeatedly, angrily wondering why help hasn't arrived; as he continues to badger Julia, she notices things aren't right in the house. Slips of paper disappear, doors mysteriously unlock themselves, the children vanish, and Julia barely escapes with her life. Five years later, Julia is an introverted college student with some heavy-duty locks on her door. Nevertheless, she starts getting that familiar feeling that something isn't right. Enter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane), survivor of a similar baby-sitting atrocity many years earlier. Now a guidance counselor at Julia's university, she offers to help the girl track down her stalker. With the help of an old friend, private eye John Clifford (Charles Durning), Jill picks up the trail of a disturbed ventriloquist (Gene Lythgow). But when Julia ends up with a bullet in her head in an apparent suicide attempt, even John thinks Jill's investigation is a wild goose chase. Reuniting stars Carol Kane and Charles Durning with writer/director Fred Walton, When a Stranger Calls Back features another horror veteran in its cast. Jill Schoelen previously starred in 1990's Popcorn. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Kane, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1992
The tragic wreck of the super-tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989 was one of the most devastating ecological disasters in recent history. Immediately after the ship ran aground and began pumping over 11 million gallons of suffocating oil from its ruptured hold, experts were sent out to assess the damage and clean up the mess. This gripping docudrama tells their story. Much centers on the conflict between local officials, the fishing industry, and the Exxon official sent out to oversee the clean-up and take the rap. With unflinching moral outrage, the filmmakers point out that much of the aftermath could have been minimized had the officials in charge been better prepared and not spent so much time involved in useless red-tape and petty bureaucratic bickering. Most of the film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, but it also utilizes archival filmclips of the actual disaster and clean up efforts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this made-for-TV movie, a woman suffering the ravages of terminal cancer desires, against the wishes of her husband, to permanently end her suffering. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
A young college boy finds himself entangled in a deadly scheme when he meets up with an unbalanced heiress with murder on her mind. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1990
McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) becomes nervous and hostile when she and Hunter (Fred Dryer) are temporarily teamed with Hunter's former coworker, Lt. Megan Malone (Karen Austin). Things get worse after the robbery suspect targetted by the trio escapes. To relieve the tension, Captain Devane ($Charles Hallahan}) orders both Hunter and McCall to see the department's psychologist--which both of them do, unbeknownst to one another. In the course of the therapy, McCall makes the startling revelation that she and Hunter had once been intimate...and she's never completely gotten over him! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Kevin Dobson and Michael Tucker play best friends and next-door neighbors whose relationship and lives are torn asunder by tragedy. Tucker's 5-year-old son (Bradley Michael Pierce) accidentally falls into Dobson's swimming pool and is drowned. Dobson is racked by guilt, while Tucker's moods swing from hostility to depression. Ultimately the men and their families are reunited by their shared memories of the lost boy. Casey's Gift: For Love of a Child deserved a larger audience than it received; the TV movie had the misfortune to be telecast in most markets opposite the fourth-season opener of Star Trek: The Next Generation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
After an absence of nearly a decade, Peter Falk returns to the role of dishevelled detective Columbo in Columbo Goes to the Guillotine. The special guest murderer this time out is professional psychic Anthony Andrews. The victim is magician Anthony Zerbe, a onetime cellmate of Andrews' who had been the psychic's co-conspirator in a plan to steal military secrets. Zerbe is found lying next to his guillotine trick, his head neatly severed from his body. An accident, says the coroner. Maybe not, says Columbo, whose efforts to tighten the noose around Andrews' neck are complicated by the latter's ESP prowess. The 2-hour Columbo Goes to the Guillotine was telecast February 6, 1989, as the opening volley of The ABC Monday Mystery Movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, escaped prisoners Ned (Robert DeNiro) and Jim (Sean Penn) take refuge in a monastery where they pose as priests to avoid capture. Intending to flee across the Canadian border, the two convicts run into all kinds of unexpected trouble in their new-found priesthood. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, (more)
- 1989
Fact-based, made-for-television account of the hunt for a pair of serial killers who slaughtered ten women in the hillsides of Los Angeles between October 1977 and February 1978. (Alternate title: The Case Of The Hillside Stranglers) ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Crenna
Former child star and one-time scandal magnet Drew Barrymore had her first teenage role in this offbeat thriller with comic overtones. Charlie Cross (Matt Frewer) is vacationing with his 15-year-old daughter Joleen (Barrymore). Charlie and Joleen are stranded in an Arizona trailer park when they run out of gas, and they quickly get to know their temporary neighbors, including ill-tempered landlady Agnes Reed (Susan Tyrrell), her son Jimmy (Andras Jones), friendly but scrambled Viet Nam vet Duckett (Richard Masur), fellow travelers Amy (Jennifer Tilly) and Louise (Karen Austin), and geeky Pinky Sears (Anthony Rapp). However, it turns out that a psychotic murderer is in their midst, and Sheriff Bill Childers (Dick Miller) joins with the mobile home dwellers in trying to catch the killer before he can strike again. Far From Home marked the directorial debut of Meiert Avis, while screenwriter Tommy Lee Wallace previously worked with co-star Frewer as a director for the TV series Max Headroom. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Frewer, Drew Barrymore, (more)
Each of Katharine Hepburn's 1980s TV movies was heralded as the lady's last-ever appearance. We are fortunate indeed that she didn't choose the minor-league Laura Lansing Slept Here as her valedictory film. Ms. Hepburn more or less plays herself as a celebrated, pampered novelist who accepts the wager that she can't survive a week living with "just folks." She moves bag and baggage into a middle-class home, where she does her best to stage-manage the family members' private lives. Laura Lansing Slept Here could just as easily have been titled The Woman Who Came to Dinner; it's to Katharine Hepburn's credit that she was able to make so much out of so little. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- PG
Housekeeping is the film in which Christine Lahti invites a guest into a living room half-submerged in water. This is hardly the oddest moment in this characteristically quirky Bill Forsyth film (his first American production). When their grandmother dies, Idaho pre-teens Sarah Walker and Andrea Burchill are watched over by their late mother's sister (played by Ms. Lahti). This strange young woman has throughout her life made unconventionality a life form. The girls are at first embarrassed by their loopy aunt, but when Burchill moves in with another family, Walker draws closer to the older woman. They hit the road, where Lahti has spent most of her life, and experience several picaresque episodes before the more sober-sided Burchill informs the authorities about their vagabond lifestyle. Threatened with losing custody of Walker, Lahti makes an effort to clean up her act, but by this time her niece has become just as endearingly unpredictable as she. Director Forsyth adapted his script from a novel by Marilynne Robinson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, Sarah Walker, (more)
- 1986
Tony Richardson, who in his days of prominence directed the Oscar-winning Tom Jones (1963), demonstrated in 1986's Penalty Phase that the intervening years did not dim his talent in the least. Peter Strauss stars as a liberal judge, in the midst of a re-election campaign. Strauss has been under fire from his enemies for being too soft on criminals. He intends to prove otherwise while presiding over the case of a vicious mass murderer and rapist (Richard Chaves). Shortly after a guilty verdict is reached, Strauss is tipped off anonymously that the defendant right's may have been violated during interrogation. While the jury enters "the penalty phase" wherein they must decide on proper punishment, Strauss undergoes a profound moral dilemma: Should he honor the letter of the law, thereby incurring public wrath and losing all hopes for being re-elected? Scripted by former lawyer Gail Patrick Hickman, the made-for-TV Penalty Phase was originally telecast November 18, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
