Karen Austin Movies

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

Directed by George Schaefer, this light made-for-television drama is based upon the novel of the same name by Robert Oliphant. Starring Bette Davis as Esther Cimino, a 73-year-old widow, the film traces the events following Esther's son George's (George Hearn) decision that she is no longer capable of caring for herself in her ederly state. Despite her protests, Esther is ruled incompetent by the legal system, leading her to wage a court battle to regain not only her estate but her dignity as well. Also starring Penny Fuller and Christopher Guest, A Piano for Mrs. Cimino first aired on February 3, 1982 on CBS and was later nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Film Editing. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Introduced to NBC's Wednesday-night schedule as a mid-season replacement on January 4, 1984, the weekly 30-minute sitcom Night Court quickly built a large and appreciative audience, enabling the series to remain on the network for nine seasons. Harry Anderson, a comedian who had established his reputation as a smooth-talking, nimble-fingered street magician and self-styled con artist, was perfectly cast as affable, irreverent Manhattan night-court judge Harry T. Stone. Although he came across as an iconoclastic jokester who held standard legal procedure in contempt (in one episode, his verdict was based on the flip of a coin), Harry was a highly successful jurist with a well-honed sense of fair play, whose handling of the oddballs that paraded in and out of his court resulted in a gratifyingly low "return" rate and quite a few reformations. Even those who'd never stood before Judge Stone in court were familiar with his lovable eccentricities, including his fondness for faded blue jeans and his adoration of singer Mel Tormé. The supporting cast included John Larroquette as Assistant DA Dan Fielding, who spent as much time trying to score with the ladies in night court as he did trying to secure convictions, and Richard Moll as bald-headed bailiff "Bull" Shannon (Richard Moll), whose bark was worse than his bite, but not by much.

During the series' first season, Paula Kelly was seen as legal-aid defense lawyer Liz Williams, who was alternately appalled and fascinated by Harry's unorthodox tactics; Karen Austin also appeared as court clerk Lana Wagner, who harbored a not-so-secret crush on Harry. In subsequent seasons, Liz was replaced by Billie Young (Ellen Foley), who in turn was replaced by Christine Sullivan (Markie Post); as for Lana, her replacement was Mac Robinson (Charles Robinson). Both Christine and Mac remained for the rest of the series; not so with Selma Diamond as abrasive jail matron Selma Hacker, a character who lasted only until Diamond's death. The actress' replacement, Florence Halop as Florence Kleiner, likewise passed away after only a short time on the series; she in turn was replaced by Marsha Warfield as Roz Russell, a character who stayed in place until the series' own demise. The on-again, off-again romance between Harry Stone and Christine Sullivan was definitely "off" during seasons seven and eight, when Christine was wed to undercover cop Tony Guillano (Ray Abruzzo), a union which produced a baby. After Christine divorced Tony, her relationship with Harry heated up considerably, but before long the ardor had cooled. Eventually, Christine was elected to congress, whereupon she was pursued not by Harry but by the ever-libidinous Dan Fielding. The final episode of Night Court, which set something of a record for the number of bizarre, surrealistic incidents occurring within a single half-hour, was broadcast on July 1, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marlo Thomas fully justifies her star status in the made-for-television Nobody's Child. Ms. Thomas portrays the real-life Marie Balter, a Massachusetts woman consigned to a mental hospital after a suicide attempt at age 16. For the next 20 years, Marie is and out of the institution, mostly under the care of a sensitive doctor (Caroline Cava) who treats her for panic disorder and depression. Finally able to curb her inner demons without the use of drugs and therapy, Marie leaves the hospital for good, hoping to pursue a normal life. She falls in love with another ex-mental patient (Ray Baker), and strives successfully to earn a college diploma (she later became a health administrator). Aside from Marlo Thomas' Emmy-winning performance, Nobody's Child boasts the stunning camerawork of longtime Ingmar Bergman associate Sven Nykvist. One scene, in which Marie Balter imagines she sees serpents emerging from a typewriter, is as frightening a piece of celluloid as has ever been presented on television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide