Jerry McNeely Movies
- 1986
While we're tempted to label the TV-movie Sin of Innocence as Brady Bunch: The Lost Episode, the film transcends all kidding with its intelligent, tasteful approach to its story material. Dermot Mulroney plays a teenager whose widowed father (Bill Bixby) marries a divorcee (Dee Wallace Stone). Suddenly Mulroney inherits a stepsister (Megan Follows), a girl his own age. What should have been an uncomplicated setup becomes problematic when stepbrother and stepsister fall in love with each other. Sin of Innocence comes to a logical and satisfying conclusion with the two young people solving the dilemma themselves, without the self-serving "assistance" of their anguished parents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1982
Less than a week after the premiere telecast of the "surrogate mother" drama The Gift of Life, the similarly-themed Tomorrow's Child made its TV debut. Stephanie Zimbalist and her geneticist husband William Atherton agree to participate in a secret lab experiment. Under the aegis of doctors Ed Flanders and Salome Jens, the couple "has" a test-tube baby, a fetus brought to full term in a laboratory. Arthur Hill co-stars as Flanders' medical mentor, who casts grave doubts on the morality of the procedure. Since it first telecast on March 22, 1982, the speculative fiction of Tomorrow's Child has matriculated into fact--but the ethical debate goes on. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1980
The overused title Fighting Back made its first appearance of the 1980s in this TV biopic. Robert Urich stars as real-life football player Rocky Bleier, who joins the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968. Rocky's career is curtailed by military service in Vietnam. On August 20, 1969, Bleier is seriously wounded by a hand grenade. The doctors are certain that he'll never walk properly again, much less play football. But several grueling years of physical therapy yield positive results--all the way to the Super Bowl. The 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers costar with Robert Urich in this inspirational tale, which utilizes stock footage of the real Rocky Bleier in action. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1980
Scott Baio plays the son of ex-hockey star Don Murray, who has reacted to the loss of his career with a steadily increasing reliance upon liquor. Baio begins to excel athletically in school, but when the inevitable disappointments set in, he begins to imitate his father's booze intake. Lance Kerwin plays Baio's best friend, who picks up on the early warning signs and tries to keep Baio from descending into alcoholism. Made for television, Boy Who Drank Too Much was intended as a "breakthrough" role for teen idol Scott Baio, who is in fact better than usual here. Based on a novel by Shep Greene, the film was cluttered up with too many superfluous subplots, including the pregnancy of one of Baio's teachers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
Critical List divides its four-hour running time between a big city hospital and a courtroom where the hospital heads are battling numerous malpractice suits. Medical director Lloyd Bridges is obliged to juggle the travails at the hospital with his own deteriorating marriage. Prosecutor Buddy Ebsen seems obsessed with bring medicos to justice; his reasons are deep and complex. Prosecutor's assistant Barbara Parkins compromises her objectivity of entering into a romance with Bridges. And head doctor Robert Wagner has a colorful past that he'd like to keep buried. The story concludes with a major health-fund scandal that threatens Bridges' appointment as the first Secretary of National Health. Advertised as a "world premiere movie", Critical List was actually two TV-series pilot films strung together. Both were based on novels by Marshall Goldberg MD. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
Based on a true story, Something for Joey is about Heisman Trophy-winner Jon Cappelletti and his close relationship with his younger brother Joey, who is suffering from leukemia. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
- 1974
David Hartman stars as Lucas Tanner in this made for TV film. A former athlete and sportswriter, Tanner decides to become a high school teacher after losing his wife and son in an auto accident. His new career is almost over before it begins when Tanner is held responsible for the death of a student. Rosemary Murphy co-stars as Tanner's rules-are-rules principal. First telecast May 8, 1974, Lucas Tanner served as the pilot for the subsequent series of the same name, which also starred Hartman and Murphy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1974
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
- 1971
In this courtroom drama, an attorney investigates the murder of a woman and comes up with some very interesting findings. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1966
Larry Blyden guest stars as meek UNCLE clerk George Donnell, who may or may not be a THRUSH mole. To find out, Solo and Illya set several traps to flush George out. It soon develops, however, that George is an innocent dupe, but the truth of the matter rests with the efficiency of a special device called the Waverly Ring. Rounding out the supporting cast is Elizabeth Allen as George's main accuser (and erstwhile lady friend) Carla. The first Man From U.N.C.L.E. episode written by Jerry McNeely, "The Waverly Ring Affair" originally aired on January 28, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
In this comic episode, Raymond Massey guest stars as B. Elzie Bubb, a satanic gentleman who hopes to use a color-extracting device to destroy the world's most valuable paintings. UNCLE agents April and Mark try to stop Bubb by winning over his reluctant partner in deviltry, inventor Jonathan Quantum (Tom Bosley) -- who has been promised April's affections in exchange for cooperating with the villain. In keeping with the Faustian tenor of the piece, other characters include Georgie Gounod (Carol Wayne) and Willie Goethe (Dick Crockett). The script by Jerry McNeely may be unique in the overall U.N.C.L.E. saga in that none of the characters is killed -- though B. Elzie Bubb receives a deliciously appropriate comeuppance. "The Faustus Affair" was originally telecast on December 27, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
Shari Lewis guest stars as Janet Jarrow, a young actress who is thrust into the lead of an off-Broadway musical when the star (Joan Huntington) is killed by THRUSH agents. UNCLE operatives Solo and Illya infiltrate Janet's production in order to locate THRUSH's communications-jamming computer. The climax finds a singing Janet trying to attract the attention of the good guys while enemy agents intrude upon the lively production number "I March For Love.". In another musical interlude, David McCallum performs "A Man Is a Horn on horn, flute, lute, and drum. The supporting cast includes Lennie Weinrib as long-suffering stage director Winky Blintz, as well as Leon Askin and Charles Dierkop as THRUSH heavies Machina and Adolph. Written by Jerry McNeely, "The Off-Broadway Affair" originally aired on November 18, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
First telecast on April 1, 1966, "The Bat Cave Affair" features Martin Landau as Transylvanian villain Count Zark, whose quasi-vampiric behavior constitutes something of a dry run for Landau's Oscar-winning performance as Bela Lugosi in the 1994 theatrical biopic Ed Wood. UNCLE agents Solo and Illya literally head to the hills to thwart Zark's plan to use radioactive bats as a radar-jamming device. The good guys are aided by Clemency McGill (Joan Freeman), a clairvoyant mountain gal. Written by Jerry McNeely, this episode was originally titled "The Night Flight Affair," but was apparently rechristened to cash in on the popularity of the ABC series Batman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1964
Don Gordon stars as Salvatore Ross, a repulsively arrogant young man who thinks that the world owes him a living. When he is rejected by virtuous social worker Leah Maitland (Gail Kobe), Ross vows to improve himself, and to do that he harnesses his newly-found ability to acquire the physical and personal traits of other people. But Ross miscalculates when he tries out his special skills on Leah's saintly father (Vaughn Taylor). The supporting cast of this Twilight Zone entry ran the age gamut from 20-something Seymour Cassel to septuagenarian Douglas Dumbrille. Scripted by Jerry McNeeley (of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. fame) from a story by Henry Slesar, "The Self-Improvement of Salvatore Ross" made its network bow on January 17, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Don Gordon, Gail Kobe, (more)
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