Linda Bloodworth Movies

Season one of Hearts Afire takes place in Washington D.C., where transplanted Southerner John Hartman (John Ritter) has relocated as chief of staff to ultra-conservative Senator Strobe Smithers. Recently divorced and the father of two sons, Ben (Justin Burnette) and Elliott (Clark Duke), Hartman has developed a mile-long misogynistic streak, fueled by the calculated bitchery of Mavis Davis (Wendie Jo Sperber), the politically ambitious wife of his best friend and fellow senatorial aide Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton), and by the vapidity of Senator Smithers' -- ahem -- secretary, the voluptuous Dee Dee Starr (Beth Broderick). But what has really turned John against the opposite sex is the fact that his wife has left him not for another man, but for another woman! Thus, when liberal journalist Georgie Anne Lahti (Markie Post), broke and jobless after years of circling the globe and filing left-of-center news reports, comes to Smithers' office hoping to sign on as his press secretary, John's first instinct is to boot her out. But despite this, and the vituperative political arguments between the two of them, John agrees to let Georgie Anne have the job, and Georgie Anne, against her better judgment accepts. The reason? John has the hots for Georgie Anne -- and the feeling is mutual! Circumstance dictates that Georgie Anne move into the house occupied by John and his sons, which only intensifies the torrid feelings between the two protagonists. Even the put-down pragmatism of Georgie Anne's childhood nanny Miss Lula (Beah Richards) does little to extinguish the flames, as does John's dismay over the fact that Georgie Anne's dad George (Ed Asner) is an ex-convict who shows no signs of wanting to mend his ways.
As originally conceived, John and Georgie Anne were to remain single, in hopes of stirring up the same "will they or won't they" intrigue that had added spice to such mismatched-couple series as Cheers and Moonlighting. But the executives at CBS were antsy over the unhitched status of the Hearts Afire protagonists, especially since the series was being seen in a relatively early Wednesday-night time slot. Under protest, producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason agreed to make things more "family friendly" by having John and Georgie Anne get married before the first season was over -- and that was only the first of several radical changes in the series' concept. Surprisingly, despite Thomasons' well-known Washington connections, only one political figure appeared during the series' first season -- if "political figure" is the correct phrase to describe "Presidential brother" Roger Clinton! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season three of Hearts Afire finds conservative political functionary John Hartman (John Ritter) still living in his hometown with his worldly, liberal journalist wife Georgie Anne (Markie Post), where they continue to churn out the local newspaper, "The Daily Beacon," with the help of John's lifelong pal Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton) and Georgie Anne's acerbic gal-pal Madeline Stoessinger (Conchata Ferrell). Although the setting and most of the previous season's cast is intact, there are a couple of significant changes during season three. For one, J. Skylar Testa has replaced Justin Burnette in the role of the Hartmans' oldest son Ben. And for another, Georgie Anne has given birth to a daughter. Although the series' locale switch from Washington D.C. to the Deep South during season two had given Hearts Afire a small boost in the ratings, the third season episodes suffered from the stiff competition of Fox's America's Most Wanted -- and then, after switching from Saturday to Wednesday night, the series was at the mercy of another opposing Fox show, Beverly Hills 90210. Hearts Afire was canceled in February of 1995, with only 13 of the series' final 14 episodes seeing the light of day on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Col. Blake (McLean Stevenson) organizes a search party for the dog that bit his clerk, Radar (Gary Burghoff). Blake can't be sure, but the pooch may have been rabid -- and if so, the consequences for Radar are too unpleasant to imagine. Meanwhile, the staff wonders why the usually compassionate Hawkeye (Alan Alda) is treating a paralyzed soldier (Michael O'Keefe) in so brusque and cold a fashion. "Mad Dogs and Servicemen" originally aired on December 10, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Everyone in the 4077th has spring fever, and few are more "feverish" than Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), who decides to take advantage of a lull in hostilities by shooting a few rounds of golf. Elsewhere, Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) relies upon a balky short-wave radio to perform a marriage ceremony between Klinger and his Toledo-based sweetheart; a grateful patient (Alex Karras) inextricably attaches himself to a bewildered Hawkeye (Alan Alda); and Radar falls for a nurse who shares his love of poetry. Said nurse is played by comedienne Mary Kay Place, who also co-wrote the script. "Springtime" first aired on October 15, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The cast and creators of the popular sitcom Designing Women are reassembled in this hour-long special originally telecast on the Lifetime cable channel. Yielding 164 episodes from 1986 to 1993, Designing Women centered around the Atlanta design firm headquartered in the home of loquacious feminist Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter). During the series' first few seasons, the firm's personnel included Julia's vapid, much-married sister, ex-beauty queen Suzanne (Delta Burke); divorced mother Mary Jo Jackson (Annie Potts); wide-eyed country girl Charlene (Jean Smart); and the ladies' chief delivery person and severest critic, former convict Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor, who also hosts the reunion special). Created by Linda Bloodworth and Harry Thomason, the series gained a measure of fame (and not a little notoriety) for its pronounced liberal political content, not to mention its ceaseless stumping on behalf of the Bill Clinton presidential campaign of 1992. The Designing Women Reunion features interviews of the stars and clips from the series. When first telecast, it was followed by a broadcast of the series' original pilot episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi