Richard Herd Movies

Just in time for the February ratings "sweeps," Next Generation offered this two part episode. The story gets under way as Worf is told that his presumed-dead father is alive in a Romulan prison camp. Almost simultaneously, Data experiences his first-ever dream, which provides him with a clue pertaining to his origins. Worf and Data both embark upon separate quests in search of their "roots, " with several startling suprises in store. Written by Brannon Braga, part one of "Birthright" was first telecast February 27, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The superb, utterly convincing special effects in the two-part TV movie The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake cannot be faulted. Less convincing are the scenes in which the fictional TV reporters, demoralized and in tears, can't bring themselves to describe the extent of the destruction. Part One, telecast November 11, 1990, finds seismologist Joanna Kerns trying in vain to convince authorities that the entire LA basin will be shake-and-bake within a few days. This portion of the drama ends with "The Big One" wreaking havoc throughout Lala-land. Part Two, broadcast November 12, concerns itself with the aftermath, the rescues, the tragedies, and above all the effect the natural disaster has on Kerns and her friends and family. Also appearing in The Big One is Ed Begley Jr. as the one political official willing to listen to Kerns' warnings, and Richard Masur as one of those "I can't bear it!" TV journalists. The video version titled The Great Los Angeles Earthquake runs 106 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker story was a "natural" for TV-movie adaptation, and Fall From Grace more than fills the bill. Bernadette Peters heaps on makeup by the trowel as Tammy Faye, the wife of televangelist Jim Bakker (here played with boyish fanaticism by Kevin Spacey). The Bakkers build up their "PTL" organization ("Praise the Lord") into a massive empire encompassing millions of dollars in donations, a cable-TV network, valuable land holdings and a garish religious theme park, Heritage USA. A North Carolina newspaper rocks the boat by investigating inequities in the Bakkers' financial setup. The whole enterprise falls apart when it's discovered that Jim has siphoned off funds to cover up an extramarital affair. Telecast in the spring of 1990 to coincide with the beginning of Jim Bakker's long, long prison sentence, Fall From Grace tries to be fair...for at least fifteen minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ageing widow's relationship with an ex-flame is re-ignited when she runs into her former boyfriend at a class reunion in this warmhearted tale of middle-aged romance starring Bea Arthur, Richard Kiley, and Joan Van Ark. Despite their rekindled feelings, the pair soon finds their powerful connection threatened when the woman discovers that her new beau is involved in a May-December romance with a much younger woman. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Were it not for its profanity-laden opening scenes, John Hughes' Planes, Trains and Automobiles might have been suitable family entertainment: certainly it's heaps less violent and mean-spirited than Hughes' Home Alone. En route to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family, easily annoyed businessman Neal Page (Steve Martin) finds his first-class plane ticket has been demoted to coach, and he must share his flight with obnoxious salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). A sudden snowstorm in Chicago forces the plane to land in Wichita. Unable to find a room in any of the four-star hotels, Neal is compelled to accept Del's invitation to share his accommodations in a cheapo-sleazo motel. Driven to distraction by Del's annoying personal habits, the ungrateful Neal lets forth with a stream of verbal abuse. That's when Del delivers the anticipated (but always welcome) "I don't judge, why should you?"-type speech so common to John Hughes flicks. The shamefaced Neal tries to make up to Del, but there's a bumpy time ahead as the mismatched pair make their way back to Chicago, first in a balky train, then by way of a refrigerator truck. We know from the outset that the oil-and-water Neal and Del will be bosom companions by the end of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but it's still a fun ride. The best bit: a half-asleep Del thinking that he's got his hand tucked between two pillows -- until his bedmate, Neal, bellows "Those aren't pillows!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Speedy Delivery Company, a firm run by former Army pilot A.J. (Joseph Hacker) and his blind sister Lisa (Stacey Nelkin) is being forced out of business by a band of baddies led by Ike Hagen (Mitchell Ryan). When the A-Team arrives on the scene, they quickly deduce that Hagen is in league with crooked chemical company executive Durcell (Richard Herd) to set up a site where they can illegally dump toxic waste. Horror movie fans will enjoy the "teaming" of two veterans from the Halloween series, Mitchell Ryan (Dr. Wynn in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers) and Stacey Nelkin (Ellie in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Canceled by ABC at the end of its fourth season, the weekly, hour-long cop drama T.J. Hooker was picked up by CBS for 19 additional episodes, to be telecast during the 1985-1986 season. Because the series would now be seen in the late night hours rather than in prime time, the producers were forced to cut budgetary corners. Stars William Shatner (Sgt. T.J. Hooker), Heather Locklear (Officer Stacy Sheridan), and James Darren (Officer Jim Corrigan) were willing to take salary cuts in order to keep their series alive. But co-star Adrian Zmed said "no" to a lowered salary -- and thus, T.J. Hooker did without the services of Zmed and his character, Officer Vince Romano, for its fifth and final season. The initial CBS episode is built around the kidnapping of T. J. Hooker's daughter Chrissie, played by Jennifer Beck (taking over from Nicole Eggert, who'd outgrown the role). In another domestic development, John McLiam is seen as T.J.'s ex-police detective dad, John P. Hooker, in "Return of a Cop." Also, William Shatner doubles as star and director for a brace of episodes, "Shootout" and "Partners in Death," the latter written by Shatner's daughter Lisabeth Shatner. Finally, co-star James Darren likewise gets to wield the megaphone in another episode, "Into the Night." Of the remaining fifth-season installments, the two-part "Blood Sport" has since its original telecast sometimes been syndicated as a stand-alone "TV movie." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season four of T.J. Hooker opens with the titular police sergeant (William Shatner) and his partner-protégé Officer Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) agonizing over the fact that their colleague, Officer Stacy Sheridan (Heather Locklear), is in a coma after being shot in the line of duty. Though some viewers may have suspected that Stacy had been rendered immobile so that actress Locklear could spend more time playing Sammy Jo Dean on the nighttime soap opera Dynasty, the character quickly recovered for more thrilling adventures in uniform. (And no, contrary to popular belief, she is not taken hostage in every episode!) Worth noting this season is the series' plethora of guest stars. Among many others, Dennis Franz and Heather Thomas are seen in the episode "Hardcore Connection," Jim Brown appears in "Anatomy of a Killing," Sharon Stone is prominently featured in "Hollywood Starr," Marjoe Gortner and Lauren Tewes show up in "Lag Time," and a pre-Beverly Hills 90210 Tori Spelling co-stars with a pre-Designing Women Delta Burke in "Grand Theft Auto." The series' 72nd episode, "The Chicago Connection," was the last to be seen on ABC. But though it had lost its parent network, T.J. Hooker would be back for a fifth season on rival web CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The second (and first "full") season of T.J. Hooker finds the titular police sergeant (William Shatner) taking on wider responsibilities than his "official" job as trainer at the LCPD Academy Precinct. Along with Hooker, hotheaded rookie cop Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) is back, as is T.J.'s no-nonsense superior, Captain Dennis Sheridan (Richard Herd). Gone, however, is trainee Vicki Taylor (April Clough), replaced by a new rookie named Stacy (Heather Locklear), who happens to be Captain Sheridan's daughter. Although most of the season's storylines focus on the Hooker - Romano relationship -- Romano has the makings of a good cop, but he's still too reckless and impulsive for his own good -- Stacy is able to prove her worth in record time, and by season's end she has embarked upon her first week of field training. Her new partner is veteran cop Jim Corrigan (played by James Darren), who had previously appeared on the series as a drag racer named Devil Dan Danko in the episode "King of the Hill." As the season progresses, the character of Hooker's ex-wife Fran (Lee Bryant), who figured prominently in the earliest episodes, fades into the background, save for a spectacular "comeback" in "The Hostages." This doesn't get Hooker off the hook, as it were, in matters of male-female relationships, as witnessed by a midseason episode in which our hero clashes with new police commissioner Ms. Cooke (Laraine Stephens), who doesn't agree with his methods. Of special interest during season two are the re-teamings of William Shatner with his former Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy, who not only portrays Lt. Paul McGuire in "Vengeance is Mine," but also serves as director for another episode, "The Decoy" (with Stacy, naturally, in the title role). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sitcom stalwart Valerie Harper trades jokes for the judiciary in Farrell: For the People. Valerie stars as New York attorney Elizabeth Farrell ("All she wants to be is a DA", declared the TV Guide ad copy, "but her toughest case is being a woman!"), whose case load runs the gamut from rapists to killers. This TV movie borrows a page from current events by fictionalizing the notorious Norman Mailer/Jack Henry Abbott contretemps. Farrell takes on an ex-convict who has become a best-selling author thanks to the intervention of the Manhattan intellectual elite--and whose latest creative achievement is murder. Farrell: for the People was the pilot for a projected TV series, but the central character was too bland and confining for Valerie Harper's talents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this low-budget but inventive teen kung-fu melodrama, the diminutive, karate-chopping Lovely (Lucinda Dooling) is out to wreak vengeance on the drug thugs who killed her younger brother, and fortunately she is not alone. Her female karate class and the instructor (Susan Mechsner) are behind her all the way, most notably in the final scenes when a showdown between the kicking teen women and the heavy-duty gangsters almost brings down the docks. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide