Isabella Hofmann Movies

Produced for Canadian television in 2000, Touched by a Killer is based on The Rage of the Blue Moon, a play by Richard Vetere. Isabella Hoffman stars as successful but emotionally needy investigative reporter Nikki Barrington, who has come to believe that death row inmate Tyler Nash (James Wilder) has been wrongly accused of murdering a young woman at a bar. Falling in love with the charming Nash, Nikki does everything in her power to free him from prison before it is too late. She manages to succeed in this pursuit, whereupon the grateful Nash pledges eternal devotion. Before long, however, the ex-prisoner's behavior takes an ominous turn for the worse; and by film's end, a terrified Nikki must disprove what she spent the first part of the film "proving." In America, Touched by a Killer was purchased by the Lifetime cable channel, where it was first shown in 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

To paraphrase the late, great NBC programming executive Brandon Tartikoff, the television industry is comprised of two different groups of people: The "beggars," those actors, writers, directors, and producers who tirelessly and relentlessly package and pitch ideas, concepts, and premises for new TV series; and the "choosers," those elite network chieftans who make the final decisions as to what will or will not be seen on the air. With this in mind, Beggars and Choosers was the perfect title for a raunchy, ribald cable-TV satirical sitcom, set behind the walls of a major (but not too major) television network. The setting for this weekly, 60-minute series was the headquarters of the LGT network, which, though it ran a distant last to such prestigious webs as ABC, CBS, and NBC, still managed to score a few ratings successes, notably the Seinfeld clone "Peter's Pals" and the ethnic soaper "Puerto Vallarta." Like most contemporary entertainment-manufacturing concerns, LGT was a hotbed of betrayals, double-crosses, backstabbings, dark intrigues, covert conspiracies, and sexual shenanigans. Heading the huge cast of regulars and recurring characters was Brian Kerwin as youthful LGT president Brian Kerwin, who manfully kept his wits about him while swimming with sharks at the workplace and dealing with domestic problems engendered by his demanding wife Cecile (Isabella Hoffman) and his troublesome teenaged children Audrey (Keegan Connor Tracy) and Cary (Kaj-Erik Eriksen). Co-starring with Kerwin was Charlotte Ross as Lori Vopone, LGT's barracuda-like vice president of development, who would stop at literally nothing to get bigger ratings and advance her own career. Others in the cast included Tuc Watkins as the network's closeted homosexual casting executive Malcolm Laffley, who spent most of the first season trying to work up the courage to "out" himself; William McNamara as supercilious talent agent Brad Advail, who was convinced that his success hinged upon which pair of socks he wore on any given day; Christopher Kennedy as Marty Hertz, LGT's bean-counting head of business affairs; and Sheila Moore as the network's hypersensitive vice president of standards and practices. Initially, LGT was owned by the senile, semi-comatose E. L. Ludden (Bill Morey) and his scheming trophy wife Lydia (Carol Kane). During a bitter power struggle between Mr. and Mrs. Ludden, control of the network was seized by flaky dot.com billionaire Dan Falco (Beau Bridges), who shortly thereafter turned the business over to his nitwit brother Freddie (James Belushi). The gloriously uninhibited and diabolically clever Beggars and Choosers debuted over cable's Showtime network on June 19, 1999, remaining in first-run for the next two seasons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this sci-fi thriller, Harper (Isabella Hoffman) is a reconnaissance agent from an alien civilization sent to Earth to study the planet and its inhabitants. Harper has taken over the body of a human being in order to not seem conspicuous, and has been performing tests to see if her mind control techniques will make it possible for her people to enslave the human race. But Harper has learned that most of the earthlings do not respond to her methods, and another three alien scouts -- Alpha, Bravo, and Charley -- are sent to see if the path can be cleared for a massive invasion of the planet three days hence. While Harper's new comrades show little concern or compassion for human beings, she has developed an understanding of humans during her six months on the planet and is no longer certain that taking over the planet is a good idea. The Advanced Guard also stars James Avery, Michael Weatherly, and Jeff Kober. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rebelling against her overprotective mother Charlotte (Carol Lawrence), photographer Sara Perkins (Isabella Hofmann) accepts a dangerous assignment in war-torn Bosnia, with Monica (Roma Downey) tagging along as her assistant. Upon her return, Sara fully expects an angry reaction from her mother--but she doesn't expect Charlotte to violently assault her, earning a jail sentence as a result! As it turns out, there is a tragic explanation for Charlotte's irrational behavior--and a surprising explanation for Charlotte's determination to control her daughter's life. Meanwhile, Tess (Della Reese) spends her spare time in a highly mysterious fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A teenage girl learns who her real friends are after she is raped by the school's most popular jock. The boy is such a hero at the school that no one believes the victimized girl, and instead of receiving sympathy and help from fellow students and the school faculty, she finds herself a pariah and suffers further abuse. Determined to see that justice is done, the girl makes a gutsy move and files a groundbreaking lawsuit. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Robert Urich stars as a self-involved computer executive who becomes inadvertently involved in a crime. He witnesses the kidnapping of a 3 year old girl, an event that shakes him out of his aloofness and insensitivity. Feeling partially responsible, Urich determines to aid in the rescue of the child, working together with the victim's mother (Megan Gallagher). Even though we can see the happy ending a mile off, Urich's conscience-stricken performance sustains audience involvement in this superior entry. And Then She Was Gone was first telecast September 29, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A CIA agent recruits a meek family man for a secret mission involving interstellar communication and copious violence in this tongue-in-cheek buddy flick from the writer/producer of The Golden Child. Insurance salesman Bob Wilson (John Ritter) is the kind of guy who stands by while suburban punks steal his kid's bike. Nick Pirandello (James Belushi) is the exact opposite -- a brash, womanizing alpha male revered within the CIA for his many successful secret missions. When a fellow agent who looks exactly like Bob gets killed just days before he's due to head up a very delicate mission, Nick recruits the reluctant Bob to help out. As Bob gets drawn deeper into a world of Russian hit men, transsexual beauties, and secret-agent hijinks, he slowly gains the self-confidence that's always escaped him. Meanwhile, he's constantly at the mercy of Nick's tongue-in-cheek humor, so he's a little skeptical when Nick reveals that the big meeting is with a group of aliens who want to share their advanced technology with humans. As it turns out, there may be something to Nick's outrageous story -- if only Bob can survive long enough to find out. The lone directorial credit for screenwriter/producer Dennis Feldman, Real Men features Barney Miller vet Barbara Barrie in a supporting role as Nick's placid, accommodating mother. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In the first episode of a two-part story, Roz (Marsha Warfield) seriously considers quitting her job when she is diagnosed with diabetes--and later disrupts the decorum of the courtroom when she o.d.'s on insulin. Come to think of it, however, the courtroom's decorum has been disrupted from the outset by a surfeit of Presidential impersonators, hired for a TV special on American history. And we haven't yet mentioned the unhinged Nesbit Sherman (Jeremy Lawrence), who is wielding a cigarette lighter and threatening to destroy an original draft of the U.S. Constitution! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi