Jonathan Hole Movies

This episode focuses on Blue Moon employees Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong) and Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley). Bert wants to attend a Viola family reunion, but Agnes has been sequestered with the jury for the murder trial of one John Gibson--and of course, Agnes is the sole holdout who believes in Gibson's innocence. Out of desperation, Bert decides that the only way to get Agnes out of the jury room is to solve the murder himself! In a dream sequence, the Moonlighting regulars are recast as the principals in John Gibson's alleged crime. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"Mom" is Connie Stevens, who stars in this made-for-TV comedy. Stevens plays a small-town waitress who is appointed the housemother for a rambunctious fraternity house on the local college campus. The frat boys assume that freewheeling Stevens will allow them to party to their hearts' content, but "Mom" takes her job quite seriously and compels the students to behave themselves. She also becomes involved in a campus feminist movement that threatens to topple the college's male power structure (headed by dean Van Johnson). Call Her Mom was the pilot for a Connie Stevens TV series that found neither a sponsor nor a network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Most sitcoms of the '70s treated the Women's Liberation Movement with derision, and Green Acres was no exception. Having been fired up by feminist rhetoric, Lisa (Eva Gabor) decides that she is fully capable of doing "men's" work, and thus she insists upon performing all the farm chores. As for hubby Oliver (Eddie Albert), he is relegated to the humiliating position of househusband (or at least, it was considered humiliating way back when). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this satirical comedy, Fred Amidon (Dick Van Dyke) is a Fifth Avenue bank teller waiting for his divorce to be finalized to end his marriage to Rachel (Angie Dickinson). He and fellow employee Pamela (Rosemary Forsyth) plan to marry once the ink dries on the decree. A Central Park picnic with Pamela finds Fred suffering a bee string on his chin, which he covers with a bandage, but Fred's bandaged chin causes concern for the bank vice president, who expresses his dissatisfaction. Fred then goes on a three-week vacation, and during that time he grows a beard because the bee sting makes it difficult to shave. He returns to work, and when he refuses to shave, he is branded a rebel and a symbolic hero in the worker struggle against management. The unhappy Pamela recruits her two brothers to capture Fred and shave his beard, leading to a slapstick chase with Fred clad only in his underwear. He is arrested and locked up in the local psychiatric unit. When Rachel hears of his plight, she is moved to resolve their marital differences, and the two reconcile with only minutes to spare before their divorce becomes final. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

The 75th anniversary of the railroad between Pixley and Hooterville will be celebrated with a gala "golden spike" ceremony. Given the honor of driving the spike, Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) brings his hammer down full-force--and strikes oil! Instantly, Joe begins imagining all the wonderful things that he'll buy with his windfall...but as usual, our hero is riding for a fall. Frank Wilcox, who used to play oil company executive John Brewster on The Beverly Hillbillies, essays an almost identical role in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Prevailing upon her movie-producer friend, Lisa manages to land a Hollywood role for Hooterville's favorite pig Arnold. A natural-born ham (ouch!), Arnold proves to be a natural before the cameras. This is no surprise to Lisa, who had faith in Arnold's talents all along. As for Lisa's husband Oliver, he can only observe the situation with a mounting sense of horror: will he be forced to give up the life of a gentleman farmer to be Arnold's permanent "handler"? This concluding episode of a two-part story marks the finale of Green Acres' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"Just one word: plastic." "Are you here for an affair?" These lines and others became cultural touchstones, as 1960s youth rebellion seeped into the California upper middle-class in Mike Nichols' landmark hit. Mentally adrift the summer after graduating from college, suburbanite Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) would rather float in his parents' pool than follow adult advice about his future. But the exhortation of family friend Mr. Robinson (Murray Hamilton) to seize every possible opportunity inspires Ben to accept an offer of sex from icily feline Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The affair and the pool are all well and good until Ben is pushed to go out with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) and he falls in love with her. Mrs. Robinson sabotages the relationship and an understandably disgusted Elaine runs back to college. Determined not to let Elaine get away, Ben follows her to school and then disrupts her family-sanctioned wedding. None too happy about her pre-determined destiny, Elaine flees with Ben -- but to what? Directing his second feature film after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nichols matched the story's satire of suffocating middle-class shallowness with an anti-Hollywood style influenced by the then-voguish French New Wave. Using odd angles, jittery editing, and evocative widescreen photography, Nichols welded a hip New Wave style and a generation-gap theme to a fairly traditional screwball comedy script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham from Charles Webb's novel. Adding to the European art film sensibility, the movie offers an unsettling and ambiguous ending with no firm closure. And rather than Robert Redford, Nichols opted for a less glamorous unknown for the pivotal role of Ben, turning Hoffman into a star and opening the door for unconventional leading men throughout the 1970s. With a pop-song score written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel bolstering its contemporary appeal, The Graduate opened to rave reviews in December 1967 and surpassed all commercial expectations. It became the top-grossing film of 1968 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, and Actress, with Nichols winning Best Director. Together with Bonnie and Clyde, it stands as one of the most influential films of the late '60s, as its mordant dissection of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic "renaissance" of the early '70s. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Elvis Presley hits the high seas in this musical comedy. Ted Jackson (Presley) is a former Navy frogman who divides his time between twin careers as a deep sea diver and nightclub singer. Ted discovers what he believes could be a fortune in Spanish gold aboard a sunken ship and sets out to rescue it with the help of go-go dancing yoga expert Jo Symington (Dodie Marshall). However, Gil Carey (Skip Ward) is also after the treasure and uses his girlfriend Dina Bishop (Pat Priest) to foil Ted's plans. Elvis sings six tunes in this picture, including the deathless "Yoga Is as Yoga Does" and "The Love Machine." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Remember the great New York City power blackout of November 9, 1965? Ever wonder what caused all the lights to go out? Well, according to this episode of Green Acres, the source of the power fizzle can be traced back to Hooterville, where, after months and months of waiting for his farm to be wired for electricity, Oliver Douglas (Eddie Albert) tries to do the job himself. The title of this episode refers to a sound effect that appears onscreen, Batman-style! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Much to the dismay of a wealthy female customer (Barbara Morrison), Lucy (Lucille Ball) stakes a claim to a fancy dinette set during a major department-store sale. It is only after putting a deposit on the set that Lucy realizes a bargain is a bargain only if you can afford to pay for it. In desperate need of the necessary funds, Lucy takes a job at the same store -- only to come face to face with the indignant socialite who had wanted to buy the dinette set herself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Weekend artist Tony (Larry Hagman) paints a copy of a famous Rembrandt for a charity auction, putting his own signature on it. Jeannie (Barbara Eden) is so impressed by the results that she magically switches Tony's copy with the genuine Rembrandt hanging in the Louvre. Thus, when two art experts purchase the painting at the auction for an enormous sum, Tony is immediately under suspicion for being either a forger, an art thief, or both! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tomboy Betty Jo (Linda Kaye) doesn't pay much attention to the opposite sex, but she's willing to make an exception now and then. This week's exception is her handsome science teacher, Roland Barrett (Steve Lander). So smitten is Betty Jo by Mr. Barrett that she's willing to embark upon a field trip to locate an elusive dinosaur skeleton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi