Robert F. O'Neill Movies

Based on the best-selling novel by Anton Myrer, the three-part NBC miniseries The Last Convertible chronicles the lives of five former Harvard roommates, all of whom share the titular Packard automobile. Beginning with the quintet's graduation in 1944, the teleplay by Philip de Guere, Stephen McPherson, and Clyde Ware covers an eventful 30 years, during which time the male protagonists all take turns romancing resident heroine Chris Farris (Deborah Raffin). Perry King is top-billed as Russ Currier, with Bruce Boxleitner as George Virdon, Edward Albert as Ron Dalrymple, John Shea as Terry Garrigan, and Michael Nouri as Jean des Barres. An Emmy nomination was bestowed upon Pete Rugolo's musical score. Originally telecast from September 24 to 26, 1979, The Last Convertible was, incredibly, intended as the pilot for a weekly series, though one would assume that the story possibilities had been pretty much exhausted during the inaugural six hours. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of the many Arthur Hailey literary properties which were transformed into TV miniseries in the 1970s, the five-part, ten-hour Wheels took place in Detroit sometime in the late 1960s. Rock Hudson starred as Adam Trenton, executive in charge of project development at the fictional auto-manufacturing firm of National Motors. Ambitious and ruthless, Adam let nothing stand in the way of his development and production of a new, youth-marketed car known as the Hawk. Meanwhile, Adam's bored and neglected wife Erica (Lee Remick, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance) drifted into an extramarital affair and a brief "career" as a shoplifter. Eventually, Adam himself acquired a mistress, who in turn fell in love with Adam's son Kirk (James Carrol Jordan). As if things couldn't get any seamier, Kirk's brother Greg (Howard McGillin) was plagued by a blackmailer, while crooked car dealer Smokey Stevenson (played by miniseries stalwart Anthony Franciosa) cooked up a sinister deal that threatened to destroy National Motors. Originally telecast from May 7 to 15, 1978 on NBC, Arthur Hailey's Wheels posted such disappointing ratings that, when it was later rebroadcast, the property was whittled down from ten hours to four -- with episodes three and four summarily dropped from the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The science of "cryogenics" forms the basis of the made-for-TV Live Again, Die Again. Donna Mills plays a young woman who dies of rheumatic fever. At her deathbed request, Mills' body is frozen, in hopes of reviving her in the future. Thirty years later, Mills awakens, returning to the not-so-open arms of her doddering husband (Walter Pidgeon), her spiteful daughter (Vera Miles) and her mixed-up son (Mike Farrell). No, this was not produced by Walt Disney Studios. Adapted by Joseph Stefano from a novel by David Sale, Live Again, Die Again first aired February 16, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of Mission: Impossible found a new man at the helm of the top-secret Impossible Missions Force: Peter Graves as Jim Phelps, replacing the first season's Steven Hill, who played Dan Briggs. At the time, there was much speculation in the industry over the reason for Hill's departure, with some sources citing creative differences between the actor and the production staff. The most widely accepted theory was that Hill, an Orthodox Jew, refused to work on the set between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday. (Over two decades later, Steven Hill became an audience favorite all over again in a role that never required him to work on weekends: District Attorney Adam Schiff on the long-running Law & Order. Otherwise, the rest of the familiar IMF crew remains the same as in season one: sultry Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), master of disguise Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), electronics whiz Barney Collier (Greg Morris), and all-around athlete and muscleman Willie Armitage (Peter Lupus). Beginning with the season opener, "The Widow," wherein the IMF team pools its talents to force the customers of a vicious heroin dealer to do away with the man, this year's "impossible missions," like the previous year's quota, rely heavily upon labyrinthine schemes, elaborate facial makeup, state-of-the-art gadgetry, and an acute understanding of human nature ("bad" human nature, that is) to mete out just desserts to a dizzying array of international villains. Among the season's best episodes are the two-part "The Slave," in which the team utilizes kidnapping and subterfuge to destroy a vast Middle Eastern slavery ring; another two-parter, "The Council," wherein Rollin poses as a Mafia don to prevent the collapse of the American banking system; "The Photographer," featuring Anthony Zerbe as a madman bent on spreading bubonic plague throughout the world, who is thwarted when the IMFers convince him that a nuclear war has begun; "The Killing," in which Cinnamon tricks a band of assassins into "killing" Phelps as part of a scheme to get them to confess all their past misdeeds; "The Money Machine," comprised of a "sting" operation to hoist an African counterfeiter on his own petard; and "The Town," in which a vacationing Phelps must prevent a political assassination all by himself. Mission: Impossible's move from Saturday to Sunday evenings for its second season proved to be extremely beneficial to the series' ratings, though it would not be until season three that the show would finally crack the Top 10. In other developments, series regular Barbara Bain won her second Emmy award in a role for her ongoing portrayal of Cinnamon Carter, and the show once again won the award for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Additionally, the series' legendary theme song, written by Lalo Schifrin, enjoyed 14 weeks on Billboard magazine's Top 100 charts when it was released as a single. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide