Susan Howard Movies

The 1938 Marx Brothers comedy Room Service was the obvious inspiration for "Monkees Manhattan Style" (aka "Monkees in Manhattan"). Arriving in New York to star in a rock musical, the Monkees discover that the show is being cancelled because the backer has bailed out. The boys spend the rest of the episode trying to escape the wrath of irate hotel manager Weatherwax (Philip Ober while simultaneously attempting to raise money for the musical's producer ($Dick Anders). The superb supporting cast includes Doodles Weaver as a butler, "lovable lush" Foster Brooks as a conventioneer, Olan Soule as a waiter, and Susan Howard and Geoffrey Deuel as a honeymooning couple. Songs: "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)", "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", and "Words". At the end of the episode, the Monkees appear out of character for an interview with director Bob Rafaelson -- a tantalizing preview for the series' first-season closer, "The Monkees on Tour." Written by Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso, "Monkees Manhattan Style" first aired on April 10, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To keep a bunch of gangsters from taking over his business, Carlos Ramirez transfers the ownership of his casino to the nuns of Convent San Tanco. Carlos' reasoning is thus: The crooks won't bother the nuns, and he'll be able to sit by in safety and comfort as the sisters solve his present dilemma. Of course, leave it to Sr. Bertrille to figure out Carlos' strategy and to teach him a lesson. Bruce Gordon, best known for his portrayal of Frank Nitti on the original The Untouchables TV series, here spoofs his former image in the role of Morgan. First broadcast on January 18, 1968, "The Hot Spell" was written by James Henerson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dean Stockwell guest-stars as Mathew, a former Northern war hero and Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, now living a pauper's existence in Nevada. Ben Cartwright comes to Mathew's aid when the man is victimized by Seth Nagel (Harry Townes), a Southerner determined to avenge the loss of his home and family at the hands of the Yankees. The plot goes off on a rivetting tangent when Seth's daughter Lori (Susan Howard) befriends the beleagured Mathew. Written by Frank Chase, "The Medal" was originally broadcast on October 26, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode was originally designed as a lead-in for the zany variety series Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, which I Dream of Jeannie preceded on NBC's Monday-night lineup during the 1968-69 season. Thanks to her zany behavior, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) is invited to appear as a guest on Laugh-In, whereupon Roger (Bill Daily) appoints himself as her agent. Appearing in cameo roles as themselves are Laugh-In regulars Judy Carne, Arte Johnson and Gary Owens, as well as the series' producer George H. Schlatter. (Trivia note: As originally conceived, the Laugh-In installment which followed this episode on February 24, 1969, was to have included a production number in which Barbara Eden's navel would make its first network TV appearance; alas, this gag was scuttled, reportedly at the insistence of the I Dream of Jeannie production staff!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quarantined is set in a clinic maintained by a famous family of physicians. Dr. John Dehner and his son Dr. Gary Collins struggle to control a widespread cholera epidemic. One plot complication involves a testy movie star (Sharon Farrell), who refuses treatment when she exhibits the symptoms of cholera. Another problem involves a kidney transplant: Where to find a suitable organ donor in a city full of sick people? Quarantined was the February 24, 1970 entry in ABC's Movie of the Week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Committed" was first telecast on January 22, 1972, the same day that the latest cast of Mission:Impossible appeared on the cover of TV Guide. Bert Freed guest stars as Syndicate chieftan Leon Chandler, whose trial for murder may end in acquittal thanks to the actions of a corrupt lieutenant governor. The key witness against Chandler, Nora Dawson (Susan Howard), is slowly being driven insane in a mob-controlled mental hospital. The IMF's mission: To infiltrate the hospital, rescue Nora, and expose Chandler's political stooge. Series regular Lynda Day George steals the show with her impersonation of a deranged woman. "Committed" was scripted by Arthur Weiss, from a story by Laurence Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This suspense film is about a lawyer who defends a high-society woman charged with killing her husband. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

Jim (James Garner) tries to help his friend Charly Blaylock (Eddie Firestone) turn over a new leaf by returning the $650,000 that Charly had stolen years earlier from the Seawell Oil company. But when Charly's daughter (and Jim's ex-fiancee) Sandra (Susan Howard) is kidnapped, he must use the money to pay the ransom. Facing some hard time behind bars if he doesn't recover the cash and return it to its rightful owners, Charly must rely upon the ingenuity of his pal Jim--who has problems of his own in the form of a "dirty" cop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV thriller, a group of tourists aboard a cruise ship must be quarantined after they become afflicted with a lethal virus. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The Bermuda Triangle claims more victims when an archaeological expedition disappears and rewakens on an island complete with the past, present and future. (AKA Fantastic Journey) ~ All Movie Guide

Banking on his renewed "leading man" status vis-a-vis Enter the Dragon, John Saxon plays J. B. Johnson in Moonshine County Express. The villain is racketeer Starkey (William Conrad), who has bumped off likeable moonshiner Pap Hammer (Fred Foresman). Now Starkey must do away with Hammer's toothsome daughters Dot, Betty and Sissy (Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings and Maureen McCormick). The girls receive unexpected help from Starkey's flunkey J.B. Moonshine County Express represents perhaps the best screen work of the late Playboy model Claudia Jennings, who evinces an intuitive acting ability. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steadily building up its viewership during its first few seasons, Dallas certainly gives its fans their money's worth during season three, which begins as the newborn son of the delightfully demonic oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and his wife, Sue Ellen (Victoria Principal), is kidnapped. Though this crisis is soon resolved, it is clear that the J.R.-Sue Ellen marriage is in big trouble, mainly because J.R. thinks that the baby's real father is his sworn enemy, attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). In other developments, Mary Crosby makes her first appearance as Sue Ellen's younger sister Kristin Shepard, with whom J.R. has an affair. While cheerfully manipulating Asian politics in order to control more overseas oil fields, J.R. still finds time to continue trying to sabotage the marriage between his younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Bobby's wife (and Cliff Barnes' sister), Pamela (Victoria Principal). In the same spirit of bad will, lawyer Alan Beam (Randolph Powell) is hired to dig up enough dirt on J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) so that she will be forced to leave the family's Southfork estate -- but Alan ends up proposing to Lucy, the better to get his mitts into the Ewing fortune. Elsewhere, Sue Ellen has a romantic fling with rodeo rider Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), the son of a wealthy Texan. The affair between Southfork's secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), and influential socialite Donna Culver (Susan Howard) intensifies. And J.R. and Bobby's mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), is diagnosed with breast cancer. The season concludes with one of the most famous "cliffhangers" in TV history, as the wheeling-dealing J.R., hanging around his office after working hours, is shot down and left for dead by an unseen assailant! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Who shot J.R.?" Those were the words on the lips of Dallas fans throughout the world as the popular prime-time serial launched its fourth season on CBS. Speculation ran high over the identity of the person who, at the tail end of season three, had pumped several slugs in the chest of the sublimely unprincipled Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). It was one of the best-kept secrets in the annals of popular entertainment; indeed, not even the cast members knew "who dun it" (to cover their bets, the producers filmed scenes of every member of the cast pulling the trigger -- including Larry Hagman). During the fifth episode of the season, which became the second highest-rated show in TV history, the culprit is exposed -- and it is giving nothing away at this late date to reveal that J.R.'s would-be assassin was his cast-off mistress Kristin (Mary Crosby), younger sister of his own wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gary). Upon his recovery, J.R. resumes his power struggle with younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy), who in J.R.'s absence has assumed control of Ewing Oil. Almost immediately upon returning to his office, J.R. hires sharkish PR agent Leslie Stewart (Susan Flannery) to promote his "new" image as "The All-American Businessman" -- even as he tries to undermine his own country's foreign affairs by engineering a political coup in a faraway country in order to increase his wealth!

Meanwhile, Sue Ellen's lover, Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), urges her to leave J.R. and take her son, John Ross (now played by Tyler Banks) with her. After numerous dead-end love affairs, J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) decides to marry Mitch Cooper (Leigh McCloskey), a poor medical student who is troubled by the Ewing's affluence; J.R. doesn't think much of Mitch, but he develops a hankerin' for his sister, Afton (Audrey Landers), a professional singer. And in one of the season's most momentous developments, Southfork manager Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) is revealed to be the illegitimate song of J.R. and Bobby's dad, Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) -- whereupon Ray further increases his influence in the community by wedding the politically powerful Donna Culver (Susan Howard). In an effort to whip up audience interest in the same manner as the previous season's cliffhanger, season four of Dallas closes as attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), sworn enemy of J.R. Ewing, finds the body of a woman floating in the Ewings' swimming pool. Even if this contrivance hadn't occurred, CBS had no fear that Dallas would lose its audience; as of the end of its fourth season, the series was America's top-rated series -- the first dramatic program to pull off this coup since Marcus Welby, M.D. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide