Mark St. Germain Movies

Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael Mann's sprawling historical crime drama follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale ) in capturing notorious bank robber John Dillinger. A folk hero to the American public thanks to his penchant for robbing the banks that many people believed responsible for the Great Depression, charming bandit Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was virtually unstoppable at the height of his criminal career; no jail could hold him, and his exploits endeared him to the common people while making headlines across the country. J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup) FBI was just coming into formation, and what better way for the ambitious lawman to transform his fledgling Bureau of Investigation into a national police force than to capture the gang that always gets away? Determined to bust Dillinger and his crew, which also included sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi), Hoover christened Dillinger the country's very first Public Enemy Number One, and unleashed Purvis to take them down by whatever means necessary. But Purvis underestimated Dillinger's ingenuity as a master criminal, and after embarking on a frantic series of chases and shoot-outs, the dashing agent humbly surmised that he was in over his head. Outwitted and outgunned, Purvis knew that his only hope for busting Dillinger's gang was to baptize a crew of Western ex-lawmen as official agents, and orchestrate a series of betrayals so cunning that even America's criminal mastermind wouldn't know what hit him. Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, and Stephen Dorff co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Olivia (Raven-Symone) comes down with a bad case of laryngitis just before she is to sing for her grandparents' 55th anniversary. When none of the family's exotic "home remedies" prove successful, Olivia retreats to her bedroom, refusing to attend the anniversary party because she feels she's let everyone down. At the last moment, Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) come up with a solution to Olivia's plight--a solution involving a spirited lip-synch rendition of Koko Taylor's "I'm a Woman". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hoping to sneak off to a Baltimore concert by the rock band "Wretched", Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and her friends Janet (Pam Potillo), Kara (Elizabeth Narvaez) and Susan (Lisa Rieffel) cook up an elaborate charade to convince their parents that they're actually attending a sleepover in the home of Susan's grandmother. No sooner have the girls arrived in Baltimore than their borrowed car, and their concert tickets, are stolen. Meanwhile, a fire breaks out in the house next door to the one where the sleepover is allegedly taking place...and when Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Clair (Phylicia Rashad) hear the news on TV, all Heck breaks loose! This episode was codirected by series regular Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theo). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Assigned to do a class video project on "the day in the life of a parent", Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and Kenny (Deon Richmond) conclude that Clair's (Phylicia Rashad) legal work is too dull, so they beg Cliff (Bill Cosby) to let them follow him on his daily hospital rounds. Cliff agrees only on condition that the youngster confine themselves to his office and the waiting room. Chafing at these restrictions, the kids sneak all around the hospital and tape several things that they shouldn't--and to top off their indiscretions, they lend their camera to a prospective father (Francisco Rivela) who wants to film Cliff in the act of delivering his wife's baby! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this pivotal episode, Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) continues to be frustrated that he can't score any better than a "C" in his college subjects, no matter how hard he studies. Cliff (Bill Cosby) tries to help out by suggesting that Theo try just a bit harder, but succeeds only in making the situation worse. It is up to Mrs. Roscoe (Alva Chinn), the head of a local learning center, to zero in on the real problem: Theo may be dyslexic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Cliff (Bill Cosby) has a history of inadvertently bringing about the early deaths of his family's pets, he allows Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) to look after her friend Caroline's hamster Darren. Perhaps inevitably, Darren falls ill and passes away at the animal clinic, whereupon Cliff desperately tries to pass off an "impostor" as Caroline's beloved pet. The surprising denoument is but one of the episode's many visual and verbal treats, which include a "guest-star" menagerie of exotic animals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide