Michael Lembeck Movies
The son of comedian Harvey Lembeck, Michael Lembeck started his career following his dad's footsteps as a comic character actor. The younger Lembeck made his TV movie debut in Gidget Grows Up. His subsequent small-screen gigs included Kaptain Kool in the Saturday morning extravaganza The Krofft Supershow (1977) and Max Horvath, the flight-steward husband of Julie Cooper (MacKenzie Phillips) in One Day at a Time (1979-84). He also played schoolteacher Peter Newman in the 1985 sitcom Foley Square, and, on a less comical note, was seen as Abbie Hoffman in the 1987 TV-movie special Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 7. In the past decade, Michael Lembeck has concentrated on directing such weekly series as Hope and Gloria, Mad About You and Everybody Loves Raymond; in 1996, he won an Emmy for his direction of the hit series Friends. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1995
Already displeased that Ross (David Schwimmer) is attached to Julie (Lauren Tom), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) isn't prepared for the news that Monica (Courteney Cox) is becoming friends with Julie. In other developments, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and a rival in love (Joel Beeson) are hired as department-story models, Joey as the Bijan Cologne Man and the other fellow as The Hombre Guy. And apropos the episode's title, Carol's (Jane Sibbett) breastfeeding of baby Ben -- to say nothing of her cache of bottled breast milk -- causes discomfort amongst the boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Looking for the perfect third-anniversary gift causes Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) to lose confidence in their relationship. In the course of events, Jamie receives a cryptic message: "This note entitles the bearer to one magical night." Truer words were never written. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's third season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This is the celebrated "cartoon" episode, with animation provided by Sony Imageworks. Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) is nonplussed when she learns that her former boyfriend Alan (Eric Stoltz) has been hired as a graphics artist for her new ad campaign. The result is a special edition of Alan's fabled comic-book character Talon, Queen of Outer Space -- a supremely bitchy extraterrestrial who bears a remarkable resemblance to someone we all know quite well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
While waiting for a bus, Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt) take a Cosmopolitan magazine quiz to "rate" their relationship. As they do so, highlights of the series' past three seasons parade before the viewer in the form of choice film clips. And as a bonus, we hear a full rendition of the series' popular theme song, "The Final Frontier." Originally intended as a third-season episode, "The Test" was not telecast until the second week of season four. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Looking for the perfect third-anniversary gift causes Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) to lose confidence in their relationship. In a rare "alternate reality" situation, the Buchmans are permitted to experience what might have happened had they never met. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's third season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Sylvia Buchman (Cynthia Harris), the notoriously hard to please mother of Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser), suddenly decides that she wants no part of a non-refundable Caribbean vacation. As a result, Paul and wife Jamie (Helen Hunt) pose as Paul's parents, a scheme that quickly gets out of control. Vitial ingredients to the proceedings include the hammock toss, "Splink! Splink!" and the ability to lie multilingually. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Paul (Paul Reiser) is in Canada on a film shoot, losing both his mind and some of his hair. Meanwhile, Jamie (Helen Hunt) and Lisa (Anne Ramsay) exchange places for a day when their purses are accidentally mixed. Andrew Gordon, who co-wrote this episode, makes a significant appearance in an insignificant role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Paul (Paul Reiser) looks forward to his birthday party with fear and loathing. It's not that Paul dreads getting older, simply that all of his birthday parties (shown in vivid flashback) have ended in disaster. This cautionary fable concludes with the Saga of the Grandfather Port -- and do you want your face in the cake, or the cat on your head? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Cyndi Lauper won an Emmy award for her performance as Marianne Lugasso, the redoubtable ex-wife of Ira Buchman (John Pankow). Ira doesn't quite know how to react when Marianne returns from Luxembourg, single again and now filthy rich. But Ira's cousin Paul (Paul Reiser) makes no secret of his discomfort, especially when Marianne decides she wants a piece of Paul and Ira's catalog business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Left home alone while wife Jamie (Helen Hunt) visits her dad in Connecticut, Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser) manages to "out-giddy" both Tom Cruise and Macaulay Culkin. The result: The Buchmans' bed is handed over to a charity thrift store. Are those the first symptoms of malaria? And do you have any Grey Poupon? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Preparing for an important college exam, Jamie (Helen Hunt) is unable to sleep. While trying to lull his wife back to dreamland, Paul (Paul Reiser) succeeds only in locking Jamie and himself out of their apartment, leading to an all-night odyssey from basement to rooftops. Highlights include the tango performed by that guy who looks and acts like John Astin, and an unexpected celebrity drop-in at Riff's. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As indicated by its title, this made-for-TV weeper was inspired by one of author Danielle Steel's innumerable best-sellers. The beautiful and talented Adrian (Polly Draper) is a writer for one of America's most popular TV soap operas. She is also pregnant, and when she refuses to abort her baby, Adrian's selfish husband (Kevin Kilner) deserts her. It falls to one of the soap opera's producers, the recently divorced Bill (John Ritter), to convince Adrian to give romance a second chance -- and, incidentally, to give her baby a new last name. Described at the time of its release as "a yuppie love story," Danielle Steel's 'Heartbeat' was originally telecast by NBC on February 3, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
A man violates his premarital agreement when he leaves his newly pregnant TV-news producer wife. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ritter, Polly Draper, (more)
The eponymous team consists of four residents of a New Jersey psychiatric hospital: ex-postal worker Henry Sikorsky (Christopher Lloyd), who fancies himself a doctor; one-time ad agency exec Jack McDermott (Peter Boyle), suffering from a Messiah/martyr complex; writer Billy Caulfield (Michael Keaton), who cannot abide the "idiots" in the world (namely, everyone but himself); and TV-obsessed Albert Ianuzzi (Stephen Furst). Permitted a field trip to a baseball game, the four unfortunates wander off when psychiatrist Dr. Weitzman (Dennis Boutsikaris) is waylaid by two corrupt police officers after he witnesses them killing a third cop. The innocent inmates are accused of attacking Dr. Weitzman, but it is they who team up to bring the actual culprits to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, (more)
Three giants of early television--Milton Berle, Sid Caesar and Danny Thomas--combine their talents in the made-for-TV Side by Side. Berle and Caesar play a couple of 65-year-olds who've just been forcibly retired; Thomas portrays a widower, who's been aimless and lethargic since the death of his wife. The trio gains a new lease on life when they team up to manufacture a line of clothing exclusively designed for senior citizens. Their zeal intensifies when Berle's old boss Richard Klein spitefully develops a rival wardrobe line. Marjorie Lord, who'd played Danny Thomas' wife on TV in the late 1950s and early 1960s, is here cast as Sid Caesar's spouse. Side By Side first aired on March 6, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Paroled after 20 years, a convicted murderer (John Glover) returns to his home town of Cabot Cove to find the man whom he thinks actually committed the crime for which he was imprisoned. The trail leads to a local high-school coach (Kenneth MacMillan) on the verge of retirement, and to another man (Dack Rambo) who apparently commits suicide. When this death is ruled a murder, the hapless ex-con is framed a second time, and it is up to Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to figure out who's really responsible for all the carnage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The docudrama Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8, relates the story of the trial that resulted from the riots that broke out in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention. The majority of the dialogue has been taken directly from court records and archival footage. Michael Lembeck plays the boisterous prankster Abbie Hoffman, who was certainly the most entertaining of the defendants. The main victim of his pranks is Judge Hoffman (David Opatoshu), whose stoic attitude is constantly challenged by the outrageous behavior of the defendants. The cast includes Barry Miller as Jerry Rubin, Robert Carradine as Rennie Davis, Robert Loggia as defense attorney William Hunstler, and other famous politically active actors like Peter Boyle and Martin Sheen. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
In this drama, a homeless shoeshine boy who lives in a locker at the train station finds himself quite popular after he reveals a talent for picking winners at the racetrack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Coleman, Michael Lembeck, (more)
- 1980
Made for television, a former professional baseball player (John Ritter) coaches a team of misfits to the little-league crown. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Chaos reigns in the Catskills in this low-budget teen comedy. Kavell (Michael Lembeck) and Bergman (Philip Casnoff) are college students who spend their summers working in the dining hall at Camp Oskemo, an upstate New York summer camp where they're the senior waiters. Serving food to bratty children doesn't interest them nearly as much as trying to make time with the female counselors at the camp, among them pretty but chaste Vicki (Lisa Shure) and attractive but significantly less virginal Evie (Fran Drescher). Kavell and Bergman also wage an annual war against the junior waiters with the help of deranged server Grossman (Dennis Quaid), but their real nemesis is Wallman (David Huddleston), the owner of the camp who makes no secret of his dislike for the waiters. Over the course of one eventful summer, Kavell, Bergman and their fellow food slingers dose the entire camp with amphetamines, taint the Kosher meals with pork, screen pornographic movies during Parent's Weekend, run a tank through the campgrounds and destroy the waiter's housing and most of what surrounds it. Hilarity, or something like it, ensues. While seemingly influenced by Meatballs, Gorp was actually shot at roughly the same time as Bill Murray's summer camp vehicle, though it was released nine months later. Director Joe Ruben later went on to better things, including True Believer, Sleeping With The Enemy and The Forgotten. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Lembeck, Dennis Quaid, (more)
Dentist Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin) is a respectable man. He has a daughter who is about to marry the son of a very suspicious character, Vince Ricardo (Peter Falk). They are practically relatives already, the wedding is so near. Certainly, Sheldon already despises Vince as if he were already a well-known relative. Nontheless, Vince calls on Sheldon and convinces him to go with him on a series of wild and hilarious adventures, claiming all the while that he is a CIA agent, and that what he is doing is in the national interest. Sheldon follows Vince to a South American country ruled by a very odd man, General Garcia (Richard Libertini), who talks to his hand (which talks back). It seems that the dictator is involved in a scheme to counterfeit and undermine U.S. currency. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, (more)
- 1978
This third entry in the made-for-TV Having Babies saga was first telecast March 3, 1978. Susan Sullivan heads the cast as Dr. Julie Farr, presiding over three impending births. In true soap-opera fashion, Dr. Farr cannot help but get involved in the lives of her troubled patients. Marnie Bridges (Jamie Smith Jackson) must not only cope with parenthood, but with a faithless husband (Michael Lembeck); Gloria Miles (Rue McClanahan), left alone with her two children, suddenly goes into labor miles from the hospital; and Leslie Wexler (Patty Duke Astin), Dr. Farr's best friend, must decide whether or not to postpone a crucial mastectomy to have her baby. Having Babies III became a weekly TV series on March 7, 1978, again starring Susan Sullivan. Shortly thereafter, the title was changed to Julie Farr, MD. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cowritten by director Sidney J. Furie, The Boys in Company C charts the fortunes of five young Marine recruits. Led by Stan Shaw, the quintet is shipped off to Vietnam. The film makes no bones about the demoralizing effect the war has on its participants, nor the pigheadedness of the military higher-ups who think only in terms of body counts and photo ops. Of the five recruits, the most memorable are Michael Lembeck as Vinnie Fazio, the resident wiseguy (the same type of role played by Lembeck's dad Harvey in 1950s war films) and Andrew Stevens as Billy Ray Pike, a straight-arrow type who succumbs to the lure of drugs; the others are played by Craig Wasson, James Canning, and Scott Hylands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens, (more)
- 1973
In this drama, a young woman is devastated to find out that her mother is involved with a younger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Bloodsport began life under the less alluring title Poetry in Motion. Gary Busey and Ben Johnson star as, respectively, a high-school football quarterback and his "winning is the only thing" father. The more his dad pushes him, the less Busey truly wants to be an athlete. The inter-family hostility comes to a head during an excitingly filmed climactic gridiron battle. Made for TV, Bloodsport was initially telecast on December 5, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Johnson, Gary Busey, (more)
