Ernie Lively Movies
- 2004
Mimi (Kathy Kinney) persuades Drew (Drew Carey) to befriend Russell (Currie Graham) and Dean (Sean O'Bryan), a gay couple who happen to be the parents of Gus' only friend in school. Typically, Mimi's motives are more selfish than maternal: Russell and Dean have also been babysitting Gus (Matthew Josten) without charging a fee. Unfortunately, Drew finds himself accused of being the "other man" when the couple suddenly breaks up! This episode originally aired in tandem with "Still Life with Freeloader". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Based on a true story, the made-for-TV A Stranger to Love stars Beau Bridges as Allan Grant, a reasonably happy Omaha man with a wife (Tess Harper) and two sons. Attacked by muggers and left for dead, Allan awakens with no memory of his past life--or even his name. Wandering from town to town, he ends up living on the streets of Tucson, Arizona, where he is helped by Andie (Pam Dawber), a single mother who works at a local restaurant. Andie arranges for Allan to get a kitchen job, where he exhibit a remarkable talent for whipping up tasty and exotic dishes. Ultimately, he becomes the highly sought-after chef of the Class-A motel owned by Andie, with whom he has fallen in love. Allan's "second life" then slowly but surely begins to unravel when his memory starts to return. Intelligently and realistically handled,the story comes to a sobering climax, wherein the protagonist realizes that, no matter which way he turns, someone he loves will be hurt beyond measure. A Stranger to Love was first broadcast by CBS on March 24, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Seth Hazlitt (William Windom arranges for Cabot Cove to stage a rock concert benefit to save a local patch of woods. The star of the concert is Tommy Vaughn (eith Coulouris), a popular singer who is anything but popular to the people who work for him. Inevitably, a murder occurs, with an electric guitar as the weapon. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) plays a few detection riffs herself to find out which of the dead man's many enemies is the guilty party. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Plagued throughout his life by fuzzy, disturbing memories, Coloradoan William Coit Jr. (Neil Patrick Harris) realizes that these memories may put a crimp in the happiness of his recent marriage. In his efforts to get at the root of his anxieties, Coit ruminates over his unhappy, unstable childhood -- and his much-married mother Jill (Bonnie Bartlett), who, in addition to her other peccadillos, has cheated her children out of their late father's inheritance. Can it be possible that the wanton Jill actually murdered William's father? And if so, what horrors are in store for Jill's brand-new husband (number ten!) if William does not take immediate action? Based on a true story, Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story first aired October 3, 1995, on the Fox network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Patrick Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1994
This time we're off to the Canadian Rockies, where vacationer Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is stranded in a small town. At the same time, a bitter turf war has developed between a local Native American tribe and a powerful mining company. Not one but two murders result from this conflict, whereupon Jessica really cuts her vacation short to solve the mystery. The episode is distinguished by the presence of two leading Native American actors, Graham Greene and Ned Romero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Penelope Spheeris directed this compulsively faithful film adaptation of the popular 1960s television series. The familiar story 'bout a man named Jed Clampett (Jim Varney), a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed, continues to follow the TV show's format. Jed discovers oil on his Arkansas property and overnight becomes a multi-millionaire. He moves his family to Beverly Hills, wanting to turn his daughter Ellie May (Erika Eleniak) into a sophisticated woman. At his new Beverly Hills mansion, he meets Mr. Drysdale (Dabney Coleman), a kow-towing banker, and Drysdale's assistant, the repressed crone Miss Hathaway (Lily Tomlin). Jed announces that he would like to re-marry, and that leaves the door open for Drysdale's scheming lackey Woodrow Tyler (Rob Schneider) and his fortune-hunting partner Laura Jackson (Lea Thompson) to make the moves on Jed. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diedrich Bader, Dabney Coleman, (more)
- 1993
Produced for the USA cable service, Accidental Meeting stars Linda Purl as Maryanne and Linda Gray as Jennifer. Meeting by chance, the two women begin discussing the men in their life. Maryanne expresses a wish to see her boss dead, while Jennifer would sooner see an odious male of her acquaintance drop dead. When Maryanne's hateful employer is killed, Jennifer re-enters her life, admitting to the murder and demanding equal reciprocation. While Accidental Meeting's 1951 role model Strangers on a Train is virtually suitable for the whole family, the later film is laden with "parental guidance suggested" violence and sex. Accidental Meeting premiered March 17, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Purl, Linda Gray, (more)
- 1992
Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story stars Jean Smart as the title character. One of the rare female serial killers on record, Wuornos was eventually charged with murdering seven men on lonely Florida roads. The killing spree took place between 1990 and 1991, thus this 1992 TV movie could pat itself on the back for its timeliness. At the time Overkill was made, there was some public doubt concerning Wuornos' guilt (she was then on death row). The script suggests that her crimes were a by-product of childhood sexual abuse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Smart, Park Overall, (more)
- 1992
"Danse Diabolique" is the title of a "cursed" ballet, which has been performed only three times. On the first two occasions, the prima ballerina has died under mysterious circumstances--and the same thing happens to the unfortunate young lady who stars in the third performance. Suspecting that murder rather than superstition is the cause of these three deaths, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) investigates, at one point posing as a scatterbrained Southern matron in order to weed out some vital information about some significant roses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Frequent TV-movie costars Stephanie Zimbalist and Gregory Harrison are teamed once more in Breaking the Silence. Harrison plays a lawyer defending a teenager (Chris Young) accused of murdering his father. As the boy details a lengthy history of abuse at the hands of his father, Harrison flashes back to his own miserable childhood. Zimbalist costars as Harrison's law partner (and former lover), who must not only contend with mounting an adequate defense for their client, but also must come to grips with her bitter childhood memories. Breaking the Silence first aired January 14, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Made for television, Follow Your Heart was first telecast April 2, 1990. Ex-marine David Larson (Patrick Cassidy) is tooling along aimlessly in the middle of Wyoming when his jeep breaks down. Awaiting the verdict from the local repair shop, Larson takes a part-time job as a rest-stop attendant. Not the most outgoing of men, Larson is brought out of his shell when he befriends peppery widow Cloe Sixbury (Frances Sternhagen), her developmentally delayed son (Jace Alexander), and an orphaned Vietnamese girl (Nicole Francois). Deftly blending warmth, humor, and unexpected melodrama, Follow Your Heart is a winner all the way. The film has been rereleased as Walk Me to the Distance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Cassidy, Frances Sternhagen, (more)
- 1990
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) serves as narrator for tonight's story, which centers around working-class private eye Frank Albertson (a pre-Politically Incorrect Bill Maher) and his wife Sunny (Faith Ford). After years of sponging off Frank and Sunny, Frank's uncle Charlie (John Finnegan) suddenly inherits a fortune--and just as suddenly disappears. Later on, a mangled corpse is found on a local railroad track, whereupon Frank attempts to claim the body as that of Uncle Charlie.. However, there seems to be several other people interested in claiming the corpse--and the aforementioned inheritance--themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The ladies of Cabot Cove are enchanted by a newcomer to the community, handsome gym instructor Wayne Bennett (Jason Beghe). Especially fascinated by Bennett is Eve Simpson (Julie Adams), who naturally is an old friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). When Bennett's onetime partner, con artist Fred Kepper (Hugh O'Brien), turns up dead in Eve's bedroom, Jessica can't bring herself to believe that her friend had anything to do with this awkward turn of events--and as always, Jessica knows best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Like 1976's Sybil, Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase was a two-part TV movie based on the true story of a woman plagued with multiple personalities. Shelly Long stars as a woman whose abused childhood has resulted in the fragmentation of her psyche into 22 separate personalities. Before her therapy is finished, Long reveals that 70 more personalities are struggling within her to break free. The film was based on Truddi Chase's autobiography When the Rabbit Howls. That Voices Within was not the ratings grabber that Sybil turned out to be can be chalked up to its network competition during its initial 1990 telecast: The final episode of Newhart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One by-product of two consecutive Oscar wins is that Tom Hanks no longer has to appear in such potboilers as Turner and Hooch. Hanks plays Turner, a meticulously groomed, excruciatingly well-organized detective working in a small California coastal town. When local "character" John McIntyre is murdered by drug smugglers, the only witness is McIntyre's slobbery, smelly mutt Hootch. You're way ahead of us, folks: Turner, who despises dogs in general and Hooch in particular, is compelled to put the cantankerous dog up as his house guest. Also easily predictable is the fact that Turner and Hooch will, by the next-to-last reel, become boon companions. To its credit, the film has an abundance of laughs and thrills...but, gee, that ending! Neither terrific nor terrible, Turner and Hooch is a pleasant time-filler; we do wish, however, that more time had been spent on the budding romance between Turner and veterinarian Emily Carson (Mare Winningham). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Mare Winningham, (more)
- 1988
In this romantic comedy, a grocery store employee endeavors to attract the attention of a wealthy playboy by pretending to be a high society girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A tracking gunman is joined by his collegian son in an effort to catch a homicidal religious freak in this made-for-cable western. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This made-for-cable thriller stars Powers Boothe as a former policeman whose son (C. Thomas Howell) has fallen prey to a band of white supremacists. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Based on the true story that took place in Harlem during 1971, this made-for-TV crime drama centers on assistant district attorney Robert Tanenbaum's desperate search for a trio of cop killers. Tanenbaum (James Woods) is assisted by an equally determined detective (Yaphet Lau Kotto). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Yaphet Kotto, (more)
- 1984
Inamusch as Deputy Enos (Sonny Shroyer) has become too honest for their own good, Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Sheriff Roscoe (James Best) get him out of the way by promoting him to a civilian job. Enos' replacement is Billy Joe Coogan (Michael Alldredge), as dishonest and corrupt as the day is long. Alas, Boss and Roscoe aren't given much time to congratulate themselves over their choice of new deputies: No sooner has Billy Joe accepted the job than he double-crosses his patrons by threatening to open Hazzard Dam and flood the county unless he is paid an enormous ransom! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
With an unbilled Waylon Jennings providing verbal and musical punctuation throughout, the premiere episode of The Dukes of Hazzard chronicles the latest adventures of cousins Luke and Bo Duke (Tom Wopat, John Schneider), a pair of hot-roddin' Good Ole Boys living in Hazzard County ("East of the Mississippi and South of the Ohio") with their sensible Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and their curvaceous female cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach). With their moonshine-running activities "officially" thwarted by the terms of their probation, Luke and Bo have to get their kicks flummoxing and outrunning the local corrupt authorities, rotund county boss Jefferson Davis Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Hogg's brother-in-law, Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best, here playing his role along more embittered and less buffoonish lines than he would in future episodes). On this occasion, the Dukes thwart Roscoe's latest crooked enterprise, namely smuggling slot machines across the border, by hijacking the machines and giving the money therein to local orphanages and charities. Naturally, Roscoe tries to arrest the boys, only to find that he'll make a public fool of himself--and probably be voted out of office--if he takes any action at all! Ernie W. Brown, here cast as Dobro Dullyn, would later return in the semiregular role of L.B. Davenport. This is the first of five episodes filmed on location in Covington, Georgia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Vengeful ex-convict Harlan Betts (Lawrence Pressman) is determined to get even with high-profile attorney Larry Drake (Lawrence Pressman), who when serving as deputy district attorney sent Betts to prison. At the same time, Charlie Finn (Pernell Roberts), a businessman facing bankruptcy, is further weighed down by divorce proceedings instigated by his wife's attorney--Larry Drake. With grim inevitability, these two separate storylines converge, bringing homicide detectives Keller (Karl Malden) and Robbins (Richard Hatch) onto the scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A man who planned to marry his high school sweetheart, buy a house with a white picket fence, and raise a family kisses his dreams of suburban bliss goodbye in order to travel through a hundred mile section of Central and South American jungle known as the Darien Gap in this adventure starring Christopher Masterson, Brooke Burns, Johnny Messner, and James Duval. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Brooke Burns, (more)
- 2006
- R
Danger comes in pairs in this gruesome horror story. Kate (Margo Harshman), Zack (Greg Cipes), Ashley (Kelly Vitz), Riff (Artie Baxter) and Vicky (Carrie Finklea) are five college students who are heading out together for a spring break camping trip. Hoping to add some excitement to the proceedings, they set up camp at the Heathers, a remote wooded location where a notorious murder took place years before. Legend has it a young boy killed his parents and beat his twin brother into a state of severe brain damage in the Heathers, but the students, attracted to the spooky ambience, don't imagine any real danger still lurks in the forest. En route, the kids stop for supplies at a ramshackle general store, where they meet Stanley (Crispin Glover), an eccentric shopkeeper with a mentally feeble brother, Simon (also played by Glover). What they kids don't realize until it's too late is that Stanley is the murderous youngster of legend, and with the help of Simon, he's still in the business of murdering strangers when the opportunity presents itself. Simon Says also stars Bruce Glover (Crispin's father), Lori Lynn Lively and Erica Hubbard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Crispin Glover
Penelope Spheeris directed this Marlon Wayans comedy, scripted by the Rocket Man team of Greg Erb and Craig Mazin. Saddled with several on and off-campus jobs, hard-working college student Darryl Witherspoon (Marlon Wayans) is aiming for a position with the Smythe-Bates brokerage firm, but twit Scott Thorpe has the right resumé and connections. A frat failure, Darryl also doesn't score at ice hockey. For extra cash, Darryl becomes a test subject for an experimental drug that heightens the senses by five times. The initial effect is a rectal irritation, but then Darryl finds his enhanced hearing enables him to pick up distant conversations, and his upgraded coordination improves his hockey game. However, an overdose literally leaves Darryl senseless, as he discovers only four of his five senses operative at any given time. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Wayans, David Spade, (more)
