Shelley Long Movies
Northwestern University drama student Shelley Long began picking up work in Chicago TV commercials in the mid-1970s. She went on to host the WMAQ-TV "magazine" program Sorting it Out, and honed her comic timing with the Second City troupe. While her actual film debut was in 1980's A Small Circle of Friends, Long prefers to list the 1981 spoof Caveman as her first film. After a handful of TV guest appearances (notably as one of Alan Alda's lady friends on MASH) and an attention-grabbing performance as a freewheeling hooker in Night Shift (1982), Long was cast as the pretentious, garrulous waitress Diane Chambers on the weekly sitcom Cheers. She won an Emmy for this role, but all was not roses on the Cheers set. According to most sources, Diane's overbearing personality spilled over into Long's off-camera behavior; when she left the series in 1987, many of the cast members, especially star Ted Danson, breathed a rather loud and public sigh of relief. Shelley Long's post-Cheers efforts to establish herself as a movie star have thus far fallen short of expectations; her most successful film assignment to date has been as retro housewife Carol Brady in 1995's The Brady Bunch: The Movie. She reprised the role of Carol in the 1996 sequel A Very Brady Sequel. She returned to the part of Diane Chambers with a guest appearance on Frasier in 1996, and she would play Carol Brady again in A Very Brady Sequel that same year. At the beginning of the next decade she had a memorable turn in Robert Altman's Dr. T & the Women, and she would appear again on Frasier in the part that made her famous. There was a third Brady Bunch movie in 2002. She appeared in light fare such as Honeymoon with Mom and A Holiday Engagement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2006
After being left at the altar, Shannon takes a little advice from her single mom Marla and takes the island honeymoon trip she had planned with her new husband - but brings mom instead. A prominent magazine publisher, Marla's true motivations are more than just mother-daughter bonding, however, as she secretly plans to land an interview with a former astronaut living in the seaside locale. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Virginia Williams, (more)
- 2006
Reunited as adults, childhood friends Mark Lucas (Bridget Brannagh and Theresa Connolly (Crystal Allen) fall in love and decide to get married. The wedding plans are okay so far as Mark and Theresa's golfing-buddy dads are concerned. Alas, the couple's mothers constitute a different story: Betsy Lucas (Shelley Long) and Bridget Connolly (Patty Duke) have carried on a bitter feud for the past 25 years, and they aren't about to go into "all is forgiven" mode just because their kids are in love. The situation reaches a disastrous peak when Betsy and Bridget take it upon themselves to arrange the couple's Catalina Island wedding--and as terrifying as these two ladies are when they're on opposite sides of the fence, they're even more so when they join forces! Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door was first telecast February 4, 2006, as a cinematic Valentine card from cable's Hallmark Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2002
- PG13
- Add The Brady Bunch in the White House to Queue Add The Brady Bunch in the White House to top of Queue
Gary Cole and Shelley Long are back as Mike and Carol Brady, America's favorite squares, with a whole new crop of youngsters cast as the six Brady kids. As a reward for returning a $67,000,000 lottery ticket to its rightful owner, Mike is invited to meet the President at the White House. Through a series of dizzying and absolutely nonsensical plot twists, the proper-and-permed Mr. Brady ends up sworn in as Chief Executive of the United States. In this capacity, Mike and the Brady kids manage to save the government from a devastating scandal, while perky Carol Brady caters State dinners and imposes "time outs" on obstreperous members of the Press. The Brady Bunch in the White House first aired on the FOX Network on November 29, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Gary Cole, (more)
One of several "Santa Goes to Jail" TV movies appearing during the Christmas season of 2002, The Santa Trap actually has roots going as far back as the 1909 D. W. Griffith one-reeler A Trap for Santa Claus. Transplanted from Connecticut to California, the Emerson family isn't too happy over the prospect of sweltering their way through the Yuletide season. In fact, Bill and Molly Emerson (Robert Hays, Shelley Long) are so displeased with their current plight that they tell their children that Santa Claus doesn't exist. Hoping to prove them wrong, the couple's precocious daughter Judy (Sierra Abel) sets up a Rube Goldberg-like trap in her living room--and sure enough, the little darling snares Santa himself (played by Dick Van Patten) a few hours into Christmas Eve. Naturally, Judy's parents assume that the jolly old elf is a burglar, and promptly have Santa arrested. Thus is set in motion a frantic comedy of errors involving the Emersons, the inept local constabulary, and a burned-out biker named Max (Stacy Keach) who hopes to break out of the slammer by impersonating St. Nick. The Santa Trap first aired December 13, 2002, over the PAX network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Shelley Long, (more)
- 2001
In the first half of Frasier's ninth-season opener, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) finds himself on familiar territory as he is torn between two loves: Claire (Patricia Clarkson), with whom he'd vacationed in Belize in the series' season-eight finale, and Lana (Jean Smart), a troublesome but undeniably fascinating lady from his past. As he mulls over the dilemma, Frasier reflects upon all the loves of his life -- including (in dream sequences), his ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) and his Cheers inamorata Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). Originally telecast as a one hour-special (and moved from September 18, 2001, to September 25 due to network coverage of the 9/11 tragedy), this episode has since been reedited as two half-hours for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2001
In the concluding half of Frasier's ninth-season opener, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) continues mulling over the past loves of his life as he tries to choose between his current amours Claire (Patricia Clarkson) and Lana (Jean Smart). In a surrealistic climax, virtually all of Frasier's women from past episodes (most of them played by the actresses who originated the roles) converge upon him -- including his late mother. Originally telecast as a one hour-special (and moved from September 18, 2001, to September 25 due to network coverage of the 9/11 tragedy), this episode has since been reedited as two half-hours for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Director Robert Altman reteams with Cookie's Fortune scribe Anne Rapp for this tale of a Dallas gynecologist and the parade of anxious patients, haggard family members, and potential love interests who come his way. Richard Gere plays the titular role of Dr. Sullivan Travis, a calm, successful, and much sought-after ob-gyn who witnesses his normally stable life come apart over the course of one rainy autumn. As the film opens, Dr. T and his wife Kate (Farrah Fawcett) are preparing for the wedding of their Dallas Cowboys cheerleader daughter Dee Dee (Kate Hudson). Their other daughter -- the Kennedy-assassination conspiracy theorist Connie (Tara Reid) -- has her doubts about the impending nuptials, but Dr. T chalks them up to routine sibling jealousy. Meanwhile, escaping a messy divorce, boozy sister-in-law Peggy (Laura Dern) moves into the Travis household with her three toddler daughters in tow. For release, Dr. T finds solace target shooting and golfing (occasionally at the same time) with his buddies, and at his country club, he meets a beguiling golf pro, Bree (Helen Hunt). When the childlike Kate loses her grip on reality during a flatware shopping spree, Bree offers to give the kindly doctor some lessons in his swing -- both on and off the fairways. Dr. T had its North American Premiere at the 2000 Toronto International Film Fest. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, (more)
- 1999
The authorities have given up, but Elizabeth (Shelley Long) has not. Someone has kidnapped Elizabeth's 13-year-old daughter, and she is determined to find both the girl and the abductor. Even when the existing evidence points to Elizabeth's death, Elizabeth refuses to relinquish her quest, hounding the police into taking action upon the slightest of clues. Things of it is, the villain of the story has been hiding in plain sight all along. Made for television, Vanished Without a Trace was originally telecast by NBC on February 1, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Jennifer Jostyn, (more)
The animated Christmas story Jingle Bells concerns a poor family headed by a father who sacrifices something the rest of the family wanted to keep in order to buy everyone a present. Luckily, Santa saves the day. This film features the voices of Don Knotts, Shelley Long, and Jason Alexander. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 1996
Shelley Long recreates her Cheers role as Diane Chambers in this episode (which, of course, was not Diane's first appearance on Frasier -- remember that surprise ending in the second-season episode "Adventures in Paradise"?). Arriving in Seattle full of stories of how wonderful her new life is in Malibu, Diane suddenly goes into one of her customary fits of hysteria and tearfully admits to former fiancé Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) that she has never been so miserable. Taking pity on Diane, Frasier agrees to do anything he can for her, even unto financing production of a play she has written -- which, much to his dismay, turns out to be a thinly disguised recap of Diane's life back in Boston with a group of disturbingly familiar losers hanging around a tavern and pining hopelessly over heroine "Mary Ann." This episode earned an Emmy award for Outstanding Editing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
Shelly Long returns as the insufferably perky daytime talkshow host Dottie Wilcox. Though there's no love lost between Dottie and Murphy (Candice Bergen), that doesn't stop Dottie from inviting Murphy's son Avery (now played by Jackson Buckley, replacing Dyllan Christopher) to her own son's birthday party. The situation takes a bizarre twist when Murphy unearths some unsavory facts about Dottie's "outside" business ventures (This episode was clearly inspired by a then-current contretemps involving Dottie Wilcox's real-life counterpart, a woman with three names who used to do a TV show with a guy named Regis). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
The bane of the existence of city attorney Elizabeth Gates (Shelley Long) is the jovial, widowed former barber (Bruce Kirby) who has chosen to be a year-round Santa Claus, transforming his house into a permanent "North Pole" village and giving away free presents to needy children. Unfortunately, "Santa" is operating out of a residential zone, and thus is technically running an illegal commercial business. Elizabeth's problem is to evict the would-be Kris Kringle without endangering her mayoral campaign -- and to hide from her impressionable son Tommy (Nathan Lawrence) the real reason behind her dislike for "Santa." Meanwhile, a cynical big-city reporter (Barry Bostwick) follows the case with interest (his interest is mainly in Elizabeth, of course), and a local land developer goes into "Scrooge" mode as he schemes to tear down a landmark train station. Based on an actual 1989 court case, A Different Kind of Christmas was made for cable, airing originally over the Lifetime network on December 9, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Barry Bostwick, (more)
Like its lively predecessor, The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), this mild comic send-up takes its characters and situations from the popular family sitcom of the 1970s, The Brady Bunch. Set in the '90s, it is filled with in-joke references to American pop culture. However, one need not be familiar with the original series in order to enjoy this film. Bad guy Trevor Thomas (Tim Matheson) is posing as supermom Carol Brady's long-dead first husband Roy Martin. He claims to have been amnesiac and made unrecognizable by plastic surgery after suffering disfiguring injuries, but in truth, he is on the hunt for a very valuable artifact, an ancient Chinese horse carving which Roy sent to his family from the field. Because of the family's sheer niceness, they could never imagine such deception, and husband Mike Brady (Gary Cole) welcomes him into their midst. This causes Roy no end of frustration, as not only must he live with this incredibly sweet and cheerful family while he searches for the carving, but he must endure having his ill-tempered sarcastic jibes go completely unrecognized. When Carol (Shelley Long) is kidnapped, the whole family goes a-hunting. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Gary Cole, (more)
- 1995
- PG13
The Brady Bunch Movie pays tribute to the 1970s TV show while poking gentle fun at it. The Brady family, led by father Mike (Gary Cole), still live in their suburban, split-level home and are still throwbacks to the era that spawned them. Eternally perky wife Carol (Shelley Long) is the perfect homemaker, while the kids' behavior is as wholesome as their loud, time-warp pastel clothes. Meanwhile, the greedy, selfish modern era swirls dangerously around them, embodied in next-door neighbor and real estate agent Ditmeyer (Michael McKean), who wants to buy the Bradys' property and turn the neighborhood into a giant mall. But no amount of money or prodding can persuade the Bradys to give up their home. Director Betty Thomas contrasts the overlit sitcom look of the Brady house interiors (faithfully recreated from the series) with real locations and natural grit for the modern L.A. scenes. The result is a satire that deftly spoofs the idea of staying true to old-fashioned values without ever passing judgment on those values. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Gary Cole, (more)
- 1995
A fairly faithful remake of Disney's earlier feature of the same name, this version first aired on television. Gaby Hoffman stars as Annabelle, a girl who thinks her mother has an easy life. Her mother Ellen (Shelley Long) thinks Annabelle's life is the better of the two, and after an argument one Friday morning, the two magically switch personalities. After much mayhem and confusion, the two learn that the grass is not really greener on the other side of the fence. Actress-turned-director Melanie Mayron directed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Gaby Hoffmann, (more)
- 1995
Shelley Long makes her first appearance as Dottie Wilcox, one-half of the hosting team of the popular daytime talk show "Dick and Dottie" (based on guess-which syndicated talkfest). Unable to hide her disdain for the lightweight Dottie, Murphy (Candice Bergen) makes a catty comment about the woman during an "FYI" broadcast. Forced by the network to apologize to Dottie, Murphy proceeds in her own inimitable fashion to make a bad situation worse. Comedian Dom DeLuise and Hollywood columnists Army Archerd and Liz Smith appear as themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1994
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Frasier's dreams of a romantic rendezvous in Bora Bora are dashed when he runs smack-dab into his ex-wife, Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), who is vacationing with her new beau, a seismologist named Brian (James Morrison). In his efforts to one-up his former spouse, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) succeeds only in convincing everyone on the island -- including his girlfriend Madeleine (JoBeth Williams) -- that he's a few bricks shy of a full load. Upon returning to Seattle, Frasier is desperate to patch things up with Madeleine, but the omnipresent Lilith botches this up as well. It is giving nothing away this late in the game to note that there is a BIG surprise at episode's end -- but it was one of TV's best-kept secrets of 1994. (And listen for the voice of Roz's latest "bad date.") ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1993
Originally telecast as a two-hour special (including a 25-minute retrospective of series highlights), the famous final episode of Cheers has since been re-edited as three separate half-hour installments for syndication. In the concluding 30 minutes of this fourth-highest-rated series finale in TV history, Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) have rekindled their romance and are on the verge of getting married. But this would require Sam to relocate to California -- and to close up Cheers. And what will become of the rest of the gang? Well, at least we know what happened to Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1993
This 30-minute cartoon special was originally part of Cinar's The Real Story of. . . anthology, wherein the histories of such popular songs as "O Christmas Tree" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" were recounted in a highly fanciful fashion. The song in question this time is "Baa Baa Black Sheep", the origin of which is restaged in the fashion of a "True Crime" yarn. The toughest convict in Muttonville Prison, Baa Baa manages to bust out of the joint, whereupon he sets up a profitable wool racket. Robert Stack provides the voice of Lt. Littleboy, who has made it his mission in life to bring Baa Baa to justice, while Shelley Long is heard as Baa Baa's moll, "The Dame." Directed by award-winning animator and documentarian Gerald Potterton and originally telecast in Canada, Baa Baa Black Sheep made its first US appearance on January 1, 1994, courtesy of the HBO cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Shelley Long, (more)
- 1993
Originally telecast as a two-hour special (including a 25-minute retrospective of series highlights), the famous final episode of Cheers has since been re-edited as three separate half-hour installments for syndication. In part two, Sam (Ted Danson) persuades Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) to pose as his wife during an evening out with his old heartthrob Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), who brings along a "husband" who is about as authentic as Sam's spouse. Although the evening is a disaster, it serves to rekindle the fires of passion between Sam and Diane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1993
Originally telecast as a two-hour special (including a 25-minute retrospective of series highlights), the famous final episode of Cheers has since been re-edited as three separate half-hour installments for syndication. In part one, Sam (Ted Danson) is surprised to see his former fiancée Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) on TV, accepting a screenwriting award. Phoning Diane to congratulate her, Sam saves face by claiming that he's happily married -- and she, for the same reason, says the same thing. Meanwhile, plumber Don Santry (Tom Berenger) proposes to Rebecca (Kirstie Alley), who finds it extremely hard to accept even though all of her wants to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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