Meredith Mac Rae Movies

Kicked out of school once again, R.J. Masters (Tate Donovan), punkish nephew of Robin Masters, is sent to Robin's Nest for the summer to learn the finer aspects of gentlemanly behavior from Jonathan Higgins (John Hillerman). Unfortunately, R.J. has no intention of reforming, as he quickly demonstrates by posing as Magnum (Tom Selleck) and accepting an investigation job from a beleagured widow (Meredith MacRae). Before long, the kid is up to his neck in danger, and it looks as if the "real" Magnum may not be able to bail him out! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This black comedy centers upon the exploits of a nosy census taker and the family he harasses. The couple he visits willingly let him in the house. Soon they find themselves interrogated with increasingly intrusive questions. They finally reach their limit, get angry, and shoot the census taker in the head. The rest of the story chronicles their attempts to hide the body from an eccentric detective. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Just guess what this TV movie is about. Yes, that's right, someone is killing the centerfolds of a certain prominent girlie mag. Poor Miss March went out like a lion and now cops are trying to keep disaster from raining down on Miss April. One of the glamour girls in Calendar Girl Murders is none other than Sharon Stone, billed second in the film (but not at all in the print ads!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this stereotyped but right-on look at the world of show-business, drama builds as a New York director (Dick Sargent) auditions aspiring new talent for his upcoming play, while the possibility of rejection looms in everyone's mind. The potential stars themselves are widely variant individuals: one is an alcoholic, pill-popping young singer (Roslyn Kind) struggling in the shadow of her famous mother, another is a parole officer heading for trouble when his secretary is kidnapped, yet another is a womanizer sleeping with the rich backer of the show, and one is a young, maladjusted man whose façade does not match his interior. Almost all of the aspirants get a part in the play, but their intrigues, the pressure they feel, and their personal ambitions eventually lead to acrimony and unexpected mayhem. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Allen Garfield had reverted professionally to his given name of Goorwitz when he starred in Sketches of A Strangler. He also returned to his early-1970s predilection for starring in kinky, independently-produced projects. Here he is cast as a painter who obsesses over beautiful, unapproachable women. His fixations take a homicidal turn as several streetwalkers fall victim to Goorwitz' homicidal impulses. In Bucket of Blood fashion, Life imitates art in Sketches of a Strangler, and vice versa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode is something of an amalgam of the Martin-and-Lewis legend and the much-later TV series The Sopranos). Jim (James Garner) is hired to protect over-the-hill comedian Kenny Bell (Chuck McCann) from his mean-spirited former partner Lee Russo (Robert Quarry), only to find himself implicated in Russo's murder. At the same time, Kenny must ransom his "funny box", a catalogue of jokes that has been stolen. These two plot strands are connected by a sex scandal within a Mob family, which certain parties are determined to keep secret at any cost! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The self-explanatorily titled My Friends Need Killing was directed by the estimable Paul Leder. A true auteur, Leder also wrote and edited the film. But you probably won't find his name in the pages of Cahiers du Cinema, principally because his output includes such tantalizing titles as The Baby Doll Murders and I Dismember Mama. This low-budget psycho film stars Greg Mullavey as Gene Kline, a disturbed Vietnam veteran who goes insane and begins murdering his fellow combatants or causing them to commit suicide. Mullavey, best known for television's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, appeared in several of Leder's films along with co-star and real-life spouse, Meredith MacRae, who later re-teamed with Leder for the all-time classic Sketches of a Strangler. Completed in 1976, My Friends Need Killing didn't receive a widespread release until it went to video in 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A familiar film noir plotline is dusted off and gussied up in this episode. A former convict hires hit man Alex Tanner (Richard Jordan) to kill the attorney who sent the ex-con to prison--but then has second thoughts. Unfortunately, the elusive assassin has no intention of breaking the contract, and as a result Inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) finds himself embarking on yet another "race against time." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Petticoat Junction's already sagging ratings had dropped precipitously upon the death of star Bea Benaderet in the fall of 1968, the series still maintained enough of a viewership to warrant a seventh and final season, which commenced in September of 1969. Edgar Buchanan is now top-billed as Uncle Joe Carson, the delightfully shiftless owner of Hooterville's Shady Rest Hotel. June Lockhart, introduced in season six as Dr. Janet Craig, is now afforded second billing in the series' opening credits; alas, talented though Lockhart may be, she was unable to replace the late Bea Benaderet in the hearts of the series' staunchest fans. With Uncle Joe's niece Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning)'s recent marriage to crop duster Steve Elliott (Mike Minor) and the birth of little Kathy Jo Elliott (now played by Elna Hubbell), Betty Jo's sisters Billie Jo (Meredith Mac Rae) and Bobbie Jo (Lori Saunders) are seriously contemplating matrimony -- which is not only the logical course of events, but also a blatant bid by the series' producers to generate audience interest by holding out the promise of two more onscreen weddings. Billie Jo's erstwhile beau Jerry is played by Greg Mullavey, who later became the real-life husband of Meredith Mac Rae (just as Linda Kaye Henning and Mike Minor were husband and wife offscreen). As for Bobbie Jo, she is courted by the terminally shy game warden Orrin Pike (Jonathan Daly). And in another domestic development, Petticoat Junction this season serves up the obligatory (in 1970) "women's lib" episode, "Susan B. Anthony, I Love You," which though lightly amusing, seems deliberately calculated to enrage contemporary feminists! Even though the romantic entanglements of the Bradley girls did not significantly improve the ratings of Petticoat Junction, the series might have survived for another season had it not been cut short by CBS as part of the network's ongoing efforts to "de-ruralize" its target audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In another "crossover" episode, the Clampetts head back to Hooterville for Christmas, where they renew their friendships with the cast of Petticoat Junction. Having set her cap for Hooterville storekeeper Sam Drucker (Frank Cady), Granny panics when a letter written by Sam is swallowed by Elly May's pet bear. Meanwhile, back in Beverly Hills, Mr. Drysdale is confronted by his angry employees, who demand better wages and work conditions. In addition to Frank Cady, this episode features Petticoat Junction regulars Lori Saunders (Bobbie Jo) and Meredith MacRae (Billie Jo). "The Week Before Christmas" aired, appropriately enough, the week before Christmas -- December 18, 1968, to be exact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Bea Benaderet is still billed as the star of the first few episodes of Petticoat Junction's sixth season, it was purely a gesture of kindness and sentiment on the part of producer Paul Henning. Everyone in the cast knew that Benaderet was mortally ill with cancer, but this tragic information was largely withheld from the public under the actress' death on October 13, 1968. Her last series "appearance" -- which consists of a telephone voice-over -- occurs in the episode "The Valley Has a Baby," in which Benaderet's character Kate Bradley offers best wishes to her daughter Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) and son-in-law Steve Elliott (Mike Minor) when their first child, Kathy Jo Elliott, is born (the infant is played this season by unbilled twin babies Barbara and Heather Whiter).
With Benaderet's departure, Edgar Buchanan is elevated to top billing in the role of lazy Uncle Joe Carson, now forced by circumstances to take over ownership of Hooterville's Shady Rest Hotel. In hopes of replicating the warm rapport between Benaderet and Buchanan, the producers introduce a new, strong-willed female character, Dr. Janet Davis (June Lockhart), in the episode "The Lady Doctor." Not unexpectedly, Janet has a tough time winning over the chauvinist males of Hooterville -- especially Uncle Joe -- but the three Bradley daughters take to Janet as if she were their surrogate mother (which, in a sense, she is!). Although Bea Benaderet's death unavoidably casts a pall over Petticoat Junction's sixth season, there are a number of very worthwhile episodes. Irene Ryan crosses over from The Beverly Hillbillies in her familiar Granny role in two chucklesome outings, "The Valley Has a Baby" and "A Cake From Granny" (which also features another Hillbillies regular, Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway). Veteran film favorites Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen appear as themselves in an amusing episode wherein the two actors attend Hooterville's long-overdue premiere of their silent starring feature film Wings. And in "Billie Jo and the Big Big Star," guest star Rich Little delivers dead-on impressions of Petticoat Junction regulars Edgar Buchanan and Byron Foulger (introduced this season in the role of timorous train conductor Wendell Gibbs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide