Edie McClurg Movies
Short, pleasantly plump, and endowed with an endearingly piercing voice, American actress Edie McClurg has been a favorite supporting performer since her 1976 film debut in Carrie. Much of her TV work has been as a comedy sketch performer, notably on Tony Orlando and Dawn (1976), The David Letterman Show (a 1980 daytimer), The Big Show (1980) and No Soap, Radio (1982). Ms. McClurg has also played many a nosy neighbor/in-law/secretary on such TV sitcoms as Harper Valley PTA (1982), Small Wonder (1985) and The Hogan Family (1988). McClurg received larger roles in the TV series The Kallikaks (1977), in which she was the wife of series star David Huddleston, and in the feature film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988), wherein she portrayed the villainess (the ads showed McClurg burning horror-show hostess Elvira at the stake; bully for her). That Edie McClurg is capable of subtler dramatic roles was proven by the TV movie Bill: On His Own, in which she was touchingly convincing as a mentally retarded group-home resident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
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Santa finds himself in serious trouble when Rusty Reindeer leaves the North Pole in order to do some soul searching in the big city, and a malfunctioning "Nice 'N Naughty O'Matic" leaves him unable to distinguish the good kids from the bad in this animated adventure for the entire family. Rusty Reindeer is having a personal crisis, and now he's hoping to find his true role in Christmas by venturing into the city and joining a support group for holiday icons. Meanwhile, as Rusty is trading stories with Albert the Thanksgiving turkey and Mr. C the ornery cupid, Santa's "Nice 'N Naughty O'Matic" goes on the fritz. Now a young boy who should have been on the good list has been mistakenly shifted to the bad, and in order to ensure that the child has a good Christmas Rusty will enlist the aid of moody Halloween ghosts Trick and Treat. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Savage, Fred Willard, (more)
Having lived a sheltered childhood while her absentee parents traveled all over the world, artist Abby Morrison (Shiri Appleby) has developed an extraordinarily vivid imagination, but her grasp on reality is tenuous at best. Now the roommate of Jessica Lindstrom (Alexandra Holden), Abby agrees to tutor Jessica's cousin Quinn (Nick Zano), a selfish and cynical college student. Much to her surprise, Abby is attracted to Quinn, helping him to come out of his shell and develop his own artistic talents. But when it comes to romance, Jessica remains true to her "dream man" Sy (Orlando Seale), who poses for her paintings and shares all of her likes and dislikes -- and whom nobody but Abby has ever seen. Based on a play by Natalie Prado, the made-for-cable Everything You Want premiered April 17, 2005, on the ABC Family Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shiri Appleby, Nick Zano, (more)
- 1999
What better subject for a screen comedy than the life and times of confessed Unabomber Theodore "Ted" Kaczynsky? This documentary parody traces Kaczynsky's life from his traumatic childhood and socially inept college days to his retreat from academia into factory work and eventual exile into the woods, concluding with his famous reign of terror, mailing bombs to perceived powermongers of the academic/industrial complex (boy, it sure SOUNDS funny so far). Ted is dotted with staged "interviews" from Kaczynsky's family and acquaintences (including Edie McClurg as his mother and Kaitlin Hopkins as the closest thing Ted had to a girlfriend) and recreations of important events in his life (such as the night Kaczynsky was invited to a campus pot party). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Passer, Edie McClurg, (more)
- 1999
Mel Brooks is back as Paul's redoubtable Uncle Phil. As Paul (Paul Reiser) stands on the sidelines with mouth agape, Uncle Phil elects to go for his high school diploma -- some 63 years after dropping out. This plot development is almost as fascinating as the breast-transplant treatment undergone by Jamie's (Helen Hunt) mercurial sister, Lisa (Anne Elizabeth Ramsay). ~ All Movie Guide
- 1998
In this feature-length episode of the enduring and endearing television detective drama, the world's most rumpled police investigator, Lt. Columbo investigates the mysterious disappearance of a controversial Hollywood gossip columnist. Columbo's prime suspect is a secretive mortician who specializes in celebrity funerals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Patrick McGoohan, (more)
In this dark comedy, Peter (Josh Charles) is a well-educated Jewish writer from Los Angeles who has fallen in love with Melanie (Alexandra Wentworth), who was born and raised in the Deep South -- where much of her family still lives. Melanie travels to Georgia for a few days to visit her father, Col. Branson (Lloyd Bridges), but Peter soon gets a call from Melanie, begging him to come down and "rescue" her from her family. It isn't until Peter arrives that he fully understands what Melanie is talking about. Most of her relatives can be politely described as "eccentric," while the Colonel is only a few steps away from psychotic, so Josh busily brainstorms a way for he and Melanie to go back to L.A. sooner rather than later. Meeting Daddy also features Beau Bridges, son of star Lloyd Bridges; appropriately enough, Beau plays Lloyd's son. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Charles, Alexandra Wentworth, (more)
- 1997
Monica (Roma Downey) is assigned to give away one (and ONLY one!) miracle to a stranger in a crowded bar. Trouble is, every single person in the establishment is in dire need of a miracle! Whom should Monica choose: Wheelchair-bound Noah (Eddie Jones), desperate pool shark Claude (Clive Revill), unhappily married Ernie (Fred Sanders) and Marie (Terri Hanauer), alcoholic salesman Buddy (Tim Reid), perennial loser Loafer (Edie McClurg), or the dangerously impulsive Amethyst (Tracy Middendorf)? Just when Andrew (John Dye) shows up to lend Monica a helping hand, yet another "person in need" strolls into the bar--changing the dynamics of the story completely! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Although dimwitted Lonnie (Charles Esten) has only recently held the Bundy family hostage, Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate) has fallen madly in love with him--and in fact wants to become his bride. Al (Ed O'Neill) is dead set against the union, rightly summing up Lonnie as a faithless fool, but he changes his mind when he discover that the boy's father (Gordon Jump) is a millionaire. Originally telecast back-to-back with the previous episode "The Desperate Half-Hour", this final-first run Married. . .With Children installment has all the earmarks of a pilot for a spinoff starring Christina Applegate and Charles Esten--until Al throws a monkey wrench in the works in the last few seconds! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Here's something new in the annals of made-for-cable movies: a dysfunctional family of three in outer space. Coming across a derelict spaceship, Foster Carver (Corbin Bernsen), his wife, Katrina (Lara Harris), and their daughter, Amy (Brittany Ashton Holmes), rescue the vessel's sole survivor, a handsome fellow named Adam (Richard Grieco). It soon develops that everyone else on the derelict ship has been murdered, and that Adam is an android who has been programmed without morals or conscience -- as proven when Adam brazenly sets about to seduce Katrina and wipe out the rest of her family. An extraterrestrial variation on the old theatrical feature Dead Calm, Inhumanoid originally aired July 23, 1996, as part of the Showtime channel's "Roger Corman Presents" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Lara Harris, (more)
- 1992
After going out once with Crystal (Natalie West), Roseanne gets hooked on bingo and can't seem to stop. Edie McClurg and Mitzi McCall guest star as the bingo-crazed ladies Harriet and Peg, respectively. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1992
During an audition for a morning radio show, Joey (David Coulier) begins needling Jesse (John Stamos) about personal matters. Though Jesse is outraged at this breach of privacy, the boys get the radio job and Joey is encouraged to continue making cruel personal jokes on the air. Joey sees nothing wrong with this until the tables are turned and he is subjected to the same treatment by abrasive kiddie entertainer "Jungle Jenny" (Edie McClurg). Elsewhere, Steph (Jodie Sweetin) embarrasses DJ (Candace Cameron) and Steve (Scott Weinger) by "improving" on the truth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Tiny Toons Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation is a direct-to-video feature film based on the Steven Spielberg-produced animated television series. How I Spent My Vacation chronicles the adventures of the series' regular characters--Plucky Duck, Uncle Stinky, Dizzy Devil, and Buster and Babs Bunny, among many others--during their summer vacation. The film is arranged as a series of comic episodes instead of a coherent story, but that's a benefit, since each sequence gives a few cartoon characters a chance to shine. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The made for TV Menu for Murder was first telecast December 4, 1990. An unpopular PTA leader is murdered with a poisoned croissant sandwich during a gala luncheon. Though practically every woman on the committee had expressed a desire to kill the victim, the principal suspect is housewife Julia Duffy. Detective Ed Marinaro conducts an intense investigation of Julia-much to the discomfort of her husband. Joan van Ark and Morgan Fairchild also star, the latter incrongrously cast as a PTA treasurer. Originally titled Murder at the PTA Luncheon, Menu for Murder was reportedly withheld from view until a few legal matters could be smoothed out with the Parent-Teacher's Association. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Marinaro, Julia Duffy, (more)
Veteran animator Hayao Miyazaki directs this buoyant children's adventure yarn about a young witch striking out on her own. At her mother's behest, 13-year-old Kiki sets out on a year-long apprenticeship with her black cat in tow. With a shaky command of her broom, she ends up in a charming little coastal town that looks like a cross between the French provincial and San Francisco. Unfortunately, the local hotels have a strict "no witches" policy and the police have taken a dim view of her recent aerial mischief making. She's saved from the street by a kindly baker's wife who offers her room and board in exchange for her delivering by broom the baker's wares. Soon she befriends a college-aged artist, an old women who fusses over her, and a boy her same age who is nursing a massive crush. All is well until she wakes up one day and realizes that she can't make her broom levitate nor can she talk to her cat. What will Kiki do? ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, (more)
Disney's The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored the venerable firm's reputation as the world's premiere animated-feature factory. The title character is a precocious teenager named Ariel, the daughter of Triton, king of the Sea. Against her dad's wishes, Ariel journeys beyond her own world to the surface, where she falls in love with Prince Eric, a handsome human. Foolishly, the little mermaid enters into an agreement with evil sea witch Ursula in order to become human herself. The wistfully melancholy ending of the original Hans Christian Andersen story is dispensed with in favor of a joyously happy ending-but not before a spectacular climactic confrontation between Ursula and Triton. The obligatory Disney comic relief is handled by such freshly minted characters as Sebastian the Crab, who, courtesy of voiceover artist Samuel E. Wright, sings the film's Oscar-winning "Under the Sea." Other voices are provided by Broadway star Jodi Benson (as Ariel) and such Hollywood reliables as Buddy Hackett, Pat Carroll, Kenneth Mars, and Rene Auberjonois. The enormous box-office take of The Little Mermaid made possible such future Disney cartoon ventures as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll, (more)
While at the high-school prom, a group of students find romance and fun, while their parents enjoy the same. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1988
A group of mischievous teen-agers get a notoriously difficult instructor that becomes their summer driving school teacher. ~ All Movie Guide
Self-made wealthy guy Rodney Dangerfield decides he needs a better education--and also to spend some time away from his cheating new wife. Dangerfield joins his son Keith Gordon at college. Dad hopes to gain his son's respect (isn't that always Dangerfield's motivation?), while son tries to fit in with his snobbish and brutish fellow students. English professor Sally Kellerman forms a strong bond with Dangerfield, encouraging both father and son to stick out their first year despite all odds. The finale involves some slapstick at the swimming pool diving board, and the obligatory commencement address delivered by Dangerfield, who proves that he can crack jokes without tugging at his tie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, (more)
- 1986
Whoopi Goldberg earned an Emmy nomination for her guest-star turn as a con artist named Camille Brand (Whoopi Goldberg). While evading arrest, Camille unintentionally saves the life of a politician. Duly impressed, Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) is convinced that the highly untrustworthy Camille might be a valuable addition to the Blue Moon Detective Agency. This final episode of [#Moonlighting's second season contains a few choice "It's only a TV show, folks" moments (at one point, the villain is disarmed by the studio prop man)--not to mention a cameo appearance by famed dwarf actor Billy Barty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
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Originally aired on Shelley Duvall's family-oriented HBO television series, this lively retelling of the classic tale features Jennifer Beals as the good-hearted slave girl who overcomes all to become a princess. Matthew Broderick plays the handsome object of her affection. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Bill: On His Own is the laudable made-for-TV sequel to the Emmy-winning 1981 film Bill. Mickey Rooney once more shines as Bill Sackter, a mentally-retarded adult struggling to survive in the mainstream. The owner of a coffee kiosk at the University of Iowa, Bill becomes disoriented when his friend and mentor Dennis Quaid moves to Los Angeles. Taking over Bill's case is idealistic young social worker Helen Hunt. While studying towards his Bar Mitzvah (which he was denied at the age of 13 because of his "incompetence"), Bill suffers a severe personal blow that threatens to send him spiralling back into helplessness. Bill: On His Own was originally telecast November 9, 1983, some four months after the death at age 70 of the real-life Bill Sackter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
In the conclusion of a two-part story, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), still posing as a mystery novelist, endeavors to solve the apparent murder of Edgar Thornton (David Downing) during a luxury cruise. The other passengers, all genuine mystery writers, put the clues together and point their fingers at the person they regard as the culprit. But amateur sleuth George manages to trump them all -- and that's only the first of several surprises. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
- 1982
In the first episode of a two-part story, Louise (Isabel Sanford) books George (Sherman Hemsley), Florence (Marla Gibbs), and herself on a murder-mystery cruise ship. To get a discount, George pretends to be a mystery novelist, just like the rest of the passengers. This pose may well prove to be his undoing when a genuine murder apparently occurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
- 1982
Mel's mom Carrie (Martha Raye) has had so much success with her special chicken pies that she plans to publish a cookbook. This would be okay with Mel (Vic Tayback) except for one detail: Carrie also plans to publish his secret chili recipe! Clearly, drastic legal measures are called for to keep Carrie from spilling the (chili) beans. This episode was directed by Linda Day, of Soap and Married. . .With Children fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
