Brian McNamara Movies

"How Far Would You Go to Save Your Sister's Life?" This was the question posed by the original ad copy for the made-for-TV drama A Case for Life--and the answer would seem to be "to the highest courts of the land", or at least that's how far Los Angeles lawyer Liz Hammett (Mel Harris) is prepared to go. A staunch pro-choice advocate, Liz discovers that her sister Kelly Porter (Valerie Bertinelli) is pregnant--a potential fatal situation, inasmuch as Kelly suffers from a rare medical condition requiring a delicate surgical procedure that will put both herself and her unborn child in jeopardy should she allow the baby to go to term. As dedicated to the pro-life movement as Liz is to the "other side", Kelly is determined to have her baby, and hang the consequences. It soon develops that Kelly is one against many, when even her doctor, her husband and her otherwise pro-life parents recommend an abortion. But Kelly sticks to her guns--and so does Liz, who initiates a lawsuit to force Kelly to abort immediately. Ultimately, the battle between the siblings becomes a national cause celebre, with virtually everyone in the country taking sides. A Cause for Life made its ABC network debut on February 18, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Referring to the fear of spiders, Arachnophobia features a particularly deadly species of spider that manages to make its way from the Venezuelan rain forest to a small California town, thanks to the many oversights of entomologist Julian Sands. Yuppie doctor Jeff Daniels, fed up with the dangers inherent in big-city living, has resettled in this town on the assumption that nothing untoward could ever happen here to himself and his family. Before long, however, Daniels is trying to make sense of a series of sudden deaths-and to figure out why each of the corpses has been drained of blood. The audience, of course, knows that the culprits are those pesky South American spiders, which grow larger with each kill. To make matters worse, Jeff Daniels suffers from a profound case of arachnophobia. John Goodman supports the cast as a slovenly exterminator, and Frank Marshall, longtime producer of Steven Spielberg's films, makes his directorial debut in Arachnophobia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Billionaire Boys Club is the two-part TV adaptation of a book by Sue Horton (unpublished at the time of the film's first telecast). In flashback form, the story recounts the murder of Beverly Hills con artist Ron Levin (Ron Silver). The culprit is yuppie Joe Hunt (Judd Nelson), a sharp young commodities trader who has organized an investment firm with several of his prep school buddies, known as the Billionaire Boys Club. Part one, originally telecast November 8, 1987, traces Hunt's meteoric rise to wealth and power, and the means by which Levin worms his way into Hunt's confidence. In part two, shown the next evening, Hunt has already murdered Levin and carefully disposed of the body. The next step of the scheme is take over where Levin left off by conning an Iranian millionaire out of a huge sum of money. Meanwhile, other members of the Club begin to have qualms over Hunt's finagling. Their whistle-blowing leads to Hunt's arrest and convinction for murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy returns to the exclusive but crazy country club golf course seen in the original Caddyshack. This time its the blue-bloods against the blue collars as a loud, vulgar self-made millionaire tries to join the stuffy upper-crust club after his daughter falls in love with the son of one of the members. Naturally, the boisterous millionaire is rejected by the genteel jerks. He retaliates by buying the golf course and turning it into an ultra-tacky amusement park. Merry mayhem ensues, but in the end, the snobs learn a valuable lesson, the millionaire gets to join, and his daughter and her lover are finally united. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dishonorably discharged Marine lieutenant Peter Doyle (Jeremy Callaghan) is pulled out of "retirement" by gung-ho General Pembroke (Steven Grives) to lead an elite unit on a dangerous mission deep in the jungles of Africa (actually Australia, where this made-for-TV movie was filmed). In addition to rescuing Doyle's missing brother James (Brian McNamara), the unit must also shut down a auto-destructive nuclear device set up by local "rebels." As the mission proceeds, the unit comes across gruesome evidence that previous rescue missions have failed miserably, but that's not the half of it: the duplicitious General Pembroke is part of a vast conspiracy to cover up a military effort to contact space aliens, an effort that has resulted in an all-stops-out invasion by huge, mutant, carnivorous insects! In America, Code Red: The Rubicon Conspiracy made its TV debut courtesy of UPN on January 9, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comical made-for-TV crime drama, a salty middle-aged policewoman on the cusp of early retirement decides to remain on her beat so she teams up with her son, a brand-new cop. The trouble is, he really would rather have been a stand-up comic and only joined the force to please his mom. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Part one of Earth*Star Voyager was first telecast January 17, 1988, on the Disney Sunday Movie anthology. The year is 2088: the Earth*Star Voyager blasts off on a 26-year-misson to find another planet able to support life. The space vessel's crew consists largely of teenagers (the oldest crewperson is 24). Intellectually, they're ready for the adventure: but no one has taken into consideration their emotional maturity. All sorts of unexpected dangers face the Voyager as Part One draws to its cliff-hanging close (see separate entry for details on Part Two).Duncan Regehr, Brian McNamara, Jason Michas, Julia Montgomery, Tom Breznahan and Peter Donat head the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jaimie Alexander and Brian McNamara co-headline the direct-to-video supernatural horror saga Hallowed Ground. When an innocent young lady becomes unwittingly stranded in an American small town, she senses imminent danger, and in fact soon learns of the town's wretched history: it was founded by a bloodthirsty, Satanically-evil preacher with a nasty little taste for committing human sacrifices. The strange townspeople are both heirs to this legacy and accomplices in it - to such a degree that the newcomer must soon flee in terror from the clutches of the hamlet's residents and the pursuit of a possessed, animate scarecrow who wants her dead. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

"Why it will never happen" for the Buchmans (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt) is sort of revealed on this episode. At the center of the crisis is the couple's new friends, who aren't exactly what they seem to be. Trouble is, it takes innumerable plot twists to prove this fact -- not to mention a brace of shows and a trio of untruths. All this, and Gilbert Gottfried too. ~ All Movie Guide

This TV science fiction series is set in the 23rd century aboard an intergalactic medical facility dedicated to the new science of alien physiology. The space-bound doctors, who care for both aliens and humans, include android ANI, aka Android Nursing Interface (Julia Pennington), alien physiologist Dr. Maxwell (Joe Morton), Dr. Caleb "C J" Jurado (Brian McNamara), Dr. Dru Breslauer (Alexandra Wilson), and concerned Dr. Rema Cook (Gay Thomas), who fights for the rights of patients. Filmed in Vancouver, Canada, this series premiered October 6, 1998 on United Paramount Network. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

While researching a novel, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) pays a return visit to New Orleans. Before long, she is enmeshed in a murder investigation, this one stemming from the death of a local businessman. A tiny doll was left behind at the murder scene, indicating the presence of a strong voodoo influence--but what does the Supernatural have to do with the local turf war between rival supper-club owners which would have otherwise been the main motive for the killing? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Len Cariou makes his first series episode in nearly two years in the recurring role of suave and slightly untrustworthy British secret agent Michael Hagarty (formerly "Haggerty", at least according to the TV Guide listings). This time Hagarty is in Washington at the same time that his old friend Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is also paying a visit. Returning to her hotel room, Jessica discovers that the place has been ransacked and a KGB agent named Yuri Lermentov (Theodore Bikel) is lying dead on the floor. She has also unwittingly come into possession of a list compiled by Lermentov--a list that will result in her own demise unless Hagarty takes a hand in matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just before taking medical leave, Gibson (John F. O'Donohue) arranges for Andy (Dennis Franz) to moonlight as the bodyguard for a wealthy -- and very dotty -- old woman named Mrs. Hornby (Elmarie Wendel). In other developments, gay cop John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup) makes a new friend while investigating the theft of some valuable English bulldog puppies, and the squad investigates reports of recent INS screw-ups. Jacqueline Obradors joins the cast as Det. Rita Ortiz, the wife of Assistant DA Don Harrison, who at her husband's insistence is transferred out of Vice and into the 15th precinct, where she is immediately partnered with Det. Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross) on a missing persons case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide