George Newbern Movies

Though not quite as bad as it might have been, the 1994 "reunion" TV-movie I Spy Returns was some distance removed from great. Written by Michael Norell, this two-hour film is set some 25 years after the conclusion of the original I Spy weekly series. Former secret agent Alexander "Scotty" Scott (Bill Cosby), now a romance-language professor at a tweedy California college, is aghast to learn that his feisty daughter Nicole (Salli Richardson) has signed up as a spy with Special Services. Making a beeline to the organization's director Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp), who'd once been his partner in the espionage business, Scotty demands that Nicole be bounced from the program. Kelly merely chuckles and replies that the girl couldn't be in safer hands: Her partner is the organization's most gifted and resourceful young agent-Kelly's own son Ben (George Newbern). Realizing that he will never be able to win an argument with his old pal Kelly, Scotty agrees to join Robinson in surreptitiously supervising Nicole and Ben as they head to Vienna to tackle their first assignment: Providing protection for defecting Russian scientist Cherbakov (Nikalous Parlya) and his wife (Lynsey Baxter). When they discover that their former adversary Baroodi (Jonathan Hyde) is also in Vienna, Kelly and Scotty take an active hand in matters-and the results are, if not hilarious, certainly diverting. The film's high points include the lengthy "bickering banter" exchanges between old pros Culp and Cosby. I Spy Returns originally aired as a "CBS Movie Special" on February 3, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Taking its cues from the classic Some Like It Hot (1959) and the television series Bosom Buddies (1980-82), this comedy combines the teen campus and cross-dressing subgenres. Jonathan Silverman stars as college freshman Bobby, an eager if naïve student who intends, as a legacy, to pledge his father's fraternity. Forced to endure a series of humiliating initiations, Bobby learns that he must retrieve a painting from a sorority, Zeta Alpha Zeta, as his final rite of passage. Dressed in high heels and a wig and sporting a British accent, he pretends to be "Roberta," a hopeful female pledge. Once he meets the beautiful Diana (Alyssa Milano), however, Bobby decides to keep up his ruse and remain with Zeta Alpha Zeta, in an effort to become better acquainted with her. Although he struggles to maintain his fake identity, Bobby learns what women really think about men, using his newfound wisdom both to become a better man and to separate Diana from her loutish boyfriend. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Travis Rogers (George Newborn) is a young man slated to marry his childhood sweetheart Stephi (Leslie Hope) in this romantic comedy. Just days before the wedding, Travis leaves his Texas ranch and buys a hot red sports car from Jonni Tigersmith (Kimberly Foster), the sex kitten sales person. Jonni takes off with Travis and the two go racing in a high-speed chase across Texas while Stephi waits patiently at the altar. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The 1920s-era play The Front Page was about a Chicago reporter who wants to retire and get married but is tricked by his editor into doing one last story -- which proves to be complicated. It was made into a classic film in 1931 and inspired the 1940 hit movie His Girl Friday, in which the reporter was changed into a woman. Billy Wilder also remade the original film in 1974. Switching Channels is a 1988 remake of His Girl Friday, with Kathleen Turner in the starring role, which has now morphed into that of a cable television network news anchor, Christy Colleran. She wants to marry a rich and handsome sporting goods manufacturer, Blaine Bingham (Christopher Reeve) and move out of town. But her ex-husband, John L. Sullivan IV (Burt Reynolds), who is also her producer and boss, gives her one final assignment to try to keep her around. Her reporting leads her into an investigation of a jail escape that follows a botched-up execution. Writer Jonathan Reynolds updated the original material. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Disney's Double Switch stars George Newbern and....George Newbern. The plot revolves around a teenaged rock idol named Bartholomew (Newbern #1). Trapped by his celebrity, Bartholomew finds a way out when he meets the geeky winner of a Bartholomew lookalike contest (Newbern #2). In the tradition of The Prince and the Pauper, the two teens trade places, then refuse to go back to their true identities because they're having too much fun. A very young Elizabeth Shue costars as the "other" Bartholomew's girlfriend. Double Switch originated as the January 4, 1987 episode of TV's Disney Sunday Movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide