Donna Pescow Movies
Lead actress, onscreen from 1977. ~ All Movie Guide
Based on the popular (and recently canceled) Disney Channel sitcom Even Stevens, this made-for-TV movie was filmed in 2002 under the title The Stevens Get Even. On this occasion, the Sacramento-based Stevens family is reeling from a succession of setbacks, not least of which is the breakup of the romance between teenaged daughter Ren Stevens (Christy Romano) and her boyfriend -- a disaster largely brought about when Ren's pesky kid brother, Louis (Shia LaBeouf), sabotages Ren's junior-high graduation. At their most vulnerable, the kids' parents Eileen (Donna Pescow) and Steve (Tom Virtue) are highly receptive to fast-talking vacation agent Miles McDermott (Tim Meadows), who sells the family an inexpensive trip to an island paradise. En route, the Stevens' plane crashes on a seemingly uncharted isle, forcing the family, and the other passengers, to fend for themselves. What nobody but the duplicitous McDermott knows is that the crash was carefully rigged, so that the Stevens would be unwitting contestants on a Survivor-like TV reality series. In addition to the aforementioned Romano, LaBeouf, Pescow, and Tom Virtue, other carryovers from the original sitcom include Nick Spano as Donnie Stevens and Steven Anthony Lawrence as the family's wacky next-door neighbor, Beans. Filmed on location in Hawaii, The Even Stevens Movie made its Disney Channel debut on June 13, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christy Romano, Shia LaBeouf, (more)
- 2000
The misadventures of the Stevens teens are the focus of this Disney Channel confection. Louis Stevens (Shia LaBeouf) is a maladroit freshman who worships Jay Leno; his older sister Ren (Christy Romano) is a dean's-list junkie who plots out the day's coursework with her monogrammed Palm Pilot. Gross-out humor ensues when the siblings scheme against each other to get the upper hand at school and at home. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christy Romano
- 1998
- PG13
Fed up with her dissatisfying marriage, a woman joins a support group dedicated to the purpose of helping wives kill their husbands. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1997
"Death by typewriter" is the coroner's verdict when the body of a man is found. Elsewhere, a naked female corpse, dumped in a junkyard, leads Simone (Jimmy Smits) and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) on another far-from-merry chase, and still-wobbly Gina (Lourdes Benedicto) returns to work. Outside the precinct, Simone hires the mercurial Henry (Willie Garson) to paint the apartment building, leading to a confrontation with an angry tenant (Maxine Stuart); and Diane (Kim Delaney) begins her counselling sessions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
When the funds for their 20-year high school reunion is put into the hands of three friends, a gambling trip to Las Vegas could prove to be disastrous. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Along with her friends Amos (Tom Bosley) and Seth (William Windom), Jessica (Angela Lansbury) decides to sample the cooking at Cabot Cove's newest tourist attraction, the Joshua Peabody Inn. Casting a pall over the evening is a batch of spoiled strawberry preserves, causing several patrons to become seriously ill. When one of these patrons subsequently dies, Jessica begins to suspect that the "accidental" poisoning was deliberately contrived. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An adventure tale for movie buffs, Jake Speed deftly lifts scenes from detective films of the '40s through the '70s to bring an added dimension to its spoof of the detective and adventure genres. When a family gets word that their daughter has been kidnapped in Paris, her father comments that they should get "Jake Speed" to find her. However, Jake is a comic strip character, and the reaction is that he might as well ask for Batman. But lo-and-behold, the other daughter Margaret (Karen Kopins) gets a message to meet Speed (Wayne Crawford) and his author, Remo (Dennis Christopher), and the men tell her they must go to Africa, where her sister is being held. After a certain amount of trial and error, they eventually find the nation where she's being held -- which happens to be in the middle of a revolution. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Crawford, Dennis Christopher, (more)
- 1985
Jane Seymour makes a six-course meal of her starring role as a magazine editor in Obsessed With a Married Woman--indeed, her performance is the only tangible reason for sitting through this artistically bankrupt TV movie. The story contrives to have Seymour, happily married and the mother of a wise-lipped son, fall into the sack with her star reporter Tim Matheson. It seems that Jane has assigned Matheson to do a series of articles on mistresses. He does his homework so well that Jane takes him on as her own "male mistress." Obsessed with a Married Woman is not the title we'd choose for this time-waster; how about Annoyed with a Tiresome Premise? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This fact-based exploitation drama tells the story of a buxom policewoman who nearly destroys both her personal and professional life by posing naked for a popular men's magazine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melody Anderson, Ed Marinaro, (more)
- 1982
An all-star (or rather, "all-TV star") cast distinguishes this three-hour filmed re-creation of the great stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Though inspired by a fact-based book on "Black Tuesday," the film is chock full of fabricated soap-opera complications involving dozens of fictional characters, among them a debt-plagued Stock Exchange officer, a group of high-profile embezzlers, a social-climbing couple determined to land a wealthy husband for their hapless daughter, and the inevitable far-sighted individuals who know that the Crash is coming and are determined to may hay while the sun is still in the sky. Overall, the film simplifies a very controversial and complicated moment of history into a cut-and-dried account peopled by blatantly obvious heroes and villains. Originally slated to air on February 1, 1981, The Day the Bubble Burst was inexplicably shelved by NBC for over a year, finally making its debut on February 7, 1982. The fact that it was scheduled opposite the network television premiere of Superman: The Movie was indication enough that NBC had very little confidence in their expensive "factual fiction" piece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
The made-for-TV Advice to the Lovelorn stars Cloris Leachman as a "Dear Abby" type newspaper advice columnist. Walter Brooke costars as her editor, who discourages her efforts to follow up her advice in person. But follow she does, trying to untangle the problems of guest stars Melissa Sue Anderson, Lance Kerwin, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Donna Pescow. She even finds time for a romantic episode with special guest star Paul Burke. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, the 2-hour Advice to the Lovelorn was telecast November 30, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In this comedy, inspired by Oh, God! and designed as a pilot for a TV series, an ambitious young angel persuades the Almighty to allow seven days to find six good people in Las Vegas. If he cannot, God will destroy the whole town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
John Travolta graduated from minor celebrity to superstar with Saturday Night Fever. Travolta plays Tony Manero, a Brooklyn paint-store clerk who'd give anything to break out of his dead-end existence. In life, Tony is a peasant; on the disco dance floor, he's a king. As the soundtrack plays one Bee Gees hit after another (including "Stayin' Alive"), we watch white-suited Tony strut his stuff amidst flashing lights and sweaty, undulating bodies. Tony's class aspirations are mirrored in his relationship with his dance partner, Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney), a secretary eager to move into the glamorous world of Manhattan. Saturday Night Fever's huge success grew meteorically thanks to the towering popularity of its soundtrack; during the first half of 1978, when the movie's disco songs saturated the singles charts up to four at a time, it was no longer clear whether the hit movie was feeding the hit songs or the hit songs were feeding the hit movie. This crossover between music and movies set the pace for many movies to come, as it also marked the rise and fall of 1970s disco culture. Two versions of this film exist: the original R-rated version and a PG version, edited down to more "family-friendly" fare and fed to the public with the tagline, "Because we want everyone to see John Travolta's performance." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Karen Gorney, (more)
