Julianne Phillips Movies

A madman learns how to control the oceans for his own purposes, and two very different scientists band together to stop him in this made for TV disaster movie. The coastline of Southern California is suddenly besieged with a series of tidal waves which threaten to wipe out a number of seashore communities. Investigators suspect that the tsunamis are not of natural origin, and oceanographer Jessica Weaver (Julianne Phillips) and weapons expert John Wahl (Corbin Bernsen) are brought together to look into the matter. Together, they uncover evidence that the waves are the work of a terrorist, but when a billion dollar ransom is demanded to save Los Angeles from a massive tidal wave, some suspect that Wahl is in cahoots with the bad guys. Tidal Wave: No Escape also features Harve Presnell, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Gregg Henry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a writer's triumphant return to his hometown turns out to have a very long string attached. As a child, small and timid David Leary grew up in Hastings, MN, where he lived in mortal fear of the school bully, Roscoe Bigger, aka "Fang." Fang loved nothing more than making David's every waking moment a physical and emotional torment. Fortunately for David, his parents moved the family to California not long after David turned the tables on Fang; Fang stole a moon rock from a school display and David finked on him, putting Fang on the fast track to reform school. Years later, David (played as an adult by Rick Moranis) is a successful author, and he has been invited to teach English at the school he attended as a child. David is intrigued to discover that Victoria (Julianne Phillips), the girl he used to have a crush on, is also on the faculty (as the sex-ed instructor, no less) and interested in seeing him. But David's happiness is short-lived when he meets the school's shop teacher -- none other than Roscoe (Tom Arnold). Fang's stay in a juvenile home shattered his spirit, and he's been a spineless loser ever since; these days, David is the only person still afraid of him. Having someone to intimidate again does Roscoe a world of good; it restores his confidence, lifts his spirits, and even saves his marriage. But it doesn't do much for David, who can't exactly complain to the principal that Fang's picking on him again. Don Knotts appears in a supporting role as Principal Kokelar. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful thriller, a radio-talk-show host receives an on-air phone call from a killer and then becomes dangerously involved in the search for the murderer's identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

At the end of Sisters' fourth season, Alex Reed (Swoosie Kurtz), oldest of the Reed sisters of Winnetka, was patiently awaiting the release of her new husband, Big Al Barker (Robert Klein), who'd been jailed on a phony tax-fraud charge; Alex's younger sister, Teddy (Sela Ward), had become the bride of Detective James Falconer (George Clooney), who'd been investigating the rape of Teddy's daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam); and Alex, Teddy, and their other siblings Frankie (Julianne Phillips) and Georgie (Patricia Kalember) were trying to reconcile themselves to the discovery that they had a half-sister named Charley (Jo Anderson), the result of a three-decade affair between their late father and his trusted nurse. Season five begins on a tragic note, as Falconer is killed by a booby-trapped car. The only witness to the crime is wife Teddy, who is suffering from hysterical blindness. She eventually regains her sight, but the loss of her husband after only a few hours of wedded bliss has caused her to start drinking again -- whereupon Cat desperately tries to convince her mom to pull herself together. Only when Teddy almost causes the death of her nephew Evan (Dustin Berkovitz) does she come to her senses.

Later in the season, Teddy takes it upon herself to bring her husband's murderer, heroin smuggler Daniel Albright (Gregory Harrison), to justice; she also has an awkward meeting with Jack Chambers (Philip Casnoff), who received Falconer's heart in a transplant operation. Meanwhile, Big Al is paroled from prison when he rescues the governor's wife from drowning, and subsequently runs for mayor of Winnetka -- and wins. When Big Al suffers a mild heart attack, Alex takes over his duties, thereby increasing a workload that has already been intensified by her decision to care for Rosie (Kathryn Zaremba), the daughter of a terminally ill woman (Caroline McWilliams). Elsewhere, Alex's sister Georgie, not fully recovered from the personal problems that weighed her down in the previous season, begins her therapy sessions with smooth-talking shrink Dr. David Caspian (Daniel Gerroll). Not only does Caspian advise Georgie to "divorce" herself from her family, but he also plants the idea that her father molested her years earlier. Before long, Caspian's ulterior motives become crystal clear to everyone by Georgie -- he wants to get her away from her husband, John (Garrett M. Brown), and into his own bed. After she is seduced by Caspian, Georgie dutifully leaves John, only to have Caspian callously inform her that sex was merely a part of his therapy and that he doesn't love her. Also, newly divorced Frankie begins managing Lucky (John Wesley Shipp), a prizefighter whom she has inherited from her first customer when she'd been a marketing analyst. After a brief romantic fling with Lucky, Frankie leaves him (and the series) to head off to Japan on a new business venture, the world-wide promotion of a children's character named Cowletta the Cow. As for Lucky, he hires on as bodyguard for Daniel Albright as part of the sisters' plans to make Albright pay for Falconer's murder. In other developments, Charley is tentatively accepted into the Reed family during Thanksgiving dinner; with Bea's blessing, Alex assists in Truman's suicide, leading her to be put on trial for murder; and Caspian extends his sexual misconduct to another of the Reed sisters. The season ends with a fantasy episode, wherein everyone's dreams (briefly) come true on the enchanted island of Villa Esperanza. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having survived breast cancer, Alex Reed (Swoosie Kurtz), oldest of the Reed sisters of Winnetka, has launched a new career as a motivational speaker as Sisters begins its fourth season. Invited to appear on a local TV talk show, Alex is so hilarious that she causes the show's host, Harry Busby (Jack Betts), to literally die laughing -- whereupon she is invited to take over the show by producer Norma Lear (Nora Dunn). The outlook is less rosy for Alex's sister Frankie (Julianne Phillips), who has broken up with her husband, Mitch (Ed Marinaro). So bitter and vindictive is the custody battle over the couple's baby son, Thomas George, that the fed-up judge awards custody to the child's surrogate mother, Frankie's sister Georgie (Patricia Kalember) -- meaning that Georgie's husband, John (Garrett M. Brown), and sons Evan (Dustin Berkovitz)and Trevor (Ryan Francis) will have to put up with the squalling Thomas George for the next several months. At the same time, Georgie and John have serious problems with son Trevor, who has begun running around with a fast crowd and has gotten into booze and marijuana. After first arranging for Trevor to get a job at the Sweet Sixteen Maltshop, a favorite local hangout which Frankie has purchased, Georgie is forced to admit that her son's problems are beyond her control, and puts him into rehab. Ultimately, Georgie thinks about killing herself, but is saved with some much-needed good news about her other son, Evan.

As for Teddy (Sela Ward), the most troublesome of the Reed daughters, her happiness over making a success of her undergarment business is cut short with the news that her former sweetheart, millionaire Simon Bolt (Mark Frankel), has been lost at sea. The fact that rumors of Bolt's death prove to be slightly exaggerated does not help matters when Teddy finds out the circumstances behind Simon's disappearance. Elsewhere, Alex's daughter Reed returns from California under the influence of a religious cult, forcing Alex and Reed's husband, Kirby, to kidnap the girl in order to "deprogram" her; the sisters' mom, Bea (Elizabeth Hoffman), finds out that her current husband, Truman (Philip Sterling), has Alzheimer's; and Teddy's daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam), is brutally raped. In other developments, Teddy falls in love with James Falconer (George Clooney), the detective investigating Cat's assault; and Alex marries discount-store owner Big Al Barker (Robert Klein), her TV show's biggest sponsor -- only to stand by helplessly when Big Al is carted off to jail on a tax-fraud charge. As the season concludes, the Reed sisters come face to face with Dr. Charlotte "Charley" Bennett (Jo Anderson), the half-sister they never knew they had -- who is in dire need of a marrow transplant. And a nervous Teddy marries Falconer during a chaotic plane ride in the middle of a tornado. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Robert Anderson's novel, the made-for-television Getting Up and Going Home is a drama about a divorced attorney (Tom Skerritt) who copes with a mid-life crisis by having affairs with no less than three women: his ex-wife, a single mother, and a married suburbanite. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The first "trial" season for Sisters runs seven episodes, beginning with the awkward reunion of the Reed sisters in their hometown of Winnetka, IL, not long after the death of their father. Though Mr. Reed has only been in his grave a short time, his widow, Beatrice (Elizabeth Hoffman), has already begun hitting the bottle more than usual, and is in danger of losing the family home. Beatrice's oldest daughter, Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), has gotten the early warning signs that her 15-year marriage to plastic surgeon Dr. Wade Halsey (David Dukes) is in trouble, and she hires a detective to find out if Wade is fooling around with another woman. Alas, it's worse than she could imagine: Wade is not only a philanderer, but a cross-dresser. All of this bad news has the expected negative effect on Alex's overachieving daughter, Reed, played this season (and this season only) by Kathy Wagner. As for Alex's sister, Georgie (Patricia Kalember), her marital woes are manifested in an unemployed husband named John Whitsig (Garrett M. Brown), who refuses to look for a "real" job while he prepares to make his debut as a lounge singer (and never mind that he hasn't gotten any bookings). Before long, Georgie's recently divorced sister, Teddy (Sela Ward), has moved in with her, bringing along her troubled 15-year-old daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam), who is not exactly a favorite with Georgie's own sons, Trevor (Ryan Francis) and Evan (Dustin Berkovitz). Meanwhile, Teddy has vowed to reclaim the love of her ex-husband, Mitch (Ed Marinaro) -- who in turn is currently the boyfriend of Teddy's other sister, Frankie (Julianne Phillips). Among the season's major crises is the revelation during the one-year observance of death of the sister's father that dear old dad had been carrying on an affair with his nurse -- for 30 years. Later, Frankie marches down the aisle with Mitch, just as Teddy invades the wedding with a shotgun (she thinks it isn't loaded -- but she's wrong). So traumatic is this experience that Frankie and Mitch decide to postpone becoming man and wife for the near future. As the season ends, Georgie's son Evan is diagnosed with leukemia -- and he's the only member of the family who takes the news calmly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Winnetka, IL, was the unlikely setting for the semi-serialized 60-minute drama series Sisters, which made its NBC debut on May 11, 1991. The stories revolved around the endless trials and tribulations of the Reed sisters, four highly individualized women who were brought back together in adulthood by the death of their father. Swoosie Kurtz played Alex Reed, the oldest sister, who in the earliest episodes was the wife of philandering plastic surgeon Dr. Wade Halsey (David Dukes). In the course of the series, Alex would divorce Halsey, survive breast cancer, become a popular local TV talk show host, and wed a second time to her show's main sponsor, store owner (and future mayor of Winnetka!) Big Al Barker (Robert Klein). Alex's troubled daughter, Reed Halsey, was played by three different actresses: Kathy Wagner in season one, Ashley Judd in seasons two, three, and four, and Noelle Parker in the sixth and final season. Patricia Kalember was seen as Georgie Reed, a part-time real-estate agent wed to chronically unemployed nightclub singer John Whitsig (Garrett M. Brown); the couple had two sons, Trevor (Ryan Francis) and Evan (Dustin Berkovitz), the latter a leukemia survivor. Sela Ward co-starred as Teddy Reid, initially the most irresponsible of the sisters and a chronic alcoholic, who pulled herself together long enough to establish a successful career as a fashion designer. Her husbands included Mitch Margolis (Ed Marinaro), the father of Teddy's daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam); police detective James Falconer (George Clooney), who was killed only a few hours after the wedding; and Dr. Gabriel Sorenson (Stephen Collins), who had saved Teddy's life after she was beaten by a carjacker. Julianne Phillips was cast as Frankie Reed, the youngest sister, who began the series as a market analyst and eventually became the owner of the sisters' favorite hangout, the Sweet Sixteen Maltshop.

Early in the series, Frankie married Teddy's ex-husband, Mitch, and when the couple was unable to conceive, Georgie offered to be surrogate mother -- thereby setting up one of several outrageously improbable plot twists that would become a Sisters trademark. After breaking up with Mitch, Frankie had a brief fling with a young boxer named Lucky (John Wesley Shipp), then left Illinois to pursue new career vistas in Japan at the end of season five. Also in the cast was Elizabeth Hoffman as the sisters' widowed mother, Beatrice, who like Teddy suffered occasional bouts with the bottle. Beatrice's second husband was Judge Truman Ventnor (Philip Sterling), who after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's opted to commit suicide -- with the assistance of his stepdaughter, Alex. Later in the series, it was established that the Reed girls had a hitherto unknown half-sister, the product of a lengthy affair between their late father and his loyal nurse. In season five, Jo Anderson joined the cast as the girls' "mystery" sibling Dr. Charlotte "Charley" Bennett, a role taken over in season six by Sheila Kelley. Every so often, the series' main characters would indulge in a "thinkback" sequence, in which they would interact with their younger selves. This was but one of the many quirky dramatic touches that set Sisters apart from the standard "sibling angst" series of the period; other examples included the series' occasional forays into such hot-potato topical issues as racism, homosexuality, the AIDs crisis, and repressed-memory syndrome. After six seasons, Sisters ended with a heavily plotted, surprise-studded final episode on May 4, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blake Edwards, mining the same territory as in his 10, Micki and Maude, The Man Who Loved Women, and That's Life, (not to mention Blind Date), once again deals with male mid-life menopausal angst. Zach (John Ritter) is a novelist suffering from writer's block, spiraling downward in a sea of women and booze. To illustrate the depths to which Zach's life has sunk, the film begins when his mistress catches him in bed with another woman. Then his wife walks in. As a result, his wife leaves him. Things keep getting worse --his agent is dying, his house burns down, and he gets picked up for drunk driving. But in spite of his despair, he can't help chasing women, engaging in a series of bedroom misadventures with a collection of women --including a female body builder; a woman who likes to set pianos on fire; and the girlfriend of a rock star who suggests that he wear one of her boyfriend's glow-in-the-dark condoms. Helping Zach regain control of his life is Barney the lawyer (Vincent Gardenia) and Dr. Westford (Michael Kidd), a helpful psychiatrist. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an American insurance investigator goes to Paris to prove that a crippled client's claim is utterly bogus. While there, the detective finds himself seduced by a pair of beautiful women. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV drama, Angie Dickinson stars in three separate vignettes as a woman whose life is dramatically affected by the emotion that gives the film its name. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Bikinis and rippling, manly muscles abound in this lively, youth-oriented Southern California-set adventure that chronicles the experiences of a curvaceous high school graduate who decides to work as a life guard for a summer before going to med school. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide