Jim Piddock Movies
Looking for the perfect third-anniversary gift causes Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) to lose confidence in their relationship. In the course of events, Jamie receives a cryptic message: "This note entitles the bearer to one magical night." Truer words were never written. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's third season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This is the celebrated "cartoon" episode, with animation provided by Sony Imageworks. Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) is nonplussed when she learns that her former boyfriend Alan (Eric Stoltz) has been hired as a graphics artist for her new ad campaign. The result is a special edition of Alan's fabled comic-book character Talon, Queen of Outer Space -- a supremely bitchy extraterrestrial who bears a remarkable resemblance to someone we all know quite well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Looking for the perfect third-anniversary gift causes Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) to lose confidence in their relationship. In a rare "alternate reality" situation, the Buchmans are permitted to experience what might have happened had they never met. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's third season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Despite the objections of her husband, Paul (Paul Reiser), Jamie (Helen Hunt) and her friend Fran (Leila Kenzle) are determined to hook up the Buchmans' bedroom TV with "stolen" cable service. The ladies' combined efforts result in a citywide power blackout of 1965 dimensions. Will Tom Brokaw ever get out of that stalled elevator? "Pandora's Box" was original one of three sitcom episodes telecast on the same Thursday evening over the same network (NBC), all of them built around a special "Blackout Thursday" promotion (the other two series involved in this stunt were Friends and Madman of the People). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When news arrives that their apartment building may go co-op, the Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) finds themselves embroiled in a battle with their snooty English neighbors, the Conways. As their neighbors plot a strategy to grab hold of the Buchmans' apartment, a Montague-and-Capulet romance blossoms between Paul and Jamie's stupid mutt, Murray, and the Conways' precious pooch, Sophie. Though Judy Geeson returns as Maggie Conway, the role of Maggie's husband, Hal, is now played by Jim Piddock rather than Paxton Whitehead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jamie (Helen Hunt) is eager and willing to return to college. Alas, husband Paul (Paul Reiser) forgot to mail Jamie's registration papers. Racing against a deadline, Paul, Fran (Leila Kenzle), Lisa (Anne Ramsay), and Ira (John Pankow) try to correct Paul's oversight, leading to a series of confusing confrontations with a steady stream of self-involved teachers -- notably a persnickety French instructor (Julia Sweeney). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is back in London, there to attend the opening night of a play based on one of her novel's. The play's producer (Robin Sachs) has a reputation for ruthlessness and duplicity, so it really surprises no one when he is murdered. Nor can anyone be surprised when Jessica (Angela Lansbury) takes it upon herself to prove that the play's leading lady (Jean Marsh) is not the murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This fact-based drama chronicles the ups and downs in the lives of Diana Spencer and Sarah Ferguson when they accept offers to marry Prince Charles and Prince Andrew respectively. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

- 1992
- R
- Add Traces of Red to Queue
Jack Dobson (James Belushi) is lying down, bleeding and dead, in a deserted clearing in the woods: "Yeah, that's me. No wife, no kid. Just one 9-millimeter bullet lodged in my chest." The voice from the corpse then introduces the audience to the area of his demise --Palm Beach, a town where everyone "leads three lives: public, private, and secret." Dobson is a homicide detective in Palm Beach who takes advantage of his position to bed a variety of women, while his brother Michael (William Russ) prepares to run for public office. One of Dobson's lovers is imported New Yorker Ellen (Lorraine Bracco). She sees Dobson leave a parking lot with a waitress and before long the waitress turns up dead. Dobson investigates the murder and determines that a serial killer is on the loose. When more women turn up dead with connections to Dobson, the finger of guilt points not only to Jack but also to his partner Steve (Tony Goldwyn), Steve's wife Beth (Faye Grant), and even his respectable senatorial candidate brother. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Belushi, Lorraine Bracco, (more)
Lethal Weapon 2 reteams Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as, respectively, "loose cannon" LA detective Martin Riggs and Riggs' partner, the cautious family man Roger Murtaugh. The villain this time is a South African diplomat (Joss Ackland) who doubles as a drug dealer. Though Riggs knows what's going on thanks to characterless character witness Joe Pesci, he can't touch the villain because of "diplomatic immunity." After perils too numerous to mention, Riggs and Murtaugh shoot it out with the heavies on the deck of a South African cargo ship. Lethal Weapon 2, of course, contains as one of its comic high-points a now famous suspense scene: Mel Gibson agonizingly attempting to extricate a terrified Danny Glover from a booby-trapped toilet seat. Gibson, Glover, Donner and Joe Pesci would be reunited three years later for Lethal Weapon 3 and in 1998 for Lethal Weapon 4. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, (more)
When a police officer is killed while investigating the drug trade at a South Carolina high school, his partner, Sheffield (David Neidorf), decides to get even. With the help of officers La Rue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Sgt. Irwin Lee (Barry Corbin), Sheffield goes undercover to discover the source of the deadly drugs. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Neidorf, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
When a group of honest farmers are in danger of losing their land, it is up to the Wildside Chamber of Commerce to come to their aid. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide












