Markie Post Movies

The Farrelly Brothers set this romantic comedy in their home state of Rhode Island. In 1985, when teen-nerd Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) challenges a high-schooler who's bullying retarded Warren Jenson (W. Earl Brown), his concern prompts Warren's sister, the dazzling and desirable Mary Jenson (Cameron Diaz) to choose Ted as her senior prom date, a fact Ted's pals find hard to believe. However, on prom night, Ted gets his penis caught in his zipper, so the much-desired date never happens. Living in Providence and waxing nostalgic 13 years later, Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to locate Mary, and the creepy private investigator finds her in Miami, where she lives with her tan-shriveled roommate Magda (Lin Shaye). After Pat develops a stalker-style fixation on the lovely, unattached Mary, he lies to Ted, telling him that she's now an overweight mother confined to a wheelchair. Employing professional eavesdropping equipment, Pat gathers a dossier on Mary's life and future plans, information that forms the basis for more lies when Pat begins dating her. Sure enough, Mary falls for Pat, although her friend Tucker (Lee Evans) is very suspicious of Pat's claim to be a Harvard-educated architect. Meanwhile, Ted learns the truth but continues to encounter offbeat obstacles as he accelerates to Miami in hopes of finding happiness with his true love. Former Modern Lovers singer Jonathan Richman vocalizes a narrative ballad of onscreen commentary in the Cat Ballou (1965) tradition. Most of the cast sings and frolics to Build Me Up, Buttercup by The Foundations during the closing credits. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this gripping outdoor adventure, a trip to the Himalayas becomes a deadly ordeal when a freak storm traps a married pair of hikers on a treacherous mountainside. That the husband is seriously injured only worsens matters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this chilling drama, a mother experiences a series of terrifying nightmares of UFO abduction that lead her to believe that her adolescent daughter is part alien. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Season three of Hearts Afire finds conservative political functionary John Hartman (John Ritter) still living in his hometown with his worldly, liberal journalist wife Georgie Anne (Markie Post), where they continue to churn out the local newspaper, "The Daily Beacon," with the help of John's lifelong pal Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton) and Georgie Anne's acerbic gal-pal Madeline Stoessinger (Conchata Ferrell). Although the setting and most of the previous season's cast is intact, there are a couple of significant changes during season three. For one, J. Skylar Testa has replaced Justin Burnette in the role of the Hartmans' oldest son Ben. And for another, Georgie Anne has given birth to a daughter. Although the series' locale switch from Washington D.C. to the Deep South during season two had given Hearts Afire a small boost in the ratings, the third season episodes suffered from the stiff competition of Fox's America's Most Wanted -- and then, after switching from Saturday to Wednesday night, the series was at the mercy of another opposing Fox show, Beverly Hills 90210. Hearts Afire was canceled in February of 1995, with only 13 of the series' final 14 episodes seeing the light of day on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Markie Post, Corbin Bernsen, and Kelsey Grammer headline this tightly wound thriller about a devoted wife who makes a shocking discovery about her successful and outwardly upstanding husband, a successful dentist. Inspired by a true story, Appointment for a Killing opens as Joyce Benderman (Post) basks in the glow of her recent good fortune. Raised in poverty, Joyce can't believe her luck when she is married to charismatic dentist Stan (Bernsen). Stan is everything a woman like Joyce could ever want; he's successful, handsome, and a good provider. But Stan has a dark side that's about to flip his wife's world upside down. When Joyce discovers that Stan is an adulterer, who thrives on sexually ensnaring and manipulating young, unsuspecting women, she begins to suspect that he may also be the culprit responsible for a recent series of heinous murders. At once terrified of her husband yet determined to stop him, Joyce agrees to aid a federal agent (Grammer) in tricking her husband into admitting his guilt. But this game is deadly serious, because should Joyce arouse her husband's suspicions odds are good that she'll become his next victim. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Season one of Hearts Afire takes place in Washington D.C., where transplanted Southerner John Hartman (John Ritter) has relocated as chief of staff to ultra-conservative Senator Strobe Smithers. Recently divorced and the father of two sons, Ben (Justin Burnette) and Elliott (Clark Duke), Hartman has developed a mile-long misogynistic streak, fueled by the calculated bitchery of Mavis Davis (Wendie Jo Sperber), the politically ambitious wife of his best friend and fellow senatorial aide Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton), and by the vapidity of Senator Smithers' -- ahem -- secretary, the voluptuous Dee Dee Starr (Beth Broderick). But what has really turned John against the opposite sex is the fact that his wife has left him not for another man, but for another woman! Thus, when liberal journalist Georgie Anne Lahti (Markie Post), broke and jobless after years of circling the globe and filing left-of-center news reports, comes to Smithers' office hoping to sign on as his press secretary, John's first instinct is to boot her out. But despite this, and the vituperative political arguments between the two of them, John agrees to let Georgie Anne have the job, and Georgie Anne, against her better judgment accepts. The reason? John has the hots for Georgie Anne -- and the feeling is mutual! Circumstance dictates that Georgie Anne move into the house occupied by John and his sons, which only intensifies the torrid feelings between the two protagonists. Even the put-down pragmatism of Georgie Anne's childhood nanny Miss Lula (Beah Richards) does little to extinguish the flames, as does John's dismay over the fact that Georgie Anne's dad George (Ed Asner) is an ex-convict who shows no signs of wanting to mend his ways.
As originally conceived, John and Georgie Anne were to remain single, in hopes of stirring up the same "will they or won't they" intrigue that had added spice to such mismatched-couple series as Cheers and Moonlighting. But the executives at CBS were antsy over the unhitched status of the Hearts Afire protagonists, especially since the series was being seen in a relatively early Wednesday-night time slot. Under protest, producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason agreed to make things more "family friendly" by having John and Georgie Anne get married before the first season was over -- and that was only the first of several radical changes in the series' concept. Surprisingly, despite Thomasons' well-known Washington connections, only one political figure appeared during the series' first season -- if "political figure" is the correct phrase to describe "Presidential brother" Roger Clinton! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The only relationship the 1991 made-for-TV Stranger at My Door bears to the 1956 theatrical film of the same name is in having a fugitive as a main character--actually, two fugitives. One of the runaways is Markie Post, a rich city woman escaping from her homicidal husband. She takes refuge in the barn of Texas dirt farmer Robert Urich. It turns out, that he, too, is on the run; he has been hiding from the law for years. The fact that Post is a murder witness will inevitably bring the cops to Urich's door--but if he throws her out, she will fall prey to her killer spouse. The violent final scenes of A Stranger at My Door segue into a happy ending for its stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season seven of Night Court opens as Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) and his long-lost father, former mental patient Buddy (John Astin), move in together. Meanwhile, Assistant DA Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), disgraced and penniless due to events not of his own making, is reduced to living in his office at the courthouse -- a mere prelude to the disbarment proceeding brought against him later on. On a happier note, Quon Lee (Denice Kumagai), wife of court clerk Mac (Charles Robinson), is on the brink of being a successful entrepreneur; and as for Mac, he is dragooned into posing as the husband of brassy court matron Roz (Marsha Warfield). And what of public defender Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), who has spent most of her Night Court tenure in an on-again, off-again romance with Harry Stone? Well, this situation is considerably altered when, on an impulse, Christine becomes the wife of undercover cop Tony Guillano (Ray Abruzzo) -- and subsequently becomes pregnant, going into labor just as season seven rushes to a close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just as season five of Night Court opened by resolving the cliffhanger set up at the end of season four, so too does the opener of the series' sixth season tie up a plotline left dangling at the finale of the previous season. In this instance, Assistant DA Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), reported "missing in action" while on active duty for the Army Reserve, is rescued by Eskimos -- yes, Eskimos -- even as his friends, headed by night court judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson), are solemnly planning Dan's memorial service. No sooner does Dan return to Manhattan than he runs for state assembly...and you'll have to watch the episode to see how that situation turns out. Elsewhere, Harry and public defender Christine (Markie Post) continue pursuing their romance, though not terribly quickly; bailiff Bull (Richard Moll) falls in love himself, with disastrous results; Harry is finally told that the somewhat unbalanced Buddy Ryan (John Astin) is his real father; and court matron Rox (Marsha Warfield) ends up in the slammer herself when she tries to do a good deed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season five of Night Court begins by resolving a plot strand left dangling at the end of season four, in which it appears that Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) is about to be removed as a night-court judge -- to be replaced by Harry's erstwhile girlfriend, public defender Christine Sullivan (Markie Post). Suffice to say this doesn't happen, and Harry returns to the bench for another season of judicial irreverence. Also back in the saddle are Richard Moll as cadaverous bailiff Bull, Marsha Warfield as sassy matron Roz Russell (who this season is diagnosed as a diabetic), John Larroquette as libidinous Assistant DA Dan Fielding, and Charles Robinson as calm, efficient court clerk Mac Robinson -- whose Vietnamese wife, Quon Lee (Denice Kumagai), also briefly drops in. Guest stars during the series' fifth season are an impressive lot, among them Teri Hatcher, Elayne Boosler, Eugene Roche, Shelley Berman -- and, perhaps inevitably, Mel Tormé, Harry's idol. Also, John Astin begins making what will be frequent appearances as Buddy Ryan, a mental patient who turns out to be Judge Stone's stepfather. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-television Scene of the Crime is an anthology crime film, featuring three different short films--"The Newlywed Murder," "Medium is the Murder" and "Vote for Murder"--which is narrated by Orson Welles. At the end of each film, Welles asks the audience to solve the murder, and offers clues to help them discover the truth. It's a cute gimmick, but it doesn't quite make for an effective, cohesive film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide