Joan Prather Movies

Having racked up excellent ratings for the 1987 TV movie Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion, the producers concocted yet another "retro" film, 1989's An Eight is Enough Wedding. Dick Van Patten returns as Tom Bradford, who anxiously prepares for the wedding of his oldest son David (Grant Goodeve). While most of the original cast shows up for the nuptials, Tom's wife Abby is played by Sandy Faison. She replaces Family Reunion's Mary Frann, who in turn had replaced the original Abby, Betty Buckley. Dick Van Patten's real-life wife and son Pat and Jimmy also show up in supporting roles. Like Family Reunion, An Eight is Enough Wedding was telecast opposite the World Series (on October 15, 1989, to be exact); and like the earlier film, Wedding won its timeslot in the ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Randy Quaid avoids caricature and cliché in his multifaceted portrayal of Lyndon Baines Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years. This made-for-TV film chronicles the years 1934 through 1963, tracing the beginnings of Johnson's public career, chronicling his reputation for down-and-dirty politicking, and following his progress from congressman to senator to majority leader to vice president. Staunchly at LBJ's side through thick and thin is faithful-wife Lady Bird (Patti LuPone), whose fidelity remains unshaken even while Johnson dallies with other women. Charles Frank co-stars as John F. Kennedy, whose assassination catapults the reluctant Johnson into the presidency that he'd always wanted to win on his own merits. Less than six days before LBJ: The Early Year premiered on February 1, 1987, author Larry L. King picked apart the film's inaccuracies in a TV Guide article. Audiences cared not for absolute truth, and had a grand old time watching Randy Quaid impersonate the amazing Mr. Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Just because "everybody does it," does that make it right? This is one of the questions posed by the made-for-TV romantic melodrama His Mistress. Robert Urich stars as high-profile tycoon Allen Beck, "happily" married to trophy wife Katherine (Linda Kelsey). When Allen takes a liking to his extremely ambitious employee, Anne Davis (Julianne Philips), he exercises his executive prerogative by taking the pliant Anne as his mistress, setting her up in a luxurious condo penthouse. At one point, Anne indignantly declares "I thought your supporting me was an insignificant gesture that has nothing to do with our relationship." His Mistress was first shown by NBC on October 21, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Getting a late start due to the 1980 Hollywood actors' strike, the fifth and final season of Eight is Enough makes up for lost time with a frantic 90-minute opening episode, in which Susan Bradford Stockwell (Susan Richardson), one of the eight children of journalist Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten), delivers the family's first grandchild, named Sandra Sue in honor of Susan's stepmother (Betty Buckley)--who of course prefers the nickname "Abby" to her given name. While the arrival of Sandra Sue is a high point in the lives of Susan and her professional-ballplayer husband Merle (Brian Patrick Clarke, things aren't quite so jubilant later down the line when Merle suffers an injury that injures his career. This is the season that Ralph Macchio joins the cast as Abby's troubled nephew Jeremy, who takes a bit of time adjusting to his new surroundings when he is brought into the Bradford household after his father drops out of sight. Also new to the cast is John Louie as Melvin, the geekish best friend of youngest Bradford son Nicholas (Adam Rich). Major developments this season include the breakup of the marriage between oldest son David Bradford (Grant Goodeve and his wife Janet (Joan Prather), though the couple eventually considers patching things up. Also, Abby lands a job as guidance counselor in a tough inner-city school; daughter Elizabeth (Dianne Kay) moves in with her boyfriend; the Bradfords are forced to economize when Tom is laid off during a newspaper strike; daughter Nancy (Dianne Kay) finds that her chosen career as an actress and model is fraught with professional perils and pitfalls; son Tommy (Willie Aames) and his pal Ernie (Michael Goodrow) return from college with a new "sophisticated" outlook on life; and later on, Tommy proposes to girlfriend Ellen (Tara Nutter) when he learns she is pregnant. The series concludes with a tense battle over legal custody of Jeremy between the Bradfords and Jeremy's irresponsible dad (George Ralph Dicenzo). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The James Fenimore Cooper classic is given an abridged polishing, but still recounts the adventures of Hawkeye (Steve Forrest) and Chingachgook (Ned Romero) while saving a Mohican princess and avenging the death of Chingachgook's son. ~ John Bush, Rovi

In Randal Kleiser's telemovie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, Eve Plumb stars as Dawn, who leaves home at 15 for the glamour of L.A. Friendless, she is taken in by the smooth line of Swan (Bo Hopkins), who offers to be her protector. Before long, Dawn has become a streetwalker, with Swan taking a sizeable chunk of her earnings. She finds true friendship in the form of another runaway, male hustler Alex (Leigh McCloskey) -- whose own story would be delineated in a 1977 sequel, Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn. Having learned a lesson with its controversial airing of Born Innocent, NBC preceded the September 27, 1976, premiere of Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway with a "parental discretion" disclaimer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This horror oddity tells the story of a well-networked throng of devil-worshipers populating a small Arizona town who possess a strange crystal icon which houses the captive souls of their sacrificial victims. The coven, led by the thick-browed Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), are also determined to get their hands on a diabolical "Book of Names" which contains the identities of those victims. After the family of Tom Preston (Tom Skeritt) are murdered by the coven for concealing the book, Tom sets out to avenge them. During an outrageous climax -- in which none other than William Shatner is offered up in sacrifice and Borgnine is transformed by a lightning bolt into a chunky horned demon -- the receptacle of souls is shattered, releasing the title storm and causing the congregation to melt into puddles of multicolored goo (a scene which seems to last forever). Produced in 1975 but released two years later, this film touted John Travolta's name at the height of his popularity, though his role is remarkably small (he does melt nicely at the end, however). ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Single Girls was also released as Private School. When that didn't work, it was shipped out as Bloody Friday, which pretty much summed things up. The late Claudia Jennings costars in this R-rated farrago, which deals with a group of sex-obsessed swingers who go on a Carribean holiday/orgy. The revellers eventually tire of trading partners and thinking up new positions, so they turn to murder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi