Jack Riley Movies
While serving his two-year hitch in the Army, Jack Riley performed in "Rolling Along of 1960," a military travelling show. After his discharge, Riley attended John Carroll University, then resumed his show-business activities as an actor, comedian, and "special material" writer for such stars as Mort Sahl, Rowan and Martin and Don Rickles. He made his film debut in 1962's The Days of Wine and Roses, and has since essayed eccentric roles in such laugh-spinners as Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1979). Active in television since 1966, Riley was a comedy-ensemble player in Keep on Truckin' (1975) and The Tim Conway Show (1980 edition), and occasionally popped up on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, impersonating Lyndon Johnson. His most celebrated TV role was the supremely paranoid Elliot Carlin in The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78), a role he has since reprised (under various character names) in such series as Alf and St. Elsewhere. He was also cast as TV station manager Leon Buchanan in the two-episode sitcom Roxie (1987), and has been heard as the voice of Stu Pickles on the animated series Rugrats (1991- ). Extremely active in the LA theatrical scene, Jack Riley has starred in such stage productions as 12 Angry Men and Small Craft Warnings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 2005
This Hallmark Channel TV movie is one of a series starring John Larroquette as McBride (no first name), a hard-nosed cop turned compassionate defense lawyer, specializing in "lost causes." This time, McBride's client is Leo Eckert (David Bowe), who is convinced that he accidentally shot and killed his therapist George Prescott (Richard Fancy) after Prescott double-crossed him during Eckert's courtroom efforts to gain custody of his child. Rushing to the "murder scene", McBride finds that Prescott's body has disappeared--and in fact keeps on disappearing no matter where it turns up. Confronted with a plethora of suspects who like Eckert had more than enough reason to want the therapist dead, McBride comes to the conclusion that Eckert may have shot Prescott when the victim was already dead--then fine-tunes his conclusion a bit when it begins to look like Prescott may still be alive! Gigi Rice, who'd costarred with John Larroquette on the latter's eponymous sitcom of the early 1990s, make a significant guest appearance. McBride: The Doctor Is Out...Really Out first aired on June 12, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two of the most popular animated series on the children's cable network Nickelodeon get wrapped up in one big-screen package in this comedy-adventure, featuring the characters from Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. Drew and Didi Pickles (voices of Michael Bell and Melanie Chartoff) decide to take a special vacation with their children, Tommy (voice of Elizabeth Daily) and Angelica (voice of Cheryl Chase), with their friends (both grown-ups and toddlers) coming along for the ride. However, the ship Drew has chartered isn't especially seaworthy, and their party ends up stranded on an uncharted island in the Pacific. The kids figure the day is saved when they discover that famous explorer and television personality Sir Nigel Tornberry (voice of Tim Curry) is also on the island with his family, but after he gets a world-class knock on the head from a coconut, Nigel's upper intellectual register gets knocked out of commission. The Rugrats are then forced to turn to Nigel's daughter, Eliza (voice of Lacey Chabert), who not only knows the wilds, but can talk to animals, which comes as quite a surprise to Spike (voice of Bruce Willis), the Pickles' family pooch. Rugrats Go Wild also features the voice talents of LL Cool J, Cree Summer, Nancy Cartwright, Jack Riley, and Flea. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Chrissie Hynde, (more)
The biggest babies in the entertainment business take their act to Europe in this sequel to the surprise-hit animated feature The Rugrats Movie. Chuckie (voice of Christine Cavanaugh) has been fretting over his father Chas (voice of Michael Bell) and his status as a single father, as he wants to have a mommy like all of his friends. Chas and his father Stu (voice of Jack Riley) were hired to create a bevy of electronic critters for the newly opened Euro-Reptarland theme park, but the robots are acting up, and park manager Coco La Bouche (Susan Sarandon) is hopping mad. So Stu and Chas are flown to Paris to do some repairs, with Chas bringing Chuckie and all his friends along. Their visit to the City of Lights proves to be one adventure after another, as Chuckie tries to find a suitable mother (with Coco leading the pack) and Tommy (voice of Elizabeth Dailey) somehow gets behind the wheel of the giant Reptar robot. Rugrats in Paris: The Movie features original songs from T-Boz from TLC, The Baha Men, and Mylene Farmer, while John Lithgow, Debbie Reynolds, and Mako contribute to the voice cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, (more)
Based on the popular Nickelodeon TV series Rugrats, this is the first full-length feature animated movie to star the little tots. It's the story of diaper-clad kids, told from a baby's point- of-view, and they were one of the hottest-selling toy franchises of the late '90s. The film features a hilarious musical number in the hospital nursery, where newborns have the voices of major rock stars that include Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son), Iggy Pop, Lou Rawls, Lisa Loeb, and Patti Smith, to name a few. The story escalates when self-proclaimed leader Tommy Pickles is thrust into an impossible situation with the birth of his new brother, Dil Pickles. This new kid is grabbing all the attention and won't stop crying. With the help of other toddlers Lil and Phil, Tommy decides that the baby should be returned to the hospital for fixing. They all hop on their little wagon and take a high-speed ride straight into the deep woods where they realize they're lost. Chased around by animals (or so they think), the Rugrats clan must get home in one piece. Other celebrity voices include Whoopi Goldberg and The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Tim Curry, as well as Saturday Night Live's Andrea Martin and David Spade. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, (more)
- 1997
While vacationing at the beach, Monica (Roma Downey) and Rafael (Alexis Cruz) are swept up in a search for a boy named Scooter Fisher, who has left an ominous and rather desperate message in a bottle. Complicating matters is the fact that no one seems to have ever heard of Scooter Fisher, and that several others in the vicinity are in more immediate need of the angels' help. The plot takes an unexpected twist when, after Rafael reveals himself as an angel, a media circus ensues and prominent TV anchorman Benjamin Parker (William Devane) shows up to cover the "angel invasion" of Pacific Falls! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) smells a "million dollar idea" when a restauranteur notices that she only eats the tops of muffins. George (Jason Alexander) begins wearing the clothes found in a bag left in his care by a tourist who never returned. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) shaves his chest to impress his girlfriend, but Kramer (Michael Richards) -- who for reasons made clear in the episode is currently posing as Elaine's boss, Peterman -- thinks Jerry is making a big mistake. This is the also the episode in which Steinbrenner trades George with "Tyler Chicken." (It was supposed to have been you-know-what chicken, but the NBC legal department got nervous.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Attracted to a girl named Bonnie (played by Caroline Rhea of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame), Drew (Drew Carey) invites her to see the microbrewery in his home--only to discover that Bonnie is a zoning inspector, and that he's in a heap of trouble for not having a home-business permit. When in turns out that practically everybody in the neighborhood is secretly running a business at home, Drew decides to take action to prevent further impediments to the American Entreprenurial Spirit. Along the way, Mimi (Kathy Kinney) suggests an easy way out of Drew's predicament--but it'll cost him dearly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Whoopi Goldberg headlines this youth-oriented comedy fantasy set in a near future where scientists for some reason have genetically resurrect dinosaurs. This time, the revitalized reptiles are intelligent and equipped with humanoid articulatory tracts so they can speak. They also wear shoes. Goldberg plays a leather-clad smart-alecky detective who is assigned the odious task of teaming up with Teddy Rex, a dino-detective. Naturally lizards and leather don't mix and the two constantly bicker their way into buddyhood as they investigate the death another dinosaur, a death that turns out to be linked with a crazed scientist's nefarious, chilling plot. Goldberg (to her credit) attempted to back out of making this film soon after production started. Were it not for the threat of major legal retaliation by the studio, she may have succeeded. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whoopi Goldberg, Armin Mueller-Stahl, (more)
- 1994
In the first episode of a two-part story, Al (Ed O'Neill) incure the wrath of Marcy's (Amanda Bearse) feminist organization FANG when he throws a nursing mother (Cynthia Steele) out of the shoe store. Enraged by FANG's reaction, Al mounts a counterprotest by his own group, NO MA'AM. Betwixt and between the two angry groups, no one bothers to patronize the store. Meanwhile, Al's wife Peg (Katey Sagal in her first Season Nine appearance after maternity leave) encounters unexpected delays while making her way home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- R
Debra Winger's performance as a slow, mentally disturbed woman in A Dangerous Woman, raises the film far above its conventional, violence-ridden plot. Winger plays Martha, a quiet, lonely woman who has adjusted to a life without a man as she toils away at her small job at a dry cleaners in a small town. She lives in the guest cottage of the home of relative Frances (Barbara Hershey). Frances is a single woman who takes up with a variety of men as a cover for her loneliness and insecurity. When Anita (Laurie Metcalf) barrels her car into Frances' porch (thinking, correctly, that her husband is inside Frances' house), alcoholic handyman Mackey (Gabriel Byrne) appears on the scene and offers to fix Frances' porch. As Mackey works on the porch, Mackey becomes involved with both Frances and Martha. Into this melodramatic brew is added Getso (David Strathairn), a petty crook who works with Martha at the dry cleaners. When the four principles interact with each other, the disturbing results include an unwanted pregnancy, a murder, and some unsparing violence. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, (more)
Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as "Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate." But The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1991
Dan is suffering the torments of the damned--not to mention several sleepless nights--because he has been misappropriating the funds for the Phil Foundation. When the late Phil Sanders (William Utay) and the un-late Bert Parks begin showing up in Dan's nightmares, it's obviously time for an epiphany...or is it? And back in the real world, Bull (Richard Moll) shows up wearing a new, ego-boosting toupee called "The Shatner 2000". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Originally conceived as a Return of the Living Dead sequel and later inexplicably re-titled (despite the highly questionable marketing value of a C.H.U.D. franchise) this clunky attempt at a horror satire involves a pair of teenage do-nothings who abscond from a military base with a corpse who turns out to be a zombie, the by-product of a backfired military experiment. Despite the C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller) references, Bud (Gerrit Graham) is really a zombie of the George Romero variety, chomping down on human flesh and spreading the virulent zombie plague to those unfortunate enough to be onscreen long enough. Eye-rolling Graham is fun to watch, as always, and Robert Vaughn puts in a goofy performance as a rabidly gung-ho general, but they provide scarce gems of humor in a morass of reconstituted horror plot elements and lame jokes. The end product is more C.R.U.D. than C.H.U.D. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Robbins, Bill Calvert, (more)
- 1989
In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single one-hour installment), city accountant Clark Andrews (Richard Sanders) continues his gimlet-eyed audit of the expenses incurred by the Night Court staff. Meanwhile, Judge Harry (Harry Anderson) and his colleagues are being held hostage by a professional clown named Beepo (played by frequent series guest star Jack Riley). As the title indicates, this entry consists largely of clips from earlier episodes, passed off as "flashbacks." Highlights include a lengthy excerpt from the 1987 episode "Christine's Friend", with Sela Ward in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
In the first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single one-hour installment), city accountant Clark Andrews (Richard Sanders) shows up to audit the Night Court's expenses--and to deliver ominous threats to the staff should his findings prove to be too bizarre for explanation. As indicated by its title, the bulk of this episode consists of "flashbacks" to earlier episodes, allowing the staffers to quarrel among themselves over the validity of their expenditures. Highlights include an extended excerpt from the 1987 episode "ho Was That Mashed Man?", featuring future Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- PG13
- Add Gleaming the Cube to Queue
Gleaming the Cube does for skateboarding what Over the Top did for arm wrestling -- i.e. not a hell of a lot. Christian Slater is the skateboarding star, playing Brian Kelly, a sneering and laconic teen outcast. He feels left out and envious of his adopted Vietnamese brother Vinh's (Art Chudabala) success as an honor roll student and as the center of attention in his family. When Vinh commits suicide, Brian is suspicious and rolls away on his skateboard to find out what really happened -- and ultimately to avenge his murder. Brian's investigation is aided and abetted by a sardonic detective named Al Lucero (Steven Bauer), a collection of skateboard aficionados, and an incredibly attractive Vietnamese girl, Tina (Min Luong). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Slater, Steven Bauer, (more)
- 1988
Portrait of a White Marriage is an outgrowth of Martin Mull's wickedly satirical The History of White People in America, with a bit of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman tossed in. Mull plays a self-involved TV talk host who journeys to Hawkins Falls, Ohio, to reactivate his flagging career. While glad-handing the locals, he enters into an affair with bouffanted housewife Mary Kay Place. Also appearing are such frequent Mull colleagues as Fred Willard, Michael McKean and Jack Riley. Made for cable, Portrait of a White Marriage was directed by humorist Harry Shearer, who'd also helmed the History of White People installments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
A pair of naive documentarians find themselves in over their heads when they agree to finish an "art film" for the head of a local public television station in exchange for a chance to direct a documentary on Indian farming techniques. Comical situations ensue when they discover that "Halloween in the Bunker," is really a porno film detailing the sexual practices of the Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Mull, Dick Shawn, (more)
A space bum helps rescue a princess from an evil overlord with the help of a benevolent elder in this Star Wars send-up written and directed by Mel Brooks. Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog co-pilot, Barf the Mawg (John Candy), are content to scour the galaxy living the easy life. But they reluctantly come to the rescue when Druish Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) is threatened by the evil Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis), who wants to steal all of the air from her planet, Druidia. Trapped on a harsh desert world with Vespa and her robot chaperone, Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers), Lone Starr and Barf are helpless to prevent Helmet from kidnapping the girl. But assistance arrives in the form of Yogurt (Brooks), a wizard who turns Lone Starr on to a mysterious power known as The Schwartz. Catching up with Helmet just as he's transforming his spaceship into a giant vacuum cleaner in orbit around Druidia, the reluctant heroes stage a dramatic showdown. Although it borrows most of its plot from the Star Wars series, Spaceballs also pokes fun at Star Trek, Snow White, and Planet of the Apes -- as well as the entire videocassette and movie marketing industries. The large supporting cast includes Dick Van Patten, Jim J. Bullock, and the voice of Dom DeLuise. John Hurt makes a cameo in a parody of the exploding chest scene he played in Alien. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Brooks, John Candy, (more)
- 1986
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Harry (Harry Anderson) blames himself when Dan (John Larroquette) lapses into a coma, even though the real cause was Dan's strenuous seduction of Sheila (Leslie Bevis) while he was still confined to a hospital bed. Ultimately awakening to find that his friends are holding a bedside vigil around him, Dan figures that he's off the hook for his irresponsible behavior. But he's figured wrong--dead wrong! Frequent Night Court guest star Jack Riley shows up in the role of Dr. Flick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In the first episode of a two-part story, Dan (John Larroquette) insists upon disobeying his doctor's orders by returning to work immediately after minor ulcer surgery. Predictably ending up back in the hospital, Dan is still determined to prove that he's far from incapacitated, this time by making whoopee with sexy Sheila (Leslie Bevis) in his hospital bed. This, coupled with some angry words from Harry (Harry Anderson) , causes Dan to lapse into a coma--and to very nearly become a candidate for the morgue! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
A group of high-school science students are assigned to "parent" an egg for a full week. The students are subsequent thrown into a tizzy when the egg hatches prematurely. Although the assignment goes awry, the results are quite salutary vis-à-vis the blossoming relationship between students Sara (Justine Bateman) and David (James McNichol). The irreplaceable Mary Wickes is also starred in this ABC Afterschool Special. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justine Bateman, Mary Wickes, (more)
- 1985
In this Stephen Cannell-produced pilot for a potential TV detective series, Mac Davis plays an ex-highway patrolman and Joseph Cortese an ex-trucker, related by marriage. Their wives were twin sisters--were, because in addition to all the other "ex" qualifications in their lives, Davis and Cortese are ex-husbands. Still pals after their group divorce, the boys become private eyes. Their first case is to get the goods on a shady tycoon (Robert Culp), who happens to be their former father-in-law. Brothers-in-Law was the first Steven J. Cannell independent production which failed to sell as a series, but it wouldn't be the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
A blizzard traps everyone in the courtroom without electricity or supplies. Well, almost everyone: Harry (Harry Anderson) is stuck in an elevator with a gentleman named Warren Wilson, who turns out to be gay--and who is also very, VERY attracted to the nonplussed judge. Former Bob Newhart Show costar Jack Riley is atypically cast as the love-smitten Mr. Wilson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
