William Russ Movies

Created by West Wing writer Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., the weekly, 60-minute political drama Mister Sterling was a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for the 21st century. Josh Brolin starred as William Sterling Jr., the idealistic young "reformist" son of a popular retired California governor (James Whitmore). Selected by his state's political machine to fill out the term of a dead Democratic senator, Mister Sterling arrived in the nation's capitol with a naïvely altruistic agenda -- and with no party ties, since he was a registered Independent (though in West Wing tradition, he tended to veer toward the left). Doing their best to educate Sterling to the facts of life about Washington, and sometimes expressing amazement at how much smarter he was than the "established" politicos, were his chief of staff, Jackie Brock (Audra McDonald); his legislative director, Tommy Doyle (William Russ); and resident techno-geek Leon (David Noroña). Mister Sterling was elected to office on January 10, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It is a strange conglomeration of humanity that is trapped together during a power outage in a suburban shopping mall. Among the "prisoners" are single mom/law student Kathy Robbins (Jane Seymour), her son Eric (Corin Nemec), and her daughter Blair (Alexandra Picatto). Fifteen-year-old Blair in particular has a lot to worry about when she is stalked by an unidentified psycho, who has armed himself in an abandoned sporting-goods store. By the time the audience is apprised of the identity of the would-be murderer, it is painfully obvious that Blackout can hardly be construed as "Family Fare." Directed by star Seymour's husband James Keach, this made-for-TV film first aired over CBS on January 24, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The opening episode of Touched by an Angel's eighth season introduces the series' newest regular: Valerie Bertinelli, in the previously recurring role of bespectacled novice angel Gloria. As Monica (Roma Downey, Tess (Della Reese) and Andrew (John Dye) do their best to indoctrinate Gloria in the intricacies of their Earthly responsibilities, the plot proper gets under way with William Russ guest-starring as agnostic college professor Thomas North (William Russ). Armed with an ancient map, North goes on an expedition in search of the fabled Ark of the Covenant--accompanied by the Angels, who hope to dissuade the professor from disturbing the sacred religious artifact. Sharing screen time with the main story is the of 88-year-old Catherine Knight (Julianna McCarthy), whose bitter life experiences have caused her to lose faith in everything except her grandson Paul (R.D Robb)--who happens to be the person who sent Prof. North off on his quest for the Ark! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In conclusion of a two-part story (originally shown in tandem with Part One), the "war of pranks", pitting Cory (Ben Savage), Shawn (Rider Strong) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel) against Rachel (Maitland Ward), Angela (Trina McGee-Davis) and Jack (Matthew Lawrence) has gone wildly out of control, the result being that several long-standing friendships have been destroyed. Mr. Feeny does his best to repair the damage, but it may be too late. Only after everyone gets a chilling glimpse into The Future--the year 2006--does the situation resolve itself. Without revealing any more, the point of the story is summed up in one pithy sentence: "Lose one friend, lose all friends, lose yourself." This episode was originally planned as the series finale of Boy Meets World ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Like many other made-for-TV biopics inspired by popular television series of yore, Come on Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story offers the spectacle of actors playing other actors playing different characters--and as such, those "characters" come off as more interesting than the "real" actors. Focusing exclusively on the five years (1970-1974) that The Partridge Family was in production, the story is told from the viewpoint of Danny Bonaduce (played by a pre-Desperate Housewives) Shawn Pyfrom), and accordingly is colored by the sentiments so often expressed by the real, irrepressibly outspoken Bonaduce. Upon landing the coveted role of Danny Partridge, young Bonaduce must contend with the jealousy of his abusive father Joseph (William Russ); all the while, Danny is a sidelines observer of the effect that overnight stardom has on his coworker David Cassidy (Keith Partridge), who (it says here) despises all the idolatry and yearns for a normal life. Rather touchingly, the film recounts the surrogate son-surrogate father relationship between Danny and actor Dave Madden (Michael Chieffo), who was genuinely fond of his younger costars despite the kid-hating irascibility of his "Reuben Kincaid" character. The film's highlight, which would be impossible to belief if it wasn't corroborated by witnesses, is the episode wherein Cassidy impulsively "kidnaps" Danny, whereupon both boys head off on a short journey of self-discovery; less easy to swallow is the scene which contrives a feud between the "Partridge" cast and the actors on the rival series The Brady Bunch (who are, interestingly enough, identified only by their character names and not their real names). Come on Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story made its ABC network bow on November 13, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At long last, Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel) are husband and wife. While enjoying their honeymoon in Hawaii, the newlyweds are enchanted with their tropical surroundings, so much so that they decide to never, ever return to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Eric (Will Friedle), who has surreptitiously tagged along with the honeymooners, does all sorts of things to help them enjoy their stay in the islands--all the while managing to keep his presence a secret from them! Naturally, it falls to Eric to subtly persuade the couple to return home...but it isn't easy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cassie Whitman (Roma Downey) is at first relieved that her husband David (William Russ) has survived a deadly plane crash. But as the comatose David recuperates, Cassie learns a few things that will seriously jeopardize the future of her marriage. For one thing, David's travelling companion the plane (who was killed in the crash) was his mistress, with whom he been secretly seeing for eight years. For another, the "other woman" had a child by David, named Erica (Kristina Malota). Will Cassie forgive, forget and take Erica to her heart, or will she give both her husband and his child the bum's rush? This highly rated TV movie offers a rare opportunity to hear Roma Downey playing a role without her inherent Irish accent, and she meets the challenge quite well. A Test of Love debuted December 1, 1999 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this landmark episode, Ben Savage (Cory) costars with his real-life brother Fred Savage, under the direction of Boy Meets World regular William Russ. Fred is cast as Stuart, a hip new college teacher who is popular with the Pennbrook students because he treats them as equals. But Stuart reveals his true nature when, left alone with Topanga (Danielle Fishel), he hits on her. Hearing of this, the outraged Cory shoves Stuart through a screen-door window--and when the dust settles, our hero is facing expulsion! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having overloaded himself with tough courses for his freshman year at Pennbrook, Cory (Ben Savage) soon buckles under the pressure and runs off to Wyoming, there to seek advice and solace from his retired high school teacher Mr. Feeny (William Daniels). The visit has a profound effect on Feeny, who decides that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Meanwhile, Eric (Will Friedle) tries to develop a sensitive side in order to woo Rachel (Maitland Ward) away from Jack (Matthew Lawrence)--resulting in a surprising response from Rachel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tony Kaye made his feature directorial debut with this dramatic exploration into the roots of race hatred in America. In a shocking opening scene, teen Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong) races to tell his older brother, neo-Nazi Derek (Edward Norton), about the young blacks breaking into his car in front of the house, whereupon Derek gets his gun and with no forethought shoots the youths in their tracks. Tried and convicted, Derek is sent away for three years in prison, where he acquires a different outlook as he contrasts white-power prisoners with black Lamont (Guy Torry), his prison laundry co-worker and eventual pal. Meanwhile, Danny, with a shaved head and a rebellious attitude, seems destined to follow in his big brother's footsteps. After Danny writes a favorable review of Hitler's Mein Kampf, black high-school principal Sweeney (Avery Brooks) puts Danny in his private "American History X" course and assigns him to do a paper about his older brother, who was a former student of Sweeney's. This serves to introduce flashbacks, with the film backtracking to illustrate Danny's account of Derek's life prior to the night of the shooting. Monochrome sequences of Derek leading a Venice, California gang are intercut with color footage of the mature Derek ending his past neo-Nazi associations and attempting to detour Danny away from the group led by white supremacist, Cameron (Stacy Keach), who once influenced Derek. Director Tony Kaye, with a background in TV commercials and music videos, filmed in L.A. beach communities. Rated R "for graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity." ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Reminiscent of the "best" of David Lynch, the two-part TV movie Night Sins uses a mysterious abduction as catalyst for a progressively bizarre and disturbing expose of small-town corruption, hypocrisy and perversion. When the 8-year-old son of a doctor is kidnapped from his home in the rural Washington town of Deer Lake, government agent Megan O'Malley (Valerie Bertinelli) arrives to investigate. It soon becomes apparent that this most recent abduction is tied in to a string of kidnappings and murders that have occurred in the region over the past twenty years. As Megan pursues her investigation with the help of friendly local cop Mitch Holt (Harry Hamlin)--to whom she grows extremely close--innumerable local skeletons are dredged out of innumerable local closets. In fact, it seems that everyone concerned with the story is harboring a dark, unsavory secret--including Megan. If nothing else, this offbeat melodrama may well be the only TV movie to feature an evil chess club! Originally telecast on CBS, Night Sins was first seen on February 23 and 25, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When Boy Meets World began its ABC run in 1993, hero Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends Shawn (Rider Strong) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel) were all 11-year-old sixth graders. But as the series launched its fifth season in the fall of 1997, Cory, Shawn, and Topanga had all miraculously aged to the point that they were high school seniors! As Cory prepares to culminate his high school career, his older brother Eric (Will Friedle) heads off to Penbrook College, there to be introduced to his new roommate Jack Newman (Matthew Lawrence) -- who happened to be the long-lost half brother of Cory's best pal Shawn Hunter. At first hostile towards Jack, Shawn ends up moving in with his brother and with Eric. In the episode "Boy Meets Real World," the notoriously fickle and faithless Shawn finds true and lasting love in the form of Angela Moore (Trina McGee-Davis). In other developments, irascible high school principal Feeny (William Daniels) falls in love with Penbrook's Dean of Admissions, Ms. Bolander (played by Daniels' real life wife Bonnie Bartlett). And after innumerable roadblocks and setbacks, the romance between Cory and Topanga seems destined for a happy ending when, in the season finale, Topanga proposes to Cory at their high school graduation ceremony. Among the highlights during season five are a brace of crossover episodes: "The Witches of Penbrook" finds Melissa Joan Hart reprising the title character of her own series, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and "No Guts, No Cory" represents Boy Meets World's contribution to an experiment conducted by ABC, in which all of the network's Friday night TGIF sitcoms were linked together for one memorable evening by a single theme. And on a more serious note, the episode "If You Can't Be With the One You Love..." addresses the issue of teen drinking, with series star Ben Savage appearing as himself at the end of the episode, delivering a public service announcement for the National Clearinghouse of Alcohol and Drug Information. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi