Billy Sands Movies

In this first episode of a two-part story, dry-cleaning entrepreneur George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) is locked in a down-and-dirty price war with the rival Big Sky Cleaners. George's strenuous efforts to surpass his competitors' sales gimmicks come acropper when his wife, Louise (Isabel Sanford), accidentally becomes Big Sky's one millionth customer. Intended as the finale of The Jeffersons' eighth season, "Laundry is a Tough Town" was instead used as the opener for season nine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There are no cliff-hanging moments in Serial, but there's plenty of laughs in this trenchant comedy comment on 1970s lifestyles. Martin Mull plays the father of a Marin County family that succumbs to every silly fad coming down the pike. Mull tries to distance himself from his family's idiocies, but it's always the man who pays the piper. The film, based on a collection of newspaper essays by Cyra McFadden, is neatly tied up with a Capraesque ending allowing Mull to finally prevail. Some of the best moments involves Mull's tiltings with his trend-happy neighbor Bill Macy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is Mel Brooks' spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds (Brooks actually used the bird trainer from that classic suspense movie in making his film). Brooks plays Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, a renowned Harvard psychiatrist with a concealed fear of heights, or High Anxiety. Thorndyke takes over as the newest director of the PsychoNeurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous after the last director dies under suspicious circumstances. He soon finds himself to be in the company of some very strange colleagues, including longtime Brooks collaborators Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman, with Madeline Kahn as Victoria Brisbane, the eccentric daughter of a patient at the institute and Thorndyke's love interest. Korman takes on the role of Dr. Charles Montague, a psychiatrist with a closeted habit of his own. Leachman plays Charlotte Diesel, a charge nurse with a dark sneer and tendency towards domination. As Thorndyke heads to a psychiatry conference, he is faced with saving the Institute, his reputation, and his own sanity. Although the film was not well-received by critics, it picked up a 1978 Golden Globe nomination for best picture (musical or comedy) and landed Brooks a nomination for best actor. The movie has a number of cameos, from a young Barry Levinson's spot as an unstable bellboy to a small part by Hitchcock's right-hand special effects man, Albert J. Whitlock, who plays Kahn's father. ~ Rachel Koetje, All Movie Guide

Again worried that George (Sherman Hemsley) is working too hard, Louise (Isabel Sanford) suggests that he take up a relaxing hobby. She soon regrets her suggestion when George signs up for flying lessons. Fortunately for all concerned, George makes a startling (and messy) discovery while airborne which causes him to realign his priorities. With this episode, The Jeffersons made its second third-season schedule change, moving from Wednesdays to Mondays opposite NBC's Little House on the Prairie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a Philadelphia boxer, is but one step removed from total bum-hood. A once-promising pugilist, Rocky is now taking nickel-and-dime bouts and running strongarm errands for local loan sharks to survive. Even his supportive trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), has given up on Rocky. All this changes thanks to Muhammad Ali-like super-boxer Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). With the Bicentennial celebration coming up, Creed must find a "Cinderella" opponent for the big July 4th bout -- some unknown whom Creed can "glorify" for a few minutes before knocking him cold. Rocky Balboa was not the only Cinderella involved here: writer/director Sylvester Stallone, himself a virtual unknown, managed to sell his Rocky script (one of 35 that he'd written over the years) on the proviso that he be given the starring role. Since the film was to be made on a shoestring and marketed on a low-level basis, the risk factor to United Artists was small. For Stallone, this was a make-or-break opportunity -- just like Rocky's million-to-one shot with Apollo Creed. Costing under a million dollars, Rocky managed to register with audiences everywhere, earning back 60 times its cost. The film won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In The Harrad Experiment, young men and women attend Harrad College for what is essentially a one-year "control group" trial in pre-marital sex, to be overseen by Prof. Philip Tenhausen (James Whitmore) and his wife, Margaret (Tippi Hedren). Although initially paired off for the first month, they will be free to change partners once a month if they so desire. The film focuses on two couples, the somewhat shy Sheila (Laurie Walters), who is paired with the rich and swaggering Stanley (Don Johnson), and alluring Beth (Victoria Thompson), whose roomie is the awkward Harry (Bruno Kirby). The two couples don't get off to a good start, as Stanley is disappointed in his partner and Harry intimidated by his. There's a great deal of tension as the partners consider whether they have been paired off appropriately, and the jealousy and discomfort they feel comes to the surface in an improvisational exercise overseen by Philip. Whether this is all a result of mismatched pairs or more a result of Stanley's inability to "feel" is the subject of some debate, and leads to a number of confrontations and scenes (not to mention nude yoga classes and discussions of group marriage). Stanley also attempts to interest Margaret in having sex with him, but when she suggests that they do so freely and openly on the lawn, he can't go through with it. Stanley decides he wants to leave Harrad, but at the last minute changes his mind and joins Sheila, Beth and Harry for a group hug. Based upon Robert Rimmer's best-seller, Harrad was followed by a sequel, The Harrad Summer. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Interviewed by a WCBS-TV reporter about Nixon's economic plan, Archie is thrilled to learn that his interview will appear on the evening news. Alas, the Bunkers' TV set is broken and practically every other set in the neighborhood is likewise incapacitated. After numerous frustrations, Archie finally gets to see himself on the boob tube -- or does he? Neil J. Schwartz appears as Levy the repairman, who delivers the episode's funniest line. Written by Lennie Weinrib, Paul Harrison, and Don Nicholl from a story by Weinrib and Harrison (incidentally the same team responsible for the classic Saturday-morning series H.R. Pufnstuff), "The Man in the Streeet" first aired on December 4, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of two efforts by Universal to launch an Ellery Queen TV series in the 1970s, Don't Look Behind You stars Peter Lawford as intellectual private eye Ellery Queen. Based on the novel Cat of Many Tales, the film finds Queen investigating a series of murders. The male victims were strangled with blue cords, the females with pink ones. In addition, the killer is working his (or her) way down the age scale, knocking off older people first. E.G. Marshall and Stefanie Powers are among the special guest suspects, while Harry Morgan is on hand as Ellery's police-inspector father. The best scene, involving a flooded apartment house, has very little to do with the mystery at hand. Originally telecast November 11, 1971 (after several months on the shelf), Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You failed to yield a weekly series; a 1975 "Ellery Queen" pilot film starring Jim Hutton was, however, more successful. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) try to negotiate a peace treaty between two Native Americans (Tom Geas, Bill Borsella), who plan to fight each other to the death. In other assignments, Jim and Pete search for an extortionist who specializes in bombing buildings containing businesses. Also, the two cops are summoned to the scene of an alleged burglary, where a hapless delivery man insists that he's just doing his job. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captain Wallace Binghamton (Joe FLynn), St. Comdr. Quinton McHale (Ernest Borgnine) and Ensign Charles Parker (Tim Conway) brought their wacky antics to the big screen for this feature, spawned from the popular '60 television program of the same name. McHale and his crew get involved in a betting scam aboard their PT boat. Soon, they find themselves owning money to a group of Marines. In order to pay off their debts, they plan a sure-fire way of making money--involving the transportation of a disguised racehorse on board their boat. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide