Chuck Shamata Movies

Childless couple Keith and Kim Lussier (Andrew McCarthy and Teri Polo) have seemingly had their prayers answered when they are placed in charge of 3-month old foster child Brittany. When the couple decides to adopt the child, it is Kim who seems most enthusiastic about her prospective parenthood, while the noncommittal Keith assumes a "whatever" posture. And then, disaster strikes: Kim is diagnosed with cancer. When it seems as though she'll recover, the adoption agency elects to allow the couple to continue caring for Brittany--and in the process Keith, who has had to take full responsibility during Kim's convalescence and treatment, grows to dearly love Brittany and proves to be an ideal apart. Alas, Kim goes into remission and dies, whereupon the agency falls back on its long-standing policy that no single parent be permitted to adopt. Keith long, agonizing legal battle to win full custody of Brittany serves as the climax to the fact-based TV movie A Father for Brittany (home video title:Change of Heart, which originally aired March 15, 1998, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Magnum anthology features a trio of shorts--of a crazy dad, a pair of lethargic couchies and a man who sells household vacuums. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Sanford and Son regular Whitman Mayo guest stars as John Rich, a ghetto father whose son is "on the junk." Witnessing the murder of the dope pusher who hooked his son, John takes credit for the killing, thereby becoming a neighborhood hero. He also becomes the next target of the pusher's real killers, obliging undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) to come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of television's most beloved commedians and one of Hollywood's greatest love goddesses appear together for the first time in this made-for-cable comedy drama. Mary Catherine Castelli (Carol Burnett) is a fifty-year-old real estage agent whose husband left her for a younger woman; since then she's been making up for lost time with short term relationships with a number of men, some of whom happen to be married. Deborah Shapiro (Elizabeth Taylor) is also middle-aged and freshly divorced, through she is still coming to terms with being single again and has had little luck finding a new beau. Mary and Deborah meet literally by accident when they get into a fender-bender outside Mary's office, but the two soon strike up a friendship after Deborah asks Mary to help her sell her house. Together, Mary and Deborah help each other deal with their new lives as single women, the difficulty of getting back into the dating pool, and the mildly terrifying onset of middle age and menopause. Based on a novel by Shelly List (who produced this film), Between Friends was produced for the permium cable network HBO. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Having survived the loneliness of an orphaned childhood, Brooke Taylor (Kaley Cuoco) has always dreamed of being a top fashion designer, and her dream at last may be fulfilled when she is accepted at America's top fashion school. Then, suddenly, Brooke's life goes in an entirely another direction when her grandfather, a mob boss, passes away. Showing up at Brooke's doorstep is grandpa's second-in-command George (played by The Sopranos' Dominic Chianese), who insists that the girl assume command of the "family business." The fact that George's organization is attempting to go legit means nothing to the Feds, who are determined to jail Brooke and the rest of her associates on a racketeering rap. Meanwhile, Brooke makes the acquaintance of Jack Lawton (Pat Kelly), a shy, bumbling fellow student--and secret FBI operative. Adroitly combining crime and fashion (hence its title), this satirical cable-TV movie made its first appearance on July 25, 2004 over the ABC Family Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this final film in the Death Wish series, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) returns to New York City, where he attempts to resume a normal life by proposing to his girlfriend Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down), a fashion designer. However, Olivia runs afoul of her ex-husband Tommy O'Shea (Michael Thomas Parks), a ruthless gangster, and she's killed by his henchmen. If history has taught us anything, it's that Paul Kersey does not take the death of his loved ones lying down, and soon Paul is heavily armed and ready to take out O'Shea and his goons, while the police politely ask Kersey if he has revenge on his mind (a question not unlike asking if there was a Tuesday last week). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Accompanied by his trusty pet wolf Diefenbaker, RCMP constable Benton Fraser doggedly pursues the murderer of his Mountie father (whose death has been officially deemed an "accident") from the snowy environs of the Yukon to the urban sprawl of Chicago. Once in the Windy City, Fraser meets wisecracking local police detective Ray Vecchio, whose career has likewise been motivated by the death of his father. Forming a tentative friendship, Fraser and Ray become an unofficial team, determined to track down miscreants by combining their separate but equally effective police methods. Along the way, our heroes discover that Fraser's father was killed while investigating a large-scale coverup involving a hydroelectric dam project. This two-hour pilot episode of the weekly seriocomic cop series Due South has since been divided into two hour-long episodes for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television drama is based on the true story of a woman's search for her birth parents. Melissa Gilbert-Boxleitner stars as Julie, a woman about to undergo surgery. Confronted with questions about her medical history, Julie learns for the first time that she in fact was adopted as an infant. The revelation sparks a desire within Julie to seek out her birth parents and sends her on a quest for the truth. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

This sci-fi offering from director Peter Hunt boasts an unsympathetic cast of three aliens who have escaped from their spacecraft docked on the moon. Robyn (Sydney Penny) is the female alien watching over young Tavy (Rosie Marcel) and the three-armed, three-eyed baby Kirbi who feeds on gasoline and hot coals. Dirt (Ricky Paull Goldin) is a friendly soul who adopts the three aliens, but he runs into trouble after the captain of the spaceship lands nearby and starts looking for the trio. More complications set in when a senator arrives at Dirt's father's ranch and a local cop starts to suspect the alien captain of murderous intentions toward the politician. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In Like Flynn is Remington Steele cross-pollinated with Romancing the Stone. The title "character," Jason Flynn, is a fictional James Bond-like adventurer created by reclusive author Daryl E. Raymond. Raymond's bestselling books are seemingly the sole source of income for the publishing firm where Jenny Seagrove works as editor and researcher. What nobody knows is that Daryl E. Raymond doesn't really exist--in fact, "he" is none other than the plucky Ms. Seagrove. In this busted pilot film, "Raymond" (that is, Seagrove) is dispatched halfway across the world on a delicate rescue assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the story of Antoinette Giancana, Susan Lucci plays a mobster's daughter who is trying to learn the truth of her father's shady dealings in this made-for-TV movie. Tony Curtis plays the boss, Sam Giancana. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide