James B. Sikking

Officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) answer a summons from a bemused suburbanite, who can't figure out why over fifty Mexican youngsters have "adopted" him as a surrogate father and camped out on his front lawn. Elsewhere, the two patrolman capture a robber, and try to extricate a sniper from a small bungalow. And it what may turn out to be the most terrifying incident on their shift, Pete and Jim try to break up a fistfight between two drunken middle-aged ladies. Featured in the guest cast are Batman's former "Chief O'Hara" Stafford Repp, and frequent Jerry Lewis costar Del Moore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Perennial supporting players Terry Carter and James B. Sikking get to play leads in Black Force 2. It goes without saying that this is a sequel to the first Black Force (1975, aka Force Four). In the original, two crime-fighting brothers battle international criminals. In the sequel, two crime-fighting brothers battle international criminals. Most likely, things will remain the same if there's ever a Black Force 3. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ben and Hoss Cartwright, together with ranchhand Candy, join a posse to capture Cully Maco (Bruce Dern), an ex-convict wanted for robbery and murder. Trouble is, the other members of the posse are determined to kill their prisoner without a trial. And as if that wasn't enough intrigue, Cully is innocent-the real culprit is posse member Sam Bragan (Warren Stevens. Also in the cast are Christopher Shea, the original voice of Charlie Brown in the "Peanuts" cartoon specials, and future father of Doogie Howser, Hill St. Blues regular James B. Sikking. Written by Louis Bercovitch and Frederick Louis Fox, "The Trackers" was first broadcast on January 7, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Astronauts Charles Brubaker, John Walker, and Peter Willis (James Brolin, O.J. Simpson, and Sam Waterston, respectively) are hailed as heroes when they become the first men to be rocketed to Mars. Actually the space travelers are as phony as their mission controller, Dr. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook); to avert a failure that might cost the space program its funding, the Mars-bound vessel has been sent up without a crew, while the helmeted astronauts sit on a movie soundstage, pretending to be in outer space for the benefit of the TV cameras. Unfortunately the Mars ship crashes on arrival, making the astronaut trio thoroughly expendable. Investigative reporter Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould), who's smelled a rat all along, races against time to prevent NASA from "terminating" the hapless astronauts in order to cover up the conspiracy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This western saga finds Jess Wade (Elvis Presley) as a reformed gunfighter who is stalked and captured by his former band of outlaws. Vince (Victor French) is the heavy who orders Jess' cheek to be branded with a hot iron. The gang terrorizes a small town by threatening to use a gold-plated and jewel-encrusted Mexican cannon on the innocent population. Presley sings only one song (the title track) in the last dramatic role of his career. The feature has the look and feel of the popular spaghetti westerns of the time. This routine western would be followed by the truly gaugeable The Trouble With Girls and Change Of Habit. Presley revived his live performing career soon after the forgettable last two films and continued touring until his death on August 16th, 1977. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his men attempt to cross over a hill festooned with German soldiers. They have only advanced a few yards when they are captured by Captain Steiner (Richard Basehart), a sadistic SS officer. Herded into Steiner's headquarters, Saunders, the squad, and two other prisoners, Sgt. Akers (Simon Oakland) and Pvt. Gates (Woodrow Parfrey) are ordered to reveal secret Allied information--with the assurance that Steiner "has ways" of making them talk! Featured in a small role is James Sikking, better known in later years as SWAT leader Howard Hunter on Hill Street Blues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands) is the right-wing anti-abortion fanatic who snaps when his girlfriend has an abortion. The couple naturally breaks up, but Kenneth remains bent for revenge against Cathy (Carol White). She goes on to marry a politician, but the vengeful Kenneth returns and subjects her to mental torture in an effort to get her to kill her child as revenge for the previous abortion in this disturbing drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Devoted to the point of obsession to her brother, Jessica Wells (Jodie Bissett) is completely unhinged by the brother's death. When Jessica becomes schizophrenic, her family must deal with the grim necessity of institutionalizing the girl. Salvation comes from an unexpected source: a new, experimental drug, with which her doctors hope to restore Jessica to normalcy--and to repair her tattered romance with her loyal boyfriend Patrick (Jason Gedrick). Trouble begins when Jessica goes off her medication and transforms into what TV Guide writer Susan Stewart described as a "sexual carnivore." A young Chad Lowe plays a small but pivotal role in the fact-based, made-for-TV Dare to Love, which had its world premiere over ABC on December 17, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Badlands Justice is another in a series of Desperado feature films made exclusively for television. Alex McArthur returns as cowboy Duell McCall, who wanders the wide frontier in search of the one man who will clear him of a murder charge (What price Fugitive?) Once more, McCall finds himself in a corruption-ridden mining town. Since no one knows his true identity, he is able to establish a modicum of law and order, despite the concerted efforts of greedy land baron John Rhys-Davies. It is only a matter of time, however, before McCall will be forced to move on to other adventures. Well photographed and consummately acted, Badlands Justice premiered December 17, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although 16-year-old prodigy Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) is America's youngest physician, he still has a lot to learn in the maturity department, as amply demonstrated during Season One of Doogie Howser, M.D.. Doing his appointed rounds as second-year resident at Eastman Medical Center in L.A., Dr. Howser has earned the (sometimes grudging) respect of Chief of Services Dr. Canfield (Lawrence Pressman), fellow resident Dr. McGuire (Mitchell Anderson) and Nurse Spaulding (Kathryn Layng), in his own home our hero is generally treated like the shy, awkward youngster he truly is, especially by his strict but loving mom Katherine (Belinda Montgomery). While Doogie can rely upon his doctor father David (James B. Sikking) to keep him abreast of the latest advances in medical science and technology, his main conduit to his "own" world--that is, the world of pimply-faced, hormone-driven teenagers--is his best pal Vinnie (Max Casella),who regularly delivers reports from the high-school front in his weekly visits to Doogie via the bedroom window. The pilot episode firmly establishes the strange dichotomy in Doogie's life, as he passes his driver's exam and enjoys his first kiss with girlfriend Wanda (Lisa Dean Ryan) while struggling to cope with a tragedy involving a young, critically ill patient. The eternal inner struggle between Doogie the typical teen and Doogie the boy genius is further illustrated in the famous episode wherein he and Wanda are out on a date when she suffers a sudden appendicitis attack--and he is forced to give her a rather intimate examination just before she undergoes emergency surgery (this is the one in which a jealous Vinnie asks Doogie: "Did you put your hand on her conundrum?") One of the more fascinating first-season episodes is "Use a Slurpy, Go to Jail", in which Doogie and Vinnie find themselves in the middle of a botched convenience-store holdup. The ill-tempered gang member who tries to pull off the heist is one Raymond Alexander, played by Markus Redmond. Beginning with the series' second season, Raymond Alexander would be a Doogie Howser MD regular, hired as an orderly at Eastman Medical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Three proves to be a year of transition on Doogie Howser M.D.. Figuring that he has reached his majority at age 18, child prodigy Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), America's youngest practicing physician, decides to move out of his family's house and into a bachelor apartment, sharing the digs with his best pal Vinnie (Max Casella), who is now attending college as a film major. While Doogie is still fond of his teenaged sweetheart Wanda (Lisa Dean Plenn), she has left town to attend art school and as such is largely incommunicado. As a result, Doogie drifts away from Wanda, transferring his affections to attractive nurse Michele Faber (Robyn Lively)--with time out for a lengthy relationship with a woman named Cecilia, who "forgets" to inform him that she has a 4-year-old son. And in another development, Doogie finds himself short one colleague when his fellow resident Dr. McGuire leaves his post at LA's Eastman Medical Center. While most of the Season Three episodes maintain the series' delicate balance of comedy and drama, several are played strictly for laughs. Case in point: "Mummy Dearest", wherein Doogie and his fellow physicians ruminate over the possibility of being cursed as they examined the remains of a centuries-old mummy! On a more serious note, the episode "My Father, My Self" details a schism in the relationship between Doogie and his doctor father David (James B. Sikking) when the latter asks a stranger to join his medical practice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A made for TV movie which serves as much a condemnation of the military establishment as a murder mystery, this film revolves around an upper classman who is falsely accused of responsibility for the death of a student when he begins to investigate the mysterious demise of the young gay cadet. Part of a two-part series, the crux for the upper classman is whether he is willing to jeopardize the future of his own military career to investigate the death of the freshman cadet at this prestigious military academy. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide