Parker Stevenson Movies

Seven teenage prep-school students become young men as they face the realities of WW II in this drama set in 1942. Much of the tale centers on two roommates who seem exceptionally close, but whether or not they are homosexually involved is never made clear. But when one feels betrayed by the other, he acts out of anger and ultimately causes the other to become a cripple. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Made for cable TV, Are You Lonesome Tonight? serves as a wide-eyed, heart-in-throat vehicle for Jane Seymour. She plays a wealthy young society matron whose husband disappears. An added complication involves her hubby's preoccupation with a phone-sex "operator." Detective Mat Henderson (Parker Stevenson) is brought in to investigate, using the taped transcripts of the husband's heavy-breathing phone conversations as his only leads. The suspense level fluctuates between intense and ho-hum during the first two thirds of Are You Lonesome Tonight?, but things pick up considerably in the final scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made-for-television, this future-set sci-adventure follows a band of brave soldiers in an epic battle against a government-created monster. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The "new" Misison:Impossible moved from Sunday to Saturday evenings with the January 28, 1989 episode "The Haunting." The IMF's target is an elusive serial killer whose latest murder may cancel a crucial oil-trade agreement. To stop the villain in his tracks, the IMF agents play a dangerous series of mind games, with Phelps posing as a mentalist and Max Hart impersonating a lunatic. Janis Paige and Parker Stevenson guest-star as Victoria and Champ Foster. "The Haunting" was written by Michael Fisher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An invader from space has sinister designs on the world's blood supply in this sci-fi thriller. Paul Johnson (Michael York) is a mysterious stranger who arrives in Los Angeles and moves into a luxurious estate in Beverly Hills, hiring a private nurse, Amanda (Elizabeth Barondes), to help him with his rare medical condition, as well as a driver and errand boy, Jeremy (Richard Belzer). However, Amanda soon thinks there's something strange about Paul, and after consulting with a physician, Dr. Rochelle (Mason Adams), they discover that Johnson is actually an alien who is stockpiling reserves of blood for the dying residents of his home planet. Not of This Earth is the second remake of 1957's low-budget cult classic; Roger Corman, who directed the original film, served as executive producer for this version. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Set in a girls' school in New England during the 1950s, Peter Hyams' nostalgic drama stars Betsy Slade as Abby, whose fling with a student from an area prep school results in an unwanted pregnancy. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this suspense film, a couple goes on a weekend vacation to get some much needed peace and quiet and instead find themselves entangled with murder and blackmail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The action and stunts in this fourth racing vehicle for Burt Reynolds could be accurately foreseen by most youngsters. Stroker Ace (Reynolds) is a race car driver who gets the short end of a contract with a fried-chicken entrepreneur (Ned Beatty) but can be expected to end up with the woman (Pembrook) in compensation -- and actually did (Pembrook is played by Loni Anderson in her first movie with Reynolds). By this time, the formula of racing cars, wild stunts, blond co-stars (Goldie Hawn, Farrah Fawcett, and Dolly Parton were the most recent) was wearing thin and Reynolds starred in only one more "Cannonball" film, ending his car-chase series there. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The word for That Secret Sunday would seem to be "irresponsible." Two party girls are horribly murdered, and the police handle the investigation irresponsibly. The reason is that the four investigating cops are guilty of the murder, which stemmed from their own irresponsible behavior. Investigative reporter James Farentino might have been able to nail the cops, but his newspaper behaves with irresponsibility. Made for television, That Secret Sunday was responsible only in prompting viewers to change the channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although the Hardy Boys books are credited to Franklin W. Dixon and the Nancy Drew mysteries are signed by Carolyn Keene, both of these children's literature properties were created by one man -- Edward R. Stratemeyer -- who, using a wide variety of pen names and a huge staff of ghost writers, churned out hundreds of "Hardy," "Drew," and similar book series from the WWI years onward. Curiously, while both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew had been adapted for films and television, the two properties never "merged" until ABC got the bright idea of creating the Sunday-evening TV series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in late 1976. In this incarnation, teen heartthrobs Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson were respectively cast as Joe and Frank Hardy, the amateur-sleuth sons of celebrated private investigator Fenton Hardy (Edmund Gilbert), while Pamela Sue Martin was seen as Nancy Drew, the bright, insatiably inquisitive daughter of criminal lawyer Carson Drew (William Schallert). In keeping with their common "parentage," The Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Nancy Drew Mysteries both found their young protagonists seeking out clues and risking their lives in order to solve baffling cases, much to the dismay and disapproval of their respective parents -- not to mention the Hardy kids' aunt Gertrude (Edith Atwater) and the Drew family's maid Bess (Ruth Cox). Joe and Frank Hardy were occasionally assisted by their school friend Callie Shaw (Lisa Eilbacher), while Nancy Drew's partners in deducing were her erstwhile beau Ned Nickerson (George O'Hanlon Jr.) and her tomboyish gal pal George Fayne (played first by Jean Rasey, then by Susan Buckner).

Debuting January 30, 1977, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was during its first season a "rotating" series, with a Hardy Boys episode one week, followed by a Nancy Drew installment the next. Beginning with season two, the Hardys and Nancy would occasionally appear in the same episode; in February of 1978, the two shows became one (albeit under the same "blanket" title), with Joe, Frank, and Nancy appearing together in every episode. At that time, Pamela Sue Martin left the series, balking at the notion of her "separate" vehicle being eliminated. Janet Louise Johnson then stepped into the role of Nancy Drew, remaining with the property until it was decided to drop Nancy altogether. Thus, though The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries officially ended in the fall of 1978, the series hung on as simply The Hardy Boys until August 26, 1979. ~ All Movie Guide

Several major changes occur during the second season of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. Whereas in season one the series maintained a alternating-week format -- with teenaged detective Joe and Frank Hardy (Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson) appearing in their own Hardy Boys Mysteries episode one week, followed the next week by 18-year-old sleuth Nancy Drew (Pamela Sue Martin) headlining her own Nancy Drew Mysteries installment -- beginning with the two-part season-two opener "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula," all three leading characters would occasionally appear together, solving the same mystery. Thus, while Joe and Frank soloed in such efforts as "The Mystery of the African Safari" and "The Acapulco Story," and Nancy would go it alone in the likes of "Nancy Drew's Love Match" and "The Lady on Thursday at Ten," the Hardy Boys and Miss Drew would combine forces in such capers as the two-part "The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom" -- which incidentally, featured cameo appearances by Robert Wagner, Jaclyn Smith, and Dennis Weaver. With the episode titled "Voodoo Doll," the two rotating series The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew officially merged into one, with the three major characters appearing together ever afterward. However, the series would do without the services of Pamela Sue Martin, who left the property in protest over having her separate series eliminated. Janet Louise Johnson takes over as Nancy in the aforementioned "Voodoo Doll," remaining with the series until Nancy Drew is completely written out at the end of season two. ~ All Movie Guide

This videotape consists of the 48-minute TV drama "The Flickering Torch Mystery." Originally telecast January 30, 1977, it was the opening episode of The Hardy Boys, the third TV series based on Franklin W. Dixon's children's-book characters. Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson play Joe and Frank Hardy, the sleuthing teen-age sons of attorney Fenton Hardy (Edmund Glbert). When Fenton disappears, Joe and Frank don their parkas and seek him out. Their search leads inexorably to a graveyard and a supposedly haunted house. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide