Todd Susman Movies

Ishai Setton's comedy drama The Big Bad Swim concerns the people who sign up to attend a beginner adult swim class. Some of the people involved in the class include Amy (Paget Brewster), whose marriage is on the rocks; Jordan (Jess Weixler), a stripper; and the teacher Noah (Jeff Branson), who eventually experiences romantic sparks with Amy. Another subplot involves a documentary film being made about Jordan. The Big Bad Swim had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Wesley (Alexis Denisof) pretends to be Angel (David Boreanaz) while Angel consults with a shaman who turns out to be an impostor in this tale of mistaken identities. Despondent over the return of Darla (see "Dear Boy"), Angel heads to the demon karaoke bar Caritas for advice from the Host (Andy Hallett), who sends him on a weekend retreat with no-nonsense guru T'ish Magev (Art LeFleur). Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Wesley are hassled by the henchmen of Magnus Bryce (Todd Susman), a businessman who made his fortune selling spells to the rich and famous. Bryce wants protection for his comely daughter, Virginia (Brigid Brannagh), whom he claims is in danger of being assassinated by his business rivals. Bryce wants Angel and only Angel to take the job, so Wes poses as his employer (even drinking a vial of blood) and begins faking his way through bodyguard duty. Along the way, he and Virginia have a tumble in the hay. Meanwhile, Angel learns that the T'ish Magev, despite having given him some real insights into his own character, is actually an impostor in the employ of one of Bryce's rivals. It turns out that, far from desiring to protect his daughter, Bryce wants to sacrifice Virginia to the demon goddess Yeska in exchange for greater power; the fake T'ish's job was to keep Angel from protecting the young woman. Eventually, Wes, Angel, and the crew save Virginia from her father. The young heiress begins a romance the man she now realizes is not Angel but Wesley, and Wes ends up in the society pages. Originally broadcast November 7, 2000, on the WB network, "Guise Will Be Guise" marked season two, episode six of the supernatural comedy drama. Guest star Todd Susman previously played the obnoxious PA voice on the long-running television comedy M*A*S*H. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Shot in 33 days, this $9.6 million biographical drama of behind-the-scenes interactions within the Rat Pack group of Frank Sinatra (Ray Liotta), Dean Martin (Joe Mantegna), and Sammy Davis Jr. (Don Cheadle) is set against the political backdrop of the '60s, establishing links of singers, gangsters, actors, and politicans (sometimes brushing shoulders in the same rooms). The film also explores Sinatra's relationship with John F. Kennedy (William Peterson). Deciding to support Kennedy, Sinatra patches up his feud with Peter Lawford (Angus Macfadyen), since Lawford's wife, Pat (Phyllis Lyons) is JFK's sister -- and a Sinatra-Kennedy friendship soon follows. However, when Joe Kennedy (Dan O'Herlihy) decides Sinatra's nightclub, mob and commie connections are a no-no for JFK, the patriarch's interference angers Sinatra. Meanwhile, Sammy Davis Jr. enters into an interracial liaison with May Britt (Megan Dodds), and the dynamics of the situation are visualized in an imaginative musical fantasy sequence in which Davis sees himself singing and dancing for an unresponsive line of white supremacists. Broadway's Savion Glover stepped in with the film's choreography. Substitute singers featured the voice of Michael Dees for Sinatra and Mantegna duplicating Dino. Also covered here are the events that led to the filming of Ocean's Eleven (1960). For an actual Rat Pack stage performance, see The Rat Pack Captured (1965). Filmed in LA, the TV movie premiered August 22, 1998 on HBO. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

"The Coneheads" were a sketch on the Saturday Night Live television show of the late '70s which were expanded to feature-length proportions with this film. The story concerns Beldar (Dan Aykroyd) and Prymaat (Jane Curtin), who leave the planet Remulak to prepare for an invasion of Planet Earth. But due to a malfunction, they find themselves plunged into the Hudson River and forced to take up residence in Paramus, New Jersey where Beldar gets work as an appliance salesman and makes a deal for a phony social security card. Before long, all thoughts of invading Earth are left behind as Beldar and Prymaat quickly adapt to suburban life -- except for their coneheads and metallic-sounding voices, they become a typical middle-class suburban family. The Coneheads have a child, Connie (Michelle Burke) and Beldar becomes a New York cab driver and starts up his own driving school. Connie grows into a teenager and a neighborhood boy, Ronnie (Chris Farley), develops a crush on her because he likes to rub her conehead. But a nefarious INS agent, Gorman Seedling (Michael McKean), and his toady assistant, Turnbull (David Spade), are hot on The Coneheads' trail because of Beldar's false social security card. Not only that, but the Remulakian Highmaster (Dave Thomas) is beginning to wonder what ever happened to Beldar's invasion of the third rock from the sun. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this kooky, spooky comedy, a dead private detective comes back from the Great Beyond to investigate his own death. He enlists the aid of an unemployed actress. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Harry (Harry Anderson) blames himself when Dan (John Larroquette) lapses into a coma, even though the real cause was Dan's strenuous seduction of Sheila (Leslie Bevis) while he was still confined to a hospital bed. Ultimately awakening to find that his friends are holding a bedside vigil around him, Dan figures that he's off the hook for his irresponsible behavior. But he's figured wrong--dead wrong! Frequent Night Court guest star Jack Riley shows up in the role of Dr. Flick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In order to win a bet, a nebbishy engineer must meet a model; not only does he get to know her, they begin to date. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Charles Levin makes his debut appearance as traffic cop Elliot Novak in this, the first episode of a two-part story. Officer Novak is introduced to the diner gang when he tickets Vera (Beth Howland) for jaywalking. As for Vera, she is not at all dismayed over that ticket; in fact, she's fallen in love with Elliot at first sight, and intends to become his bride! "Vera Gets Engaged" was originally telecast by CBS in tandem with its followup episode "Vera's Wedding"--the same night that rival network ABC made history with its landmark nuclear-holocaust drama The Day After. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thornwell was based on a documentary directed by Harry Moses, which formed the nucleus of a 60 Minutes piece. Moses also directed this TV-movie dramatization of the incident, a truly shameful chapter in the history of the American military. James Thornwell (Glynn E. Turman), an African American soldier suspected in 1961 of being a spy, is subjected to an intense, painful, and humiliating interrogation. The Army's grilling tactics are within the accepted boundaries--until it is decided to use Thornwell as a guinea pig for the "mind-expanding" drug LSD. Once released, Thornwell suffers from mental and physical agony which he cannot fully comprehend, because he has no idea that he's been pumped full of the hallucinogenic drug. It is only 16 years later, thanks to the Freedom of Information act, that Thornwell learns what has been done to him. He is awarded a sizeable cash settlement by Congress, but Thornwell makes clear that this is inadequate compensation for two lost decades in a man's life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a couple tries to cope with the devastating aftermath of the wife's rape. The wife is terribly traumatized. The husband is unable to deal with it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jason (Jon Walmsley) befriends a young Polish-American Jew named Ted Lupinsky (Todd Susman). When Ted tells the Waltons that his grandfather died in an extermination camp, the story seems too incredible (and too horrible) to believe. Eventually, however, Ted persuades the family that he is telling the truth -- and along the way, he helps Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) overcome her feelings of rejection for being more intellectual and less frivolous than her classmates (one of whom is played by Erica Hunton, who previously essayed the title role in "The Foundling," the very first episode of The Waltons). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Second World War has made quite an impact on Walton's Mountain as the eighth season of The Waltons gets under way. Fired up with patriotic fervor, everyone in the Walton family is involved in the war effort. For example, John Walton (Ralph Waite) is serving on the local draft board, Jason (Jon Walmsley) is an Army corporal, Erin (Mary McDonough) has taken a job at the metals plant owned by J.D. Pickett (Lewis Arquette), and the younger Walton siblings are closely monitoring the activities of the absent John-Boy, now a war correspondent in Europe. The good news in this first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast in a single two-hour slot) is that John's wife Olivia (Michael Learned) has returned from Arizona, where she was being treated for tuberculosis. The bad news is that a certain Calvin Satterfield (George DiCenzo) has threatened to kill John for advising Calvin's AWOL son Tommy (Glenn Withrow) to return to the Army -- advice that turned out to have tragic consequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide