Robin Thomas

Jane Doe: Now You See It, Now You Don't is one of several Hallmark Channel TV-movies starring Lea Thompson as suburban housewife and mom Kathy Davis (Lea Thompson), who unbeknownst to her family occasionally moonlights as an undercover special agent and "problem solver" for the NSA. When the Declaration of Independence is stolen while on display at a Los Angeles bank, NSA higher-up Frank Darnell (Joe Penny) calls in Kathy--code name "Jane Doe"--in hopes of figuring out who did it. It's a standard "locked room" mystery which Kathy manages to figure out in no time flat, but the murder of the chief suspect and the kidnapping of the suspect's wife makes things a bit more complicated. As she endeavors to crack the case, Kathy must also deal with her neurotic husband Jack (William R. Moses) as he adjusts to working in the same office with a former girlfriend, and she must contend with the jealousy of her NRA cohort, case officer Helen Morrison (Tamlyn Tomita). Jane Doe: Now You See It, Now You Don't made its first TV appearance on February 24, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Suffering from double vision and horrible nightmares, 16-year-old Dan (Scott Mechlowitz) traces the source of his problem to injuries sustained during a Lacrosse match. As usual, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) has other ideas, first diagnosing Dan with MS, and then declaring that the boy is being sexually abused. By the time House has figured out the real reason (maybe!) and has scheduled Dan for brain surgery, the boy disappears from the clinic--and the chase is on. Elsewhere, House is annoyed by a ditzy mom (Kylee Cochran) who refuses to let her baby be vaccinated, and by a patient (Alex Skuby) with an ugly abscess in his knee who is threatening to sue everyone within earshot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For some folks, the 1960s never really ended, and one woman still cheerfully stuck in the Summer of Love discovers her one-time best friend has left that decade as far behind as humanly possible in this comedy. In the late '60s and early '70s, Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) were two of Southern California's most celebrated groupies. Affectionately nicknamed "The Banger Sisters" by Frank Zappa, best friends Suzette and Vinnie partied hearty with practically every rock star of the era who mattered, and kept a collection of Polaroid snapshots documenting their randy exploits. In 2001, Suzette is still her free-spirited self, and after losing her job as a barmaid at an L.A. rock club, she decides to look up Vinnie, whom she hasn't seen for 20 years. Suzette hits the road for Phoenix, AZ, to pay Vinnie a surprise visit, and en route picks up Harry (Geoffrey Rush), a novelist with writer's block who can't drive and hasn't had sex for a decade. Upon her arrival, Suzette discovers Vinnie isn't quite the same person who used to chase any man with long hair and an electric guitar. Now going by her given name of Lavinia, she's a straight laced social worker with a lawyer for a husband, Raymond (Robin Thomas), and two teenage daughters, Hannah (Erika Christensen) and Ginger (Eva Amurri), none of whom know a thing about her wild and crazy past, and have a pretty hard time imagining Lavinia even attending a rock concert. Eva Amurri comes by her role as Susan Sarandon's daughter naturally enough -- Amurri is Sarandon's daughter in real life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location in Oregon, the made-for-cable Halloweentown stars Debbie Reynolds as Aggie Cromwell, the peppery grandma to typical American kids Marnie (Joey Zimmerman), Dylan (Joey Zimmerman) and Sophie (Emily Roeske). During her annual visit to the youngsters' mother Gwen (Judith Hoag), Aggie reveals that she is a benevolent witch, and that Gwen and the kids all have latent magical powers. Whisking the three little ones off to Halloweentown, Aggie subsequently does battle with evil forces conjured up by Gwen's old flame Kalabar (Robin Thomas), a warlock with delusions of grandeur and a nasty habit of transforming children into zombies. Telecast by the Disney Channel on October 22, 1998, Halloweentown was followed three years later by a sequel, also starring Debbie Reynolds, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After filmmakers with varying degrees of talent managed to squeeze an unbelievable eight sequels out of the already-weak premise of the original Amityville Horror, the makers of this installment manage to go off on an even weirder tangent, with evil forces from the Long Island haunted house traipsing to yet another part of the world -- this time in a creepy little miniature replica. The dollhouse is well-constructed, and probably began life as a special-effects miniature from one of the previous films. Not one of the worst sequels, but unnecessary nonetheless; one can only hope that Amityville Dollhouse might finally encourage the film community to throw the last shovelful of dirt on this decaying concept and move on... a notion certainly shared by most moviegoers. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Michele Lee is star, director, producer and cowriter of this inspirational made-for-cable movie. Lee plays Dina Blake, a middle-aged mentally challenged woman living under the care of her nephew. In the tradition of Charly, Dina volunteers to test out an experimental drug designed to enhance intelligence--and within what seems like minutes, she accelerates to the level of genius. At the height of her euphoria, Dina falls in love with one of her doctors, Mitch Conlon (Robin Thomas)--who, alas, must bear the brunt of Dina's outrage when the experiment begins to fail and she painfully reverts to her former "retarded" self. Color Me Perfect made its Lifetime network debut on November 5, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While snobbish Dr. Harrison Archibald IV (Robin Thomas), his social-climbing wife Barbara (Gail Edwards) and his wealthy mother Amelia (Rue McClanahan) prepare a huge reception to celebrate a new hospital wing named for the Archibalds, a kid named Manny (Jonathan Hernandez) shows up, claiming to be the orphan child that Harrison and Barbara have been sponsoring. It turns out, however, that Manny (Jonathan Hernandez) is actually a homeless kid named Luis, who is faking his credentials in hopes of setting himself up in luxury. It falls to Monica (Roma Downey) to advise Luis that the truth shall set him free--advice that is surprisingly taken to heart by none other than Amelia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, this drama centers on a mother and father who decide to have another child in hopes of providing a bone-marrow donor for their leukemia-stricken child. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Frank Pierson's made-for-cable adaptation of Nicholas VonHoffman's biography, Citizen Cohn stars James Woods as the controversial lawyer Roy Cohn. The film is structured as a series of flashbacks while Cohn lies in a New York hospital dying of AIDS. In the 1940s and early '50s, Cohn became one of the most powerful men in the country after becoming an important associate of Senator Joseph McCarthy (Joe Don Baker) and his Communist witch hunts. The film recounts those turbulent times and features portrayals of such real-life figures as J. Edgar Hoover (Pat Hingle), Dashiell Hammett (Frederic Forrest), Cardinal Spellman (Daniel Benzali), and Walter Winchell (Joseph Bologna). ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is invited to speak at an exclusive club where only men are permitted as members. Despite her gender, Jessica is asks by the club's governing committee to help them solve a mystery involving the murder of a "rogue" member. This proves difficult when it becomes apparent that the killer may himself be on the committee. This episode is chock full of sly science-fiction and fantasy references--no surprise, inasmuch as it was written by J. Michael Straczynski, a guiding force behind the popular series Babylon 5. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Murphy Brown closes out its third season with one of the series' most celebrated episodes, which begins as Murphy (Candice Bergen) must chooses between two lovers: Ex-husband Jake Lowenstein (Jay Thomas), who propose that they remarry, and former sweetheart Jerry Gold (Jay Thomas), who opts for merely living together. Adding to Murphy's emotional burden is the fact that a recent pregnancy test--one of several--has proven positive! Viewers in 1991 would have to wait until the Season Four opener of Murphy Brown to see how this situation would work itself out: Contemporary fans need only press a button on their DVD for a quick answer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A husband-wife team of criminals specializes in luring gullible tourists to their hotel room, then robbing them. When one such tourist turns up murdered, it looks as if the couple is guilty, but police detective Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) suspects that there is a pair of copycat crooks on the loose. This theory is, however, hotly refuted by Hunter's current partner Al Novak (Robin Thomas)--who happens to be the ex-husband of officer Chris Novak (Lauren Lane). All too aware of the past relationship between Rick and Chris, Al allows his anger to cloud his judgement, with potentially disastrous results for everyone concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide