Glynn E. Turman Movies

Dean Davenport (Jenifer Lewis) assigns her students to write a hypothetical conversation between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Unfortunately, Terrell (Patrick Y. Malone) lowers the level of the assignment several degrees when, as a result of a previous run-in with a gang of punks, he brings a gun to class--and is nearly expelled on the spot. Elsewhere, Kim (Charnele Brown) hesitates at accepting Spencer's (Michael Ralph) marriage proposal (even though we've already seen her accept in an earlier episode). This final network telecast of A Different World was originally scheduled to air in February of 1993, then reshuffled to June and finally July. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of A Different World finds the overall quality of the series improving immensely, which many insiders attributed to the fact that the multi-talented Debbie Allen had taken over as producer-director. Originally intended as a vehicle for former Cosby Show co-star Lisa Bonet in her familiar role as college student Denise Huxtable, the series would be forced to undergo a major format change when Bonet dropped out of the series due to her real-life pregnancy. Also gone from the cast is Marisa Tomei, who had played Denise's naïve white college roommate Maggie Lawton. With Bonet and Tomei gone, the emphasis shifts to Denise's former dorm-mates at Hillman College's Gilbert Hall: streetwise 27-year-old divorcée Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) and spoiled, haughty Whitley (Jasmine Guy). Likewise carried over from the first season are Gilbert Hall's worldly dorm director Lettie (Mary Alice), self-styled campus Romeo Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison), Dwayne's irresponsible roomie Ron (Darryl M. Bell), and local community-center leader Walter Oakes (Sinbad). New to the series are Whitley's new roommate, the iron-willed, slightly promiscuous pre-med student Kim Reese (Charnele Brown); fashion-challenged but cute and artistically gifted student Freddie Brooks (Cree Summer); and tough-as-nails calculus professor Col. Clayton "Dr. War" Taylor (played by Glynn Turnan, the husband of Aretha Franklin, who this year takes over from Phoebe Snow as the singer of the series' catchy theme tune). Major season two plot developments include the growing attraction between Whitley and Dwayne, although both continue dating others; the budding romance between Walter and Jaleesa; and the many benighted business schemes cooked up by Ron and Dwayne. Also, the characters begin spending more and more of their spare time at a local eatery called The Pit, presided over by philosophical chef Vernon Gaynes (Lou Myers). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's official -- the formerly self-centered Hillman College graduate Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) is definitely in love with her fellow collegiate Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) as A Different World begins its fourth season. Unfortunately, during the summer, Dwayne has met and fallen for someone else: a Japanese-American girl named Kinu. So disconsolate that she forgets to pay her room rent on time, Whitley temporarily moves in with another of her Hillman College confrères, the worldly Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) -- in an apartment right across the hall from Dwayne's! Hoping to make Dwayne jealous, Whitley finally agrees to go out with Dwayne's dweebish roommate Ron (Darryl M. Bell), but the scheme doesn't work. Incidentally, Ron is far more interested in the artistically inclined coed Freddie (Cree Summer), who isn't quite as waif-like as in previous seasons, and is beginning to emerge as something of a social activist thanks to the influence of her Black History professor. Meanwhile, the romance between Jaleesa and local community-center leader Walter (Sinbad) has gone south, with Jaleesa now hitching her star to hard-driving calculus teacher Colonel Clayton Taylor (Glynn Turnan), whose son Terrence (Cory Tyler) is currently driving everyone crazy as a new Hillman freshman. As the season progresses, Whitley lands a marketing job and later becomes assistant to an art gallery curator; Dwayne and Kina split, with Dwayne finally realizing he is as much in love with Whitley as she is with him; Ron is invited to join his dad's car business, but he opts instead to become a drummer in a band ; and Whitley's former roommate Kim is temporarily working at a mortuary. Season four ends with the possibility of Ron failing to graduate from Hillman, Walter accepting a job in Philadelphia; and Whitley laboring under the misapprehension that Dwayne wants to break off their relationship. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Whitley (Jasmine Guy) goes power-mad when placed in charge of the Alpha Delta Rho sorority pledges, prompting Kim (Charnele Brown) to lead a revolt against her. One thing leads to another, and before long Whitley and Kim have challenged each other to a fistfight. And while handling pledges for the Kappa Lamda Nu fraternity, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) must somehow "rehabilitate" the self-centered Terrence (Cory Tyler). This episode was directed by series regular Glynn Turman (Col. Taylor), who does not otherwise appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 60-minute comedy Ask Max stars Jeff B. Cohen in the title role. A 12-year-old genius, poor Max is a washout socially. To impress his girl friend, he sells the design of his latest invention-a jumping bike-to a major toy company. The upshot of this is that Max is appointed a company vice-president (but he still hasn't quite won over that girl!) Cassie Yates, Ray Walston, and Glynn Turman costar, while Karem Abdul Jabbar makes a guest appearance. Ask Max originated as the November 2, 1986 installment of TV's Disney Sunday Movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three American soldiers go AWOL while stationed in Sweden. Our heroes are played by Glynn E. Turman, Lenny Baker and Russ Thacker, at least two of whom were on the verge of bigger things acting-wise. While drinking in the Scandanavian sights, the threesome gets mixed up with beautiful actress Isabella Kaliff. AWOL was lensed on location by American director Herb Freed, whose first film this (apparently) was. Freed later turned his attentions to such shockfests as The Haunted and Beyond Evil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Military and Susan Rhinehart scripted this western, a look back at the post-Civil War Black cavalry troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers, the fierce fighting unit previously covered in a PBS four-parter (1970) and an NBC pilot (1979). In the New Mexico Territory, ex-slave Sgt. Wyatt (Danny Glover) and the Buffalo soldiers arrest Captain Draper (Robert Knott) and other Texas Rangers, but politics mean the Rangers are quietly freed later. Back at Fort Craig, Wyatt reports to anti-black General Pike (Tom Bower) and Col. Grierson (Bob Gunton), a white responsible for assembling and supporting the black regiment. A search is underway for Indian chief Victorio (Harrison Lowe). Indian prophet Nana (Chesley Wilson) is tortured in an effort to get him to reveal Victorio's whereabouts. Determining that Victorio is at Rattlesnake Springs, the Buffalo Soldiers head in that direction for a confrontation. Filmed in the desert of Arizona's Cochise County, Buffalo Soldiers premiered December 7, 1997 on TNT. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In 1978, African American Charlie Smith was 134 years old. So far as anyone could determine, this Florida nursing home resident was the oldest man living on Earth. As such, the nonplussed Smith found himself the subject of several magazine spreads and documentaries. Playwright Charlie Johnson's Charlie Smith and the Fritter Tree is a "dramatized biography", putting Smith's reminiscences in context with the sweeping social changes in the black American experience. Charlie Smith and the Fritter Tree was produced as a 90-minute installment of the PBS anthology series Visions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laurence Fishburne plays no-nonsense LAPD narc Russell Stevens, Jr., who has worked all his life to expunge the memory of his dope-addict father, whom he saw die in a liquor-store robbery. DEA agent Jerry Carver (Charles Martin Smith) orders Stevens to work as an undercover operative on a major case. The cop is to pose as a dealer in order to get the goods on South American drug lord. Stevens is so convincing as a dealer, that he fast works his way up through the ranks and gains the trust of lawyer and narcotics dealer David Jason (Jeff Goldblum) and his sinister associates, all lackeys to the kingpin who is the target of Stevens' assignment. Through a series of fantastic but credible circumstances, Stevens eliminates the lower echelon, getting closer to his quarry, but in the process he finds himself so deep into the sinister and seductive world of the drug trade that he may never get out. In a surprise move, and just when he is about to bring the ringleader down, the DEA pulls the plug on his assignment, because the top dealer, an influential Latin American politician, may someday be useful to the State Department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Five on the Black Hand Side was released at a time when most black-oriented films were bloody action fests. In contrast, this low-budget effort, coproduced by actors Brock Peters and Michael Tolan, eschews exploitation for humanity and domestic drama. Leonard Jackson plays a barber who is also the domineering head of a middle-class African American family. Jackson is forced to rethink his values when his previously docile wife (Clarice Taylor) joins their three children in rebelling against her husband's retrogressive behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A new life with his grandmother in the rural South causes changes in a young boy. ~ All Movie Guide