James Widdoes Movies

Blood Feud was a two-part TV drama, originally presented as an "Operation Prime Time" special. Robert Blake is disturbingly convincing as labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, engaged in a decade-long war of words with attorney (and later attorney general) Robert F. Kennedy. Cotter Smith makes his TV debut as Kennedy, a role he'd repeat on future occasions. Thoroughly compelling when sticking to the facts, the drama falls apart whenever indulging in flight of fanciful speculation (Sample: two of Hoffa's lieutenants watch the live telecast of Lee Harvey Oswald's murder, then celebrate the fact that Oswald will never be able to reveal their complicity in the JFK assassination!) Blood Feud was syndicated to local TV stations beginning April 24, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season one of Charles in Charge finds the title character, a 19-year-old college student, securing free room and board by agreeing to work as "male governess" in the New Brunswick home of Jill and Stan Pembroke (Julie Cobb, James Widdoes). With the help of his best friend Buddy (Willie Aames), Charles does his best -- which is very good indeed -- to keep the three Pembroke children on the straight and narrow. Of course, 14-year-old Lila (April Lerman) would rather be chasing every boy in her class, 12-year-old Douglas (Jonathan Ward) prefers to crack wise than to do his household chores, and 10-year-old Jason (Michael Pearlman) just wants to be left alone to do whatever he pleases. In the course of the season, the kids benefit mightily from the wisdom and common sense of Charles, just as he learns a lot about his role in life through his responsibilities as substitute daddy. During his off hours, Charles devotes himself to winning the heart of the toothsome Gwendolyn Pierce (Jennifer Runyon) a nice young lady who sees no reason to tie herself down to just one boy. Some interesting faces pop up among the guest performers this season, among them such stars in the making as Meg Ryan, Kathy Ireland, Christina Applegate, and Matthew Perry. Also, sitcom veteran Rue McClanahan makes a few memorable appearances as Stan Pembroke's mother. Though Charles in Charge enjoyed a sizeable fan following amongst Scott Baio enthusiasts, the series was far from a success, prompting CBS to cancel the property after a mere 22 episodes. Who could have guessed that Charles in Charge would pull a phoenix two and a half years later, re-emerging in off-network syndication and subsequently enjoying a healthy run of 104 additional episodes? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Series creator Peter Murrieta based the weekly, half-hour sitcom Greetings From Tucson on his own experience growing up in a multicultural household. When he received a promotion on his job, Mexican-American patriarch Joaquin (Julio Oscar Mechoso) moved his family into a slightly more upscale Tucson neighborhood. Despite his new surroundings, the rule-bound Joaquin remained loyal to the "old values" passed down from his homeland, and tended to keep his children -- son David (Pablo Santos) and daughter Maria (Aimee Garcia) -- on very short leashes. Slightly more liberal in her parental behavior was Joaquin's feisty Irish-American wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Creskoff), while Joaquin's peppery mother Magdalena (Lupe Ontiveros) and indolent brother Ernesto (Jacob Vargas) could easily be described as overraged hippies. Much of the humor was of the culture-clash variety, with Joaquin's Mexican traditionalism, Elizabeth's Irish pragmatism, and daughter Maria's self-imposed Spanish nationalism all brought into play. After a bit of pre-release script tinkering (including changing the family's name from Campos to Tiant and changing the series' title from Just for You), Greetings From Tucson finally premiered on September 20, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally slated as a mid-season replacement, the NBC sitcom Kristin was held up for release until June 5, 2001. Tony-winning Broadway musical star Kristin Chenoweth starred in this semi-autobiographical effort as Kristin Yancey, a starry-eyed Oklahoma gal who heads to the big city in hopes of a showbiz career. After a series of desultory auditions, Kristin lands a job as personal assistant to go-getting real estate developer -- and notorious rogue -- Tommy Ballantine (Jon Tenney). Under a legal cloud because of past incidents of sexual harassment, Tommy has hired Kristin precisely because he finds her completely unappealing, and because she staunchly adheres to the sort of high moral values that he detests. In the prescribed sitcom fashion, Kristen is surrounded (practically engulfed) by wildly eccentric, ethnically stereotyped co-workers: no-nonsense Latina assistant Santa Clemente (Ana Ortiz), flippant black bike messenger Tyrique Kimbrough (Dale Godboldo), and Italian handyman Aldo Bonnadonna (Larry Romano, then pulling double duty as a regular on King of Queens). Kristin was packaged by the same people responsible for Frasier and The Cosby Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, New York City battens down in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Mel. Several people end up being trapped in Harry's courtroom, with no supplies or utilities. Among those huddled together are four very pregnant defendants--not to mention those inimitable indigents, the Wheeler family from West Virginia! Former blaxploitation-film diva Pam Grier plays one of the moms-to-be, while future Star Trek: The Next Generation costar Brent Spiner repeats his role as Bob Wheeler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The WB network sitcom Reba afforded country singer Reba McEntire to display her unique flair for combining comedy with pathos. The star was cast as Reba Hart, who, as the series opened, was in the midst of a divorce from her dentist husband Brock Hart (Christopher Rich). That the breakup was wholly Brock's fault was implicit in the reason: Dr. Hart had to marry his hygenist-mistress Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman) after getting her pregnant. Meanwhile, Reba's vacuous 17-year-old daughter, Cheyenne (Joanna Garcia), was also with child as a result of her romance with high-school football star Van Montgomery (Steve Howey) -- who, after being thrown out of his own house by his outraged parents, moved into Reba's house and made an "honest woman" of Cheyenne by wedding her (their daughter Elizabeth was born at the end of the series' first season). Despite all this sexual intrigue, down-to-earth Reba tried to make the best of things, as did her wisecracking younger daughter, Kyra (Scarlett Pomers), and easygoing son, Jack (Mitch Holleman). Whenever things got too sticky, Reba could count on her pragmatic best friend, Lori Ann (Park Overall), to put things in perspective -- and to get off a few zingers at the philandering Brock's expense.

Reba needed all the moral support she could get; running out of money for herself and her kids, she was forced to go to work for her ex-husband -- making Barbra Jean her boss! This went on until Reba found a new job with Brock's chief rival, Dr. Fisher (played by Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson). As for Cheyenne and Van, they had plenty of problems of their own, especially when Van lost a football scholarship after banging up his knee in a car accident. Ultimately, however, Van recovered sufficiently to return to the college team. When Cheyenne's sister, Kyra, opted to move in with her dad Brock and his second wife Barbra Jean, it caused a rift between Kyra and her mom Reba. But as it turned out, Kyra exerted a positive influence on the insensitive Brock, helping heal some of the pain of his and Reba's breakup. Meanwhile, Barbra Jean bonded with Cheyenne, bringing the two separate Hart clans even closer together. Alas, things got a bit too close for Barbra Jean's taste when in the third-season cliffhanger she spots Reba and Brock tearfully embracing! One of the WB's highest-rated programs, Reba debuted on October 5, 2001. ~ All Movie Guide

Three former college chums are the center of this sitcom, set at a Boston pizza parlor where grad-school roommates Berg (Ryan Reynolds) and Pete (Richard R. Ruccolo) work. Above their apartment lives their friend and neighbor, Sharon (Traylor Howard), sales rep for a chemical company. Berg is an eccentric philosophy major who's also a guinea pig each week for a different new product (nasal spray, talking shoes). Pete's a potential architect with a bubbly girlfriend, Melissa (Jennifer Westfeldt). Bill (Julius Carry) is the boss at the pizzeria, where one of the "wacky" customers is the delusional Mr. Bauer (David Ogden Stiers). Most of Bauer's "adventures" seem to have been filched from the plotlines of JAWS and other movies. The first six episodes of this series were purchased by the Fox network and then sold to ABC, where the show premiered March 11, 1998 on ABC. The New York Times reviewed it as a "charmless comedy." ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide