Jonathan Emerson Movies

When his beloved refrigerator finally expires, Drew (Drew Carey) tries to win a new one in Winfred-Louder's annual employee olympics. Trouble is, Mimi (Kathy Kinney) has always been able to beat Drew, so he and Nicki (Kate Walsh) have to rely upon Larry's athletically gifted girlfriend Pinky (Ashley Gardner) to achieve victory on their behalf. Alas, DrugCo is currently using Pinky as a guinea pig for an highly unstable "competition" drug which causes her to utterly destroy Drew's chances without even trying. This is the episode with the sublimely surrealistic "refrigerator dance!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Just as the original 1950 version of Father of the Bride spawned a sequel, so did the 1991 remake; like its counterpart four decades earlier, this story concerns a father who learns that his anxieties are just beginning after his daughter takes the big walk down the aisle. George Banks (Steve Martin) has finally adjusted to the marriage of his daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) when the fates drop a new bombshell on his head: Annie and her husband Bryan (George Newbern) announce that they're going to have a baby. While George's wife Nina (Diane Keaton) is happy enough about the news, George is thrown into an immediate mid-life crisis; while he and Nina were once discussing the possibility of selling the family home and moving to a place on the beach, George impulsively sells their home to Mr. Habib (Eugene Levy), a greedy land speculator. Now, with ten days to move, George gets even more unexpected news: Nina, who had earlier been fretting about the onset of menopause, has just learned that she's pregnant as well. George now has to deal with being a father again as well as becoming a grandparent, while he also figures out how to get the Banks family home back. Martin Short returns as Franck, the oddly accented wedding planner from Father of the Bride, who has moved into a new career organizing baby showers and redecorating homes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on a story by Richard Lupoff (a short filmization of the same story earned an Oscar nomination for 1990), 12:01 centers on a member of the personnel department in a science lab, who discovers that the world has become somehow trapped in a strange time warp that causes the same 24-hour period to repeat itself. During the course of that endlessly repeated day, Barry Thomas, the only one who seems to be aware of what's happening, must somehow figure out how to put time back on its normal course and solve the murder of a physicist, Lisa Fredricks (Helen Slater) with whom he is infatuated. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This is the series' fourth and final "Day in the Life" episode, in which the Night Court staff must process a huge number of cases before a predetermined deadline. On this occasion, the staffers must try a record 242 cases before midnight as workmen attempt to repair a hole in the courtroom ceiling. Judge Harry (Harry Anderson) is especially anxious to rush through one particular case, this one involving a nice young man (Andrew Hill Newman) who hopes to save his girlfriend (Eileen Seeley) from a forced marriage to a "pre-lab preppie" (Jonathan Emerson). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Vernee Watson-Johnson makes her first appearance as Vy Smith, the tough taskmaster mom of transplanted teenager Will Smith (Will Smith). Breezing in from South Philly to spend Thanksgiving with her wealthy Bel-Air relatives, the Banks family, Vy quickly ascertains that her nephew Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) and nieces Hilary (Karyn Parsons) and Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) have been spoiled and pampered beyond belief--and her own son Will is in danger of becoming just like his cousins. Thus, Vy puts the kids to work cleaning up the house, mowing the lawn, and cooking the Thanksgiving dinner. But when the meal turns out to be a disaster, Vy's sister Vivian (Janet Hubert-Whitten) holds her husband Philip (James Avery) responsible (go figure)! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Will (Will Smith) joins a ritzy poetry club in order to meet a stunning girl named Elizabeth (Laurel Moglen). Hoping to impress the girl, Will weaves a fantastic web of deceit, claiming to be personal friends with the "famous" poet Rafael De La Ghetto. Inasmuch as this particular poet does not exist, Will presses Carlton into service to pose as the imaginary bard. When this ruse fails, Jazz (Jeff Townes) is called upon to impersonate the fictional De LaGhetto--with unfortunate results for Will! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hunter (Fred Dryer) investigates when a gun manufacturer who is linked to an Irish terrorist organization is murdered. At the same time, Hunter's boss Devane (Charles Hallahan) prepares to pop the question to his sweetheart Maureen Delaney (Fionnula Flannagan). Inasmuch as Maureen's brother Sean (Nicholas Guest) is a noted Northern Irish politician and peace activist, and as such has been targetted for assassination, it is inevitable that the episode's two plot strands will merge in a deadly entanglement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Michael Ritchie's The Couch Trip follows a long line of Hollywood films (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Disorderly Orderly) in which the psychos are seen as saner than the psychiatrists. Charles Grodin plays Dr. George Maitlin, a pompous radio self-help guru, who is having his own personal mental breakdown. Maitlin's lawyer puts in a call to a Cicero, IL, mental facility and the telephone is answered by schizophrenic mental patient John Burns (Dan Aykroyd). Thinking Burns is a crony of Maitlin, Burns is offered the job of replacing Maitlin during his recovery. Of course, Burns accepts the job. Immediately jetted to Los Angeles, Burns meets panhandler Donald Becker (Walter Matthau) at the airport. While wearing the garb of a priest, Becker sounds off against the madness of societal conventions; Burns takes to him immediately and they become fast friends. When Burns assumes command of the airwaves in Maitlin's place, his words of wisdom are so obvious and commonsensical that he is an overnight sensation. Meanwhile, in London, where Maitlin is convalescing, he gets wind of Burns' success. With renewed vigor and outrage, Maitlin leaves his recovery room and hops on a plane back to Los Angeles in an effort to recover his radio show. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi