Roy Huggins Movies

Tommy Lee Jones returns as United States Marshall Sam Gerard, the role that earned him an Academy Award, in this sequel to the 1993 blockbuster The Fugitive. Gerard has been assigned to escort a federal prisoner to a maximum security prison in Missouri. On the same flight is Mark Sheridan (Wesley Snipes), who has been arrested and charged with the murders of two Federal agents, though he insists he's innocent. The plane is involved in an accident leading to a crash, and after helping to rescue some of the passengers, Sheridan escapes. The State Department informs Gerard that finding Sheridan and putting him back behind bars is a top priority, and Gerard sets out on his trail, with the very much uncalled-for assistance of eccentric FBI agent John Royce (Robert Downey Jr.). However, Gerard soon begins to wonder just how Sheridan became such an important man in the eyes of the government, while Sheridan is determined to find out who turned him in to the authorities. U.S. Marshals also features Joe Pantoliano, Daniel Roebuck, and Kate Nelligan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Season Four of the cop drama Hunter brings back Fred Dryer as unorthodox LAPD homicide cop Rick Hunter, Stepfanie Kramer as his partner (and, it is hinted, his lover) Dee Dee McCall, and Charles Hallahan--promoted to star billing this year--as their bombastic superior Captain Devane. Among the season's best episodes are the opener "Playing God", wherein the discovery that a recently deceased pillar of society may have had mob connections nearly prompts Hunter and Dee Dee to quit the force in disgust; "Allegra", in which a woman from Hunter's past is the victim of a spectacular murder; "Black Dahlia", a speculative reopening of the infamous unsolved murder case of the 1940s, featuring such venerable character actors as Jeanette Nolan and Lawrence Tierney); "Fourth Man", in which Hunter is again suspected of being a "dirty cop" when an old drug-bust case comes back to haunt him; and a rare light-hearted episode, "Murder He Wrote", a parody of you-know-what series with Marge Redmond as "Jessica Fletcher" clone Jennifer Brasher and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as the archetypal "murder victim who needs killing." The season also serves up a brace of intriguing multipart episodes. In the two-parter "Naked Justice", Hunter tries to ascertain the link between a murdered movie star and a mysterious street person. And in the three-part "City of Passion", adapted from a novel by Dallas Barnes, Hunter and McCall explore the possibility that a serial killer is tied in with a Satanic cult. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having played to dismal ratings during its first season, the NBC cop drama Hunter increased its viewership dramatically during Season Two, thanks to several corporate and creative decisions. To begin with, the network removed the series from its "suicide" slot opposite CBS' Dallas and into a slightly more appealing Saturday night berth, where its principal competition was the fading The Love Boat. Also, Roy Huggins was brought in as the new producer, whereupon he immediately set about to broaden Hunter's appeal by softening the characters and changing the basic locale. The fact that LAPD homicide detective Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) was the son of a gangster was allowed to fade into obscurity before disappearing completely, while Hunter's previously impervious partner Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) was less the "brass cupcake" she'd been in Season One and more of a sensitive, compassionate human being. It was further hinted that the relationship between Hunter and Dee Dee went far beyond a professional one. Additiionally, Huggins moved the two partners off the mean streets of downtown LA and into a more refined "uptown" setting. Replacing Captain Dolan as Hunter's dyspeptic superior officer this season is Bruce Davison as Captain Wyler, less irascible and vindictive than Dolan but not much more sympathetic to Hunter's unorthodox police methods. Also added to the cast are John Shearin as Lt. Ambrose Finn, whose later death in the line of duty would allow Hunter to demonstrate the more sentimental side of his personality,and Garrett Morris as Arnold "Sporty" James, bombastic street hustler and informant. In the season opener "Case X", directed by onetime Starsky and Hutch star David Soul, Hunter searches for the serial killer of female porn stars. Later episodes include "The Biggest Man in Town", in which Hunter and Dee head to a resort community run by a man who may be a big-time criminal; "Rich Girl", wherein a guilt-ridden Hunter seeks out the actual perpetrator of a crime for which a suicidal young woman was wrongly accused; "Killer in a Halloween Mask", taking place on the set of a Hunter-like TV series for which Hunter and Dee Dee serve as technical advisors; "Fagin 1986", in which our hero mercilessly targets another corruptor of youth; "The Set-Up", bringing Hunter in contact with the "untouchable" international criminal who may have caused the death of his former partner; and "The Return of Typhoon Thompson", clearly inspired by the story of boxer "Hurricane" Carter and starring Isaac Hayes in the title role. The most memorable of the season's offerings is the two-part "Rape and Revenge", with Hunter declaring a vendetta against the South American man who raped Dee Dee, then managed to escape prosecution by declaring diplomatic immunity. Only slightly less fascinating is another two-parter, "The Beautiful and the Dead", in which the murder of a gorgeous girl in a seedy motel plunges Hunter into a complex espionage yarn involving both Federal and Russian secret agents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of the many Arthur Hailey literary properties which were transformed into TV miniseries in the 1970s, the five-part, ten-hour Wheels took place in Detroit sometime in the late 1960s. Rock Hudson starred as Adam Trenton, executive in charge of project development at the fictional auto-manufacturing firm of National Motors. Ambitious and ruthless, Adam let nothing stand in the way of his development and production of a new, youth-marketed car known as the Hawk. Meanwhile, Adam's bored and neglected wife Erica (Lee Remick, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance) drifted into an extramarital affair and a brief "career" as a shoplifter. Eventually, Adam himself acquired a mistress, who in turn fell in love with Adam's son Kirk (James Carrol Jordan). As if things couldn't get any seamier, Kirk's brother Greg (Howard McGillin) was plagued by a blackmailer, while crooked car dealer Smokey Stevenson (played by miniseries stalwart Anthony Franciosa) cooked up a sinister deal that threatened to destroy National Motors. Originally telecast from May 7 to 15, 1978 on NBC, Arthur Hailey's Wheels posted such disappointing ratings that, when it was later rebroadcast, the property was whittled down from ten hours to four -- with episodes three and four summarily dropped from the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan). Achieving fame and prominence (if not full-fledged social acceptance) through a Byzantine series of investments in the oil industry, the elder Armagh was obsessed with the notion of having one of his sons become the first Irish-Catholic President of the United States (does this story sound vaguely familiar?). Along the way, Joseph and his offspring indulged in innumerable romantic liaisons, extramarital and otherwise. Featured in the all-star cast is Patty Duke Astin, who won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Bernadette Hennessey Armagh. Captains and the Kings was broadcast from September 30 to November 18, 1976 in seven installments, two of which ran 120 minutes, and the other six lasting 60 minutes -- a total of nine hours' air time in all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Invasion of Johnson County is based on a dark chapter in the history of Wyoming. As settlers pour in, a cartel of Wyoming cattle barons raise a private army to wipe the "interlopers" off the face of the Earth. Bostonian Bill Bixby teams with good ol' boy Bo Hopkins in warding off the villains. If the story for this TV movie strikes a familiar chord, it is because the same historical incident was used as the basis for Michael Cimino's 1980 megabomb Heaven's Gate. The principal differences: Heaven's Gate lasted three dreary hours, while Invasion of Johnson County zipped along at 100 rousing minutes; and while it didn't set fires in the ratings, at least Johnson County didn't destroy United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Created by Stephen J. Cannell, the weekly, hour-long crime series Baretta rose from the ashes of 1973's Toma, a short-lived weekly based on the exploits of David Toma, a real-life undercover cop with a penchant for elaborate disguises. For the "new" series, only two vestiges of the original Toma remained: Lead character Tony Baretta was an undercover detective, and he revelled in adopting bizarre costumes and eccentric "alternate" personalities. Otherwise, the two characters could not have been further apart. Remaining faithful to its source, Toma featured a tough but compassionate New Jersey cop who, though he preferred to buck the system and argue with his superior officers when pursuing a case, generally played by the rules; he also had a loving wife and two darling children, and lived in a modest but comfortable and well-appointed home. Conversely, Tony Baretta was a logical extension of Robert Blake, the bantam-cock actor who played the role. Like Blake, the streewise Baretta was fiercely, almost violently independent, bending and breaking the rules whenever possible and making no secret of his disdain for the by-the-book instincts of his superiors. And if Toma was diligent in his pursuit of lawbreakers, Baretta was downright savage; one suspects that he would have blown them to bits had he possessed the appropriate hardware. Also, unlike family man Toma, Baretta was single and a loner, his one bid for domestic bliss having been destroyed when his erstwhile fiancée was killed in the very first episode. Almost as if he was doing penance for allowing himself to be happy, Baretta lived in a rundown flophouse, managed by disheveled former cop Billy Truman. Outside of Billy and his pet cockatoo Fred, Baretta had no close friends: Certainly there was no love lost between himself and his commanding officer Insp. Shiller (Dana Elcar), while Tony's favorite street informant Rooster (Michael D. Roberts) was not exactly the sort of fellow one could call a bosom companion. Baretta was unceremoniously tossed into ABC's Friday-night schedule beginning January 17, 1975, as a midseason replacement for the canceled Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Clearly, the network felt that the series was expendable, inasmuch as it was slated opposite NBC's ratings magnet Police Woman. Within a few weeks, however, Baretta developed a respectable following, most of which was engendered by press reports of star Robert Blake's tiltings with the "suits" (his word for network executives) over the series' violence quotient and overall authenticity. By the time the series had completed its inaugural 12-episode run, Baretta was a shoo-in for renewal -- and Robert Blake had earned enough clout to start calling the shots so far as program content and casting choices were concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The lighthearted title of this made-for-TV film deftly sets the mood for the 74 minutes to follow. Ben Murphy stars as a rogueish Wild Bill Hickok, carrying on with an incongruously glamorous Calamity Jane (Kim Darby). Amidst the gambling and lovemaking, Will Bill must fend off a gang of vengeful gunslingers. This being a Roy Huggins production, we shouldn't be amazed that Rockford Files regular Stuart Margolin shows up as "Blind Pete". Also starring Jane Alexander (who'd later play Calamity Jane herself) and Tony Franciosa, This is the West That Was premiered December 17, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama a newspaper publisher begins to doubt the guilt of a hero convicted of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ernest Borgnine plays alcoholic vagabond Sam Hill in this pilot film for a potential western detective series. Sam Hill is appointed sheriff of a one-horse town, then promptly becomes mixed up in a murder case. The victim was a preacher who was collecting $10,000 to build a new church; the money of course disappeared the moment the preacher turned up dead. Hill investigates and learns that the mysterious Bible-thumper was not all he claimed to be. The sheriff must get to the bottom of the case before he's ousted by a special election. Sam Hill: Who Killed Mr. Foster? lost out in the "Disheveled Frontier Detective" sweepstakes to another TV pilot film, Richard Boone's Hec Ramsey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-television western adventure, a gambler has many exciting experiences while looking for the rightful owner of a stolen cache of cash. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A superb throwback to the "films noir" of old, The Lonely Profession puts icing on the cake with a strong dose of 1960s realism--within reasonable TV-movie limits. Harry Guardino plays a businesslike private eye assigned to trail the mistress (Ina Balin) of a Hughes-like reclusive millionaire. When he catches up with her, the two spend an evening in a motel. Guardino wakes up; the woman does not. Now facing a murder rap, Guardino must get to the bottom of the killing and determine why he's been set up as the fall guy. To do this, he opens his own probe of the dead woman's past. Lonely Profession was a special favorite of its director Douglas Heyes, who is best known to TV buffs for his work on Maverick and Twilight Zone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide