Joyce Bulifant Movies

A sexy woman discovers just how hard it can be to find a worthwhile man in this outrageous romantic comedy. Rebecca (Jenny McCarthy) is a beautiful blonde who thinks she has it made with her hunky boyfriend, Richard (Victor Webster); however, when she comes home early one day and finds him in bed with another woman, she realizes that isn't quite the case. Devastated, Rebecca takes the advice of her friends Carrie (Kam Heskin), a half-bright actress, and Michelle (Carmen Electra), a racially confused beautician, and throws herself back into the dating game to prove to Richard that she can do better. However, there's a problem -- Rebecca is a bit of a klutz, she keeps ending up with men who are either crazy or strange, and each date she goes on ends in disaster. Does Rebecca have any chance at either finding new love or winning Richard back? And is it possible her pal John (Eddie Kaye Thomas) might be interested in being more than just friends? Dirty Love was written by leading lady Jenny McCarthy and directed by John Asher, McCarthy's then-husband. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This spoof of the Airport series of disaster movies relies on ridiculous sight gags, groan-inducing dialogue, and deadpan acting -- a comedy style that would be imitated for the next 20 years. Airplane! pulls out all the clichés as alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor, launching a new phase of the actor's career that carried him through the next two decades in several similarly comedic roles. The trio of directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker responsible for the film would eventually go on to solo careers, but not before making Top Secret! and Ruthless People. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Demonstrating a bigger heart than usual, Mel (Vic Tayback) decides to serve a free Thanksgiving dinner to a group of orphans. Though willing to be generous, Mel has his limits, and is willing to buy his turkeys at the lowest possible cost. Unfortunately, the birds turn out to be "hot"--as in stolen. Seen in minor roles are a brace of child actors who would go on to enjoy a modicum of fame: Nancy McKeon(the sister of series regular Philip McKeon) and Corey Feldman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While The Mary Tyler Moore Show no longer enjoyed Top 20 ratings as the series entered its seventh season, CBS hoped that the show would last forever as the linchpin of its Saturday-night lineup. However, series star Mary Tyler Moore (cast as Mary Richards, newscast producer at Minneapolis TV station WJM) had already decided to emulate the example set by her previous sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show: quit while the applause and laughter are still ringing in your ears, rather than hang around until nobody is left in the room. Thus, season seven of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was predestined to be season last. Even so, the series' final batch of episodes uphold the lofty standards of previous seasons, as indicated by the fact that Mary Tyler Moore earned its third Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy award in a row at the 1976-1977 ceremonies. Things get off to a grand start with "Mary Midwife," in which Georgette Baxter (Georgia Engel), the pregnant wife of WJM-TV's vainglorious anchorman, Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), goes into labor right in the middle of one of Mary Richards' infamous dinner parties. Subsequent episodes of note include "Sue Ann's Sister," in which WJM's "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White) suffers a bad case of sibling rivalry when her sister -- and professional competitor -- Lila (Pat Priest) comes to town; and "Sue Ann Gets the Ax," wherein Sue Ann accepts a humiliating supporting role on a TV kiddie show when her own series is canceled. Also worth noting are "Ted's Change of Heart," in which Ted undergoes an epiphany after suffering a heart attack while on the air; "Lou Proposes," featuring another lively appearance by Eileen Heckart as Mary's globetrotting journalist aunt Flo Meredith; "Mary's Insomnia," combining slapstick with melodrama as Mary inadvertently becomes addicted to sleeping pills; "The Critic," guest-starring Eric Braeden as a waspish arts critic who is given a gooey comeuppance by an unwitting Ted; "Hail the Conquering Gordy," marking a return appearance by John Amos in the role of former WJM weatherman Gordy Howard; "Mary's Big Party," in which Johnny Carson makes a guest appearance -- we think; and the series' only fantasy episode, "Mary's Three Husbands." The Mary Tyler Moore Show neatly wraps things up after seven seasons with the now-classic series finale, in which the new manager of WJM-TV fires everyone on the staff -- except, amazingly, Ted Baxter! (It's a long way to Tipperary....) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season five of The Mary Tyler Moore Show gets under way with all but one of its familiar regular characters in attendance: Valerie Harper has departed the series in the role of Rhoda Morganstern to star in her own weekly spin-off, Rhoda. However, Harper and Mary Tyler Moore would be reunited in a "crossover" Rhoda episode telecast October 28, 1974, in which Rhoda is married to her boyfriend, Joe Gerard (David Groh). Otherwise, it is business as usual in Minneapolis, as Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) divides her time between her associate-producer duties in the WJM-TV newsroom and her home life in the apartment house owned by flighty Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). Mary's grouchy boss, Lou Grant (Edward Asner), is still adjusting to his recent divorce; newswriter Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) continues to mask his neuroses with a smile and a wisecrack; the "humanization" of dimwitted, self-centered anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) carries on under the watchful and loving eye of his fiancée, Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel); and "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens proves tireless in her efforts to sleep with every eligible man within a 50-mile radius.

Season five kicks off with the Emmy-winning "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail," in which wide-eyed Mary finds herself in the slammer with a pair of cynical "working girls" after she refuses to reveal a news source. Subsequent first-rate episodes include "You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate," with a contrite Lou Grant bending over backward to patch things up with Ted Baxter after tossing him through his office doors over an on-the-air gaffe; "Lou and That Woman," featuring Sheree North as Lou's sometimes girlfriend, lounge singer Charlene Maguire; "The Outsider," guest-starring Richard Masur as WJM's new business consultant, who manages to get on the wrong side of everyone in the newsroom; "A New Sue Ann" (or "All About Eve in Minneapolis"), in which Sue Ann is hoodwinked into hiring a perky young assistant (Linda Kelsey) who is plotting to take over as the Happy Homemaker; "Mary Richards: Producer," Mary's annual blow struck on behalf of feminism; "Marriage Minneapolis Style," in which Ted finally pops the question to Georgette -- then begs his friends to help him break the engagement; and the deathless "Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters' School," which surely needs no synopsis. Arguably, the season's most interesting episode is "Phyllis Whips Inflation," which serves a the pilot for Cloris Leachman's own spin-off series, Phyllis. Ranking at number 11 in the 1974-1975 ratings, the fifth season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also the first in which the program earned an Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Also earning Emmys were Betty White as Outstanding Supporting Actress and Cloris Leachman for Outstanding Single Performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The eponymous star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show launches her third season in the role of Mary Richards, the still lovable, still unmarried associate producer of "The Six O'Clock News" on Minneapolis TV station WJM-TV. Also returning are the familiar supporting characters: irascible producer Lou Grant (Edward Asner), cheerful newswriter Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), vain-and-stupid anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), Mary's tough-talking best friend Rhoda Morganstern (Valerie Harper), and her flighty landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). The season opener is the classic "The Good-Time News," in which Mary lobbies for a raise from her chauvinistic boss Lou, while Ted makes a public ass of himself (again!) by trying to be an on-the-air jokester. The subsequent episode "Rhoda the Beautiful" unveils the "new," svelte-and-slim Rhoda Morganstern, reflecting the well-publicized diet upon which Valerie Harper embarked during the summer hiatus (and which encouraged co-stars Edward Asner and Gavin MacLeod to drop several pounds themselves). In "But Seriously, Folks," Jerry Van Dyke, brother of Mary Tyler Moore's former sitcom co-star Dick Van Dyke, makes his first appearance as aspiring comedian (and Mary Richards' erstwhile boyfriend) Wes Callison; and in "Rhoda Morganstern: Minneapolis to New York," future series regular Georgia Engel is introduced as Ted's naïve, soft-spoken girlfriend, Georgette Fanklin. Also, Ted tries to fatten his bank account by doing embarrassing pork-sausage commercials in "Farmer Ted and the News." Phyllis' 15-year-old daughter, Bess (Lisa Gerritsen), is beside herself when her same-aged boyfriend falls for Mary in "It Was Fascination, I Know"; and in the season's most talked-about episode, Mary spends the night with former beau Tom Vernon (Joseph Campanella) in "Remembrance of Things Past." Emmy awards this season went to star Mary Tyler Moore and co-stars Valerie Harper and Ted Knight. As a bonus, season three found the series posting its highest-ever ratings, securely fastened into the number seven slot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Bonanza debuted in 1959, its first episode was "A Rose for Lotta", guest-starring Yvonne DeCarlo as real-life musical peformer Lotta Crabtree. Written by Stanley Roberts, the series' March 1, 1970 episode "Return Engagement" found Sally Kellerman in the role of the fabulous Lotta. As indicated by the title, Ms. Crabtree has once again honored Virginia City with a visit, and both Joe and Hoss Cartwright are swept off their feet by the glamorous actress (Joe even begins entertaining notions of pursuing a stage career himself!) Things take a sinister turn when Lotta's leading man is killed and Hoss is accused of the crime. Joyce Bulifant, who later played Marie Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, appears as Bonnie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nancy Banks (Joyce Bulifant) may not be too bright, but she is intensely loyal. Finding it impossible to believe that her brother Rodney (Dick Davalos) embezzled from his job to gamble at the race track, Nancy sets about to help Rodney in any way she can. Could it be that Nancy's zeal has resulted in the murder of Rodney's former boss Marvin Fremont (Arch Johnson)? That is what the police believe, and that is what Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must disprove in court. This episode is based on a novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide