Alan J. Levi Movies

After trying and failing to help an elderly doctor (Edward Asner) who runs a free clinic, Carter (Noah Wyle) is forced to make some difficult decisions regarding his own future. Elsewhere, Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) comes to the aid of his brain-damaged brother, Leon (Marcello Thedford), who has run afoul of the law; Kovac (Goran Visnjic) issues a threat to Weaver (Laura Innes); and Corday (Alex Kingston) wonders if she should accept a date from a doctor (Bruno Campos) with a "bad" reputation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hoping to utilize the Supreme Court in the same dramatic manner that West Wing utilized the White House, the weekly, 60-minute CBS series First Monday focused on the nine Justices who laid down the law for the United States. Joe Mantegna headed the cast as Joseph Novelli, the newest member of the nine-person Supreme Court. Entering a political arena that was evenly divided between Conservative and Liberal, the "moderate" Justice Novelli generally acted as the tie-breaker in matters of national jurisprudence (though supposedly noncommittal politically, Novelli's beard and pugnacious personality indicated that he was the "champion of the underdog" type). James Garner co-starred as staunchly conservative Chief Justice Thomas Brankin, who displayed his contempt for contemporary political correctness by puffing away on a cigarette in his "officially" smoke-free private office. Brankin's chief ally was the whimsical, womanizing Justice Henry Hoskins (Charles Durning), while on varying extremes of the political spectrum were Jewish jurist Esther Weisenberg (Camille Saviola) and black Justice Jerome Morris (James McEachin). Created by Jag's Donald P. Bellisario, First Monday premiered on Tuesday, January 15, 2002, before settling into its standard Friday-night slot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After being told that Spike (James Marsters) is once again siring vampires (see "Conversations With Dead People"), Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) leads a desperate investigation into the activities of her mad, recently soul-infused ex-lover. She discovers a string of disappearances and enlists the help of Anya (Emma Caulfield) and Xander (Nicholas Brendon) in monitoring Spike's after-dark whereabouts. Spike himself appears to have no knowledge of the slayings, even though Buffy witnesses him leading a pretty, young thing down a dark alley to her probable doom. Eventually, Spike encounters a newborn vamp vixen who claims he sired her; fragmentary images of his killing spree slowly come back to him. Buffy, realizing that Spike is being manipulated by the same shape-shifting demon who recently toyed with Willow (Alyson Hannigan), nonetheless agrees to meet him in a deserted basement. Just as the confused Spike begins to confess to his amnesic killing spree, the shape-shifting demon appears to him (but not to Buffy) and manipulates him into carrying out a carefully orchestrated ambush. Buffy almost becomes the victim of the newborn vamps Spike has been "planting" in the earthen basement floor like so many undead tulip bulbs. But Spike's conscience-stricken abandonment of his tormentor's manipulations and her own fighting prowess save the slayer. Spike tells Buffy to kill him, but instead she resolves to dig into his repressed memories for clues about the identity of the big bad who's been haunting her friends. Meanwhile, in England, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) stumbles onto the scene of a massacre and appears well on his way to becoming the latest casualty from the Watcher's Council. Originally broadcast November 19, 2002, on the UPN network, "Sleeper" marked episode 130 of the cult-favorite series. Pop musician Aimee Mann appears as herself, singing songs from her album Lost in Space on-stage at the Bronze during Spike's battle with the vampire he sired. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

A young man learns that love hurts (or at least it does if you're doing it right) in this saucy comedy from England. Henry Harding (Tom Bell) is a member of British Parliament and a self-styled moral crusader who is deeply disturbed by reports that Tanya Cheex (Guinevere Turner), a dominatrix from the U.S., has opened a night club for S&M enthusiasts in England. Harding is determined to put Cheex out of business, but first he needs to collect evidence of her activities, so Harding persuades Peter Emery (Christian Anholt) -- a young man with political ambitions, Christian principles, and his virginity intact -- to attend the club incognito and videotape the proceedings. To Peter's great surprise, he discovers that he rather likes a bit of spanking and leather fetishism, and he soon becomes quite infatuated with Tanya, making him all the less inclined to help shut down her club. Preaching to the Perverted presented Guinevere Turner in her first starring role after her breakthrough in the acclaimed independent feature Go Fish. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The immediate aftermath of the terrorist bombing on the World Trade Center provides the focus of this taut real-life drama. In addition to detailing the rescue efforts, it also centers on the victims, including schoolchildren on a field trip, trapped inside. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this murder mystery, the rumpled detective battles wits with a brilliant defense attorney who kills his mistress. Trouble ensues when he attempts to frame her lover for the murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Michael returns to the Knight coroporation to help them build a new KITT for the 21st century. Gunrunners and evil cops provide the first crime the new Kitt foils. ~ All Movie Guide

The title of this 2-hour Columbo entry is one of the most grievous puns ever perpetrated on the public. The "crown" in question is a gold one, placed in the murder victim's tooth by dentist James Read. Seeking redress against his wife's lover, Read has administered a slow-acting and untraceable poison in the victim's dental crown. Had not Columbo been assigned to the case, Read might have gotten away as clean as a hound's tooth (sorry!) Nancy Walker and Dick Sargent make cameo appearances in Uneasy Lies the Crown, which originally aired April 28, 1990 on ABC's Saturday Mystery Movie series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a senator from New Mexico, who was once a marshal, heads for London to find the one who killed his niece, a research scientist who had been looking into the activities of an international chemical company. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Island Sons stars real-life brothers Timothy, Joseph, Samuel and Benjamin Bottoms as fictional brothers named Tim, Joe, Sam and Ben (too bad there wasn't any Zeppo Bottoms). When their mogul father disappears in Hawaii in the aftermath of a scandal, the four brothers bury their own differences and head to the Islands. There they operate all of dad's neat stuff (his yacht, his limo, his hotel), while assistant DA Sam investigates the death in prison of his father's head bookkeeper. The boys get to the bottom of the scandal that ruined their father, and find more than they ever imagined. They don't, however, find enough to encourage a network and a sponsor to pick up Island Sons as a weekly TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Sinatra makes a rare TV dramatic performance in the role of retired NYPD detective sergeant Michael Doheny. Engaging the services of Magnum (Tom Selleck) to locate a missing person, Doheny neglects to tell the detective that he is seeking vengeance against the dirtbag who kidnapped and murdered his 7-year-old granddaughter during his retirement party. Once Magnum tumbles to what Doheny is up to, he races against time to prevent the embittered detective from becoming a murderer. The audience response to this episode was so overwhelmingly positive that a followup was planned for the following season: alas, this followup was never filmed due to scheduling conflicts, and thus "Laura" represents the very last acting assignment for Frank Sinatra in any medium. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of Magnum, P.I.'s two-part Season Seven opener (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Magnum is still in Los Angeles, still trying to solve the murder of comedienne Marti Jensen with the help of sexy entertainment lawyer Cynthia Farrell (Dana Delaney). Along the way, Magnum and Cynthia have fallen in love--and thus are both in the crosshairs of the well-connected drug cartel which ordered the murder. And back in Hawaii, teenage murder witness Kenny (Alfonso Ribeiro) continues to elude Magnum's friends, who are trying to prevent him from becoming the next victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stilling reeling from the suicide of Diane Dupres, Magnum is ill-prepared for the sudden reapparance of his old Navy friend Mac (Jeff MacKay)--especially since Mac had been killed two years earlier. Can this really be a return from the grave, or is Magnum losing his mind? As this question is being pondered, the viewer is treated to poignant highlights from the previous episodes "Echoes of the Mind", "Memories are Forever", "Did You See the Sunrise?" and "Distant Relative". Without giving away too much of the plot, it can be noted that this episode marks what may be the only instance in which a previous TV-series regular returns to the same series with the same character name--but as an entirely different character! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide