Jerry London Movies

A summit meeting between the American president and the Chinese premier, held in secret on the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 somewhere on the high seas, is rudely interrupted when the ship is hijacked by Taiwanese extremists. Fully prepared to nuke the vessel and spark a world war to get the point across, the terrorists cannot be stopped by traditional peacekeeping methods. It is up to a pair of long-estranged brothers, ATF agent Vince Kellogg (Joe Lando) and Secret Service operative Thomas Kellogg (Rob Estes), to secretly parachute onto the deck of the QE2 and save the world from annihilation -- with a little help from the ship's plucky (and drop-dead gorgeous) security head, Brittany Cooper (Rachel Blakely). Also appearing are Marie Matiko as Maggie Chang, a terrorist posing as a martial arts movie star, and Christopher Lawford, son of actor and former J.F.K. intimate Peter Lawford, ironically cast as the American vice president. Originally filmed as Attack on the Queen (the title of the novel on which it was based), Counterstrike first aired March 2, 2003, on the TBS superstation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this most recent spin on a familiar suspense-movie plot device, the 6-year-old son of wealthy Seattle industrialist Dan Carlin (Stephen Elliott) is kidnapped by a disgruntled ex-employee. Innocently unaware of his plight, the captive boy is locked in a room with his toy teddy bear, which has been booby-trapped with a time bomb. Tension mounts when the kidnapper is accidentally killed, leaving Carlin and a dedicated police detective (Karen Sillas) with less than 24 hours to locate both boy and bomb. As Time Runs Out made its CBS network debut on October 5, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Directed by Jerry London (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Partridge Family), this documentary takes a fond and nostalgic look at the history of the "People's Car," one of the most durable and popular automobiles in history. First created in 1938 Germany, the post-World War II Volkswagen Beetle was officially named KdF-wagen. The initials "Kdf" stood for the town where it was built, Kraft durch Freude, German for strength through joy. In 1949, Volkswagen introduced a special export model of the Beetle. The car was introduced to the world and its popularity grew impressively. Over the years, a number of modifications were made, but the overall shape and appearance of the car remained the same. It became popular in owner-modified versions as a dune buggy and off-road vehicle. The 1969 Disney comedy movie The Love Bug featured the car as a sentient character named Herbie. On January 19, 1978, the last of the German-built Beetles rolled of the assembly line in Emden. ~ Steve Blackburn, Rovi

If there is any doubt that this made-for-TV movie is the authorized biography of singer Barbara Mandrell, the fact that the singer plays "herself" in the wraparound sequences should settle all bets. Otherwise, former Brady Bunch regular Maureen McCormick is seen as Barbara, whose life is chronicled from her early years as a musical prodigy (she played the accordion) to her first blush of TV stardom in the company of her sisters Irlene (played by Mandrell's real-life daughter Jaime Dudney) and Louise (Portia Dawson), moving ever forward to her solo superstardom and climaxing with her near-fatal 1984 car accident. The remainder of the drama details Barbara's spectacular post-crash comeback, which involved not only intense physical rehabilitation but also extensive spiritual therapy. Also showing up as themselves are Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Coproduced by Mandrell's husband Ken Dudney (herein played by Greg Kean, Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story made its CBS network bow on September 28, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The recent death of his wife is just one of several blows endured by big-city surgeon Michael (Robert Hays), who has lost confidence in his skills and his been going through the motions only for the sake of his daughter Jilly (Ashley Gorrell). Summoned by his crusty dad Bob (Jack Palance) to come back to his home town for the first time in 20 years, Michael finds out that he is expected to take over the local hospital. None too keen on the prospect, Michael changes his mind when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, local veterinarian Sarah (Ann Jillian), who in the absence of anyone else is the hospital's only full time physician. As Michael weighs his future options--can he really go home again, or has he become too jaded by life in the city?--foxy Bob conspires with Jilly to bring Michael and Sarah back together again. First telecast on the CBS network, the made-for-TV I'll Be Home for Christmas originally aired December 23, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rising business executive Jake Peterson (Tim Matheson) is given a make-or-break assignment when he is sent to a small town for the purpose of severely downsizing the local tractor factory. Upon his arrival, Jake is mistaken by the townsfolk as the man sent to save rather than destroy their community, and is treated as such, much to his discomfort. Making his task even more difficult is Jake's blossoming romance with factory employee Emma Murphy (Melissa Gilbert), whose daughter Noelle (Michelle Trachtenberg) regards our hero as Santa Claus Incarnate. Made for the CBS TV network (and filmed under the title A Holiday for Love, Christmas in My Hometown premiered December 10, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though not quite as bad as it might have been, the 1994 "reunion" TV-movie I Spy Returns was some distance removed from great. Written by Michael Norell, this two-hour film is set some 25 years after the conclusion of the original I Spy weekly series. Former secret agent Alexander "Scotty" Scott (Bill Cosby), now a romance-language professor at a tweedy California college, is aghast to learn that his feisty daughter Nicole (Salli Richardson) has signed up as a spy with Special Services. Making a beeline to the organization's director Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp), who'd once been his partner in the espionage business, Scotty demands that Nicole be bounced from the program. Kelly merely chuckles and replies that the girl couldn't be in safer hands: Her partner is the organization's most gifted and resourceful young agent-Kelly's own son Ben (George Newbern). Realizing that he will never be able to win an argument with his old pal Kelly, Scotty agrees to join Robinson in surreptitiously supervising Nicole and Ben as they head to Vienna to tackle their first assignment: Providing protection for defecting Russian scientist Cherbakov (Nikalous Parlya) and his wife (Lynsey Baxter). When they discover that their former adversary Baroodi (Jonathan Hyde) is also in Vienna, Kelly and Scotty take an active hand in matters-and the results are, if not hilarious, certainly diverting. The film's high points include the lengthy "bickering banter" exchanges between old pros Culp and Cosby. I Spy Returns originally aired as a "CBS Movie Special" on February 3, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dick Van Dyke stars as a doctor-turned-detective in this made-for-television medical thriller. Van Dyke stars as Dr. Mark Sloan, the ring leader of a small group of doctors who investigate the death of a U.S. Senator (David Richards) during surgery. Sloan has his own interest in finding out the cause of death -- his ex-lover (Suzanne Pleshette) is the prominent heart surgeon who was at the helm. Unfortunately though, Dr. Sloan gets more than he bargained for and stumbles onto a plot of revenge and murder. This two-hour movie was one of several which introduced viewers to Van Dyke's character and led to the popular TV-series Diagnosis Murder. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) faces the breakup of her adopted family when Ethan Cooper (Ben Murphy), father of Matthew (Chad Allen), Colleen (Erika Flores), and Brian (Shawn Toovey), shows up in Colorado Springs. Promising not to desert the kids again, Ethan fills their heads with fanciful stories of a wonderful future in San Francisco -- and the youngsters are inclined to believe him and bid Dr. Mike farewell. Elsewhere, Sully (Joe Lando) finally learns how to ride a horse...sort of. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This fact-based drama follows the flight of a Milwaukee woman wrongly convicted for murdering her husband's ex-wife. Hoping to have a chance for a re-trial she escapes from prison and heads for Canada. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In the made-for-television thriller Victim of Love, a psychologist (JoBeth Williams) falls in love with a widowed professor (Pierce Brosnan), who happens to also be having an affair with one of her patients (Virginia Madsen). When Williams discovers that Brosnan is not only the man responsible for her patient's emotional turmoil, but also that he murdered his wife in order to be with Madsen, the therapist is thrown into a world of danger. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Whoopi Goldberg stars in this TV movie as a single mother who begins paying the bills by hustling pool at a local billiards hall. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

This two-part TV movie, produced in Australia, was based on the tragically true story of an Australian teenager (John Polson) condemned to death for dealing in drugs in Malaysia. Part One set up the circumstances which landed Polson and his friend Hugo Weaving on Malaysia's death row. In Part Two, Polson's mother, played by Julie Christie, races desperately against time to save her son from the gallows. She enlists the support of the Queen of England, the Pope, and a large international organization of concerned citizens--but the Malaysian government remains unmoved. Evocatively filmed in Macao, Dadah Is Death had the bad luck to premiere on American TV opposite the highly rated miniseries Favorite Son. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi