Richard Michaels Movies

Crafted in the mold of his classic play-cum-films Plaza Suite and California Suite, the legendary Neil Simon authors London Suite, a made-for-television movie that took its first bows in September 1996. As in the prior films, Simon presents a series of couplets that unfold in and around a single hotel, this one in the city of Big Ben and Westminster. Of the four sketches, the first stars Julie Hagerty (Lost in America) and Michael Richards (Seinfeld) as husband-and-wife Mark and Anne Ferris, who journey to Wimbledon for the matches, only to suffer gravely when they lose their tickets and Mark injures his back; matters go from difficult to unbearable when Mark takes a trip through comic hell at the hands of a sadistic chiropractor. Episode two features Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Weekend at Bernie's star Jonathan Silverman as Debra and Paul Dolby, honeymooners who lose track of their suitcases and then each other. In episode three, Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and Far From Heaven's Patricia Clarkson portray divorcees Sidney and Diana Nichols, who meet up in London town, where Diana hopes to promote her new television program and Sidney schemes to wheedle money out of his ex, to pass it along to his gay lover, Max. In the final segment, the late Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles) plays Sharon Semple, an American on a London shopping spree with her daughter, who meets and falls in love with Dennis Cummings, "The Snorting Scotsman," (Empty Nest's Richard Mulligan), only to contend with his penchant for Ferraris and his obnoxious laugh. London Suite is helmed by Jay Sandrich, veteran director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and Laverne and Shirley. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Based on the true story of Carolyn Sapp, a Miss America pageant winner, this is a behind-the-scenes look not only at the goings-on of the pageant but also at the abusive relationship between Ms. Sapp and her boyfriend which led her to request police protection from him. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

Mario Van Peebles stars as football play Ricky Bell in this made-for-TV biopic. The film touches upon Bell's gridiron accomplishments, then concentrates on the athlete's final years, when he falls victim to a terminal illness. As Bell's physical state deteriorates, he forges a strong friendship with a young handicapped man, played by Lane Davis. Their relationship provides courage and determination for both men, encouraging Davis to make the most of his life after Bell dies at age 29. Substituting bathos for pathos, Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story is not the Brian's Song it desperately wants to be. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a conniving reporter learns of a hostage crisis and uses the information to further a career in television news. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Stefanie Powers goes the wronged-wife route with Love and Betrayal. She is happily married to David Birney, and is also the blissful mother of two. Out of nowhere, her husband sues for divorce. He's found someone younger, and he's got all the legal pull to deny Ms. Powers such niceties as custody of the children and financial support. Hiss and boo if you wish. Made for TV, Love and Betrayal was buried in the ratings during its first telecast in April of 1989, by an unusually strong barrage of network competition--including a new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is a TV remake of the Cary Grant/Ingrid Bergman vehicle, in which a British actress begins an affair with an American diplomat. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

In this drama, a desperate young woman gets help from a hard-working, aggressive reporter when law enforcement agencies remain indifferent to the abduction of her son. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A 17-year-old boy (Chad Lowe) is killed in an automobile accident. As the facts begin to assert themselves, it appears that the boy actually took his own life. His mother (Mariette Hartley) and sister (Dana Hill) try to learn the truth, even as his father (Howard Hesseman) digs in his heels and refuses to face the possibility of a suicide. While this plot line is unravelling, the boy's best friend (Charlie Sheen) is tormented by the possibility that he could have prevented the tragedy. The emphasis in Silence of the Heart is the effect of suicide on the survivors rather than the victim, and the realization that one does not have to be "crazy" to end one's own existence. This made-for-TV movie was originally telecast October 30, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Louis Gossett Jr. was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat in this two-part made-for-TV biopic. With 4 hours at its disposal, Sadat is able to trace its protagonist from his formative years fighting against the British occupiers of his country. The second part of the film is devoted in great part to Sadat's peacemaking efforts, culminating with his tradition-breaking truce with Israel's Menachem Begin (Barry Morse) in 1978. Lionel Chetwynd's script tends to deal in sweeping generalizations and stock characters at times, but the performances of Gossett, Morse and John Rhys-Davies as Gamel Abdel Nassar fully flesh out the film's occasional superficialities. Syndicated as an Operation Prime Time special on October 31, 1983, Sadat was an unqualified hit--everywhere but Egypt, where the film was banned because of its actual and alleged distortions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is a baseball comedy with a twist. This time, the young player striving to make it big in the major leagues is a plucky, talented young woman who attends spring training camp. The team's wealthy owner is a male-chauvinist bachelor who finds himself attracted to the young second baseperson's personal manager and finds he must re-evaluate his gender bias. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Frederic Lehne stars as the real-life Tom Butterfield, a college student distressed by the plight of homeless children. He'd like to adopt a few of these kids, but Missouri law prohibits such a circumstance for an unmarried man. At great personal cost to himself both financially and emotionally, the 21-year-old Butterfield becomes the youngest single adult ever to be granted a foster-parent license, using this privilege to set up a Boy's Town-like home for unwanted youngsters. Lehne's costar is Michelle Pfeiffer, on the threshold of bigger things. Tom Butterfield, the subject of The Children Nobody Wanted, died less than a year after this TV movie's debut. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this family drama, a man whose wife has just left him is faced with caring for his children by himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Scared Straight! was a 1978 Oscar-winning documentary about the crime-deterring Juvenile Awareness Program set up by the Rahway (New Jersey) State Prison. In this program, incorrigible teenagers were escorted into the prison's maximum security facilities, where a team of "lifers," using the foulest language imaginable, bombarded the kids with threats and admonitions; the intention was to literally scare the young troublemakers "straight." When the documentary was shown on TV in November of 1978, it carried a disclaimer, warning the viewers that the language was uninhibited; a similar warning preceded the 1980 telecast of the made-for-TV Scared Straight: Another Story. The film followed the format of the earlier documentary, with a few exceptions. Another Story was a dramatization, which spent as much time exploring the backgrounds of the kids chosen for the program as it did behind prison walls. Also, Scared Straight: Another Story was twice as long as the original Scared Straight--and while that didn't make the film twice as good, it certainly was head and shoulders over most other TV movies of the 1979-80 season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi