Gail Parent Movies

Two of the Disney Channel's brightest young sitcom stars, Hilary Duff (Lizzie Maguire) and Christy Romano (Even Stevens), team up for laughs and tears in the made-for-cable Cadet Kelly. The life of cool, artistically inclined 14-year-old Kelly Collins (Duff) is turned upside down when she is uprooted from Manhattan and whisked off to the campus of George Washington Military School in upstate New York. The move was instigated by Sir (Gary Cole), a retired general and the new husband of Kelly's mother. Hoping to impress her stepfather, Kelly enlists in the school, where her freewheeling eccentricities immediately run afoul of her hard-hearted, 17-year-old squad leader, Jennifer Stone (Romano). Though Kelly does her best, the pressure brought to bear upon her by military protocol is enough to have her contemplating desertion -- and even her growing fondness for upper classman, Brad (Shawn Ashmore), may not be enough to bring her back. Originally broadcast by the Disney Channel on March 8, 2002, Cadet Kelly made its ABC network debut on July 14, 2002, as an episode of the weekend "Wonderful World of Disney" anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast by HBO from January 18 to May 28, 1997, season two of Tracey Takes On... finds the multi-talented Tracey Ullman utilizing scores of comic characterizations to poke satiric jabs at 15 different topics. Episode titles this season include "Sex," "Fantasy," "Mothers," "Las Vegas," "Secrets," "Childhood," "1976," "Food," "Crime," "Movies," "Money," "Race Relations," "Supernatural," "Politics," and "Music." Among Ullman's hilarious "other selves" in the course of the 15 episodes are the perennial virgin Hope, the trash-talking Hollywood makeup artist Ruby, mother-dominated bank clerk Kay, barracuda-like Beverly Hills lawyer Sydney, fiftysomething suburban Jewish matron Fern, over-the-hill nightclub entertainer Linda, and high-strung magazine editor Janie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dying of leukemia, Phil is given only one more month to live, so he gathers together his two childhood friends and travels to California where he intends to audition for a television trivia game show. While on their road trip, they encounter various situations and meet a middle-aged woman with a free spirit who decides to join them. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Martin Short and Annette O'Toole star in this comedy documenting a date from hell. Short is David, a sunglasses salesman, who makes a date with Kathy (Annette O'Toole) in order to celebrate his new promotion. David and Kathy have gone out a few times before, but they both think that this is the date that will put both of them over the top, convinced that they have finally found the right person. With anxiety in their hearts, they both prepare anxiously for the date. But there is trouble on the horizon. Before heading out on the date, David discovers that instead of getting a promotion, he has been fired. Afraid that Kathy will think that he is loser, he doesn't tell her that he lost his job. He has also borrowed the car and the apartment of his friend Bruce (Paul Reiser) for the date, permitting her to think that they all belong to him. But Kathy hasn't been entirely truthful to David either. For example, she has conveniently forgotten to tell him about the existence of her seven-year-old daughter. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Sheila (Jeannie Berlin) is not one of life's golden people: she's not especially good-looking, charming, charismatic, or smart. As a result, she has to struggle constantly. For some reason, she decides to move from the suburbs to New York City. Now she has a roommate (Rebecca Dianna Smith), a job with a record company, and a self-imposed obligation to try to meet some men. One night she goes out to a singles bar and meets Sam (Roy Scheider), a nice-looking doctor. They have what is for him a one-night stand, but Sheila is smitten. She hasn't had all that much luck with men, and this one she would like to keep. Embarrassed, Sam tries as gently as he can to ignore her. This becomes much more difficult when he starts dating Sheila's personable roommate. The screenplay for this gentle comedy was adapted by Gail Parent from her best-selling book of the same name. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Would-be playwright Murray (Gavin MacLeod) has completed his autobiographical masterpiece, All Work and No Play. The good news is that the play is going to be produced. The bad news is that the production deal was cinched by Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) -- which of course means that Ted will be playing the leading role. It is up to Ted's reluctant co-star, Mary (Mary Tyler Moore), to make lemonade out of this particular lemon. "We Closed in Minneapolis" was originally telecast on January 30, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide