Steven Polivka Movies

The ad copy for the ABC medical drama MDs promised "doctors who'll bend any rule and take on the system." The series looked and sounded a lot like M*A*S*H, the difference being that it took place in peacetime, and in contemporary San Francisco. William Fichter and John Hannah essayed the Hawkeye and Trapper John counterparts, here named Dr. Bruce Kellerman and Dr. Robert Dalgety. Though chronically irreverent and taking special delight in bucking bureaucracy and red tape at every opportunity, the two protagonists also happened to be brilliant and dedicated surgeons, investing an emotional interest in virtually all their patients ("Come on, you're not gonna die on me today!"). In its efforts to sustain a staunchly anti-HMO stance, the series admittedly stacked the deck a bit by drawing virtually all of its authority figures in broad, almost caricatured strokes: For example, Kellerman and Dalgety's chief nemesis was Mission General Hospital's bean-counting new administrator Pangborn (Leslie Stefanson), who had previously managed a theme park and who fainted at the sight of blood. MDs premiered September 25, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While there had been a loosely-basted continuity during the previous five seasons of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys -- held together by the never-ending efforts of half-god, half-human Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and his mortal friend Iolaus (Michael Hurst) to right wrongs and champion noble causes throughout Ancient Greece and the Known World -- Season Five was dominated by a single, basic thought line: Hercules' struggle to find purpose and meaning in life after the death of Iolaus, a struggle that would take him to strange, uncharted lands and a veritable legion of new and fascinating characters. Yes, it's true: faithful Iolaus is killed in the first episode of the fifth season. This, however, did not mean that actor Michael Hurst had departed the series. Instead, Hurst showed up in a variety of different incarnations: The demonic Dahak (a character whom Hurst had introduced on Hercules' companion series Xena: Warrior Princess); the campy "drag" character, Widow Twankey; and Iolaus II, the cowardly, buffoonish "alternate" version of the original Iolaus, who dwells in the parallel world first seen in the fourth-season episode "Stranger in a Strange World." As luck would have it, Iolaus II ends up relocating in the "real" world, where, newly emboldened, he strives to live up to the reputation established by his dearly departed namesake -- at least until another remarkable plot twist at the very end of season five. Getting back to Hercules, the heartbroken superhero, accompanied by pirate queen-cum-Sumerian princess Nebula (Gina Torres) (a character introduced in one shot during season four) is brought back as Iolaus' grieving sweetheart, trying vainly to bring Iolaus back from the dead. When this fails, he turns his back on Ancient Greece and heads to goodness-knows-where. His first stop is on the island of Eire, where he confronts -- and reforms -- a surly Druidic demigod named Morrigan (Tamara Gorski). He then travels to Asgard, land of the Norse gods, where he manages to prevent the End of the World -- with a little help from the mighty Thor (Ben Reed).

It is then back to Sumeria, thence to Corinth, and finally the aforementioned parallel world, where Iolaus II becomes part of the weekly action. That character takes prominence in the season's penultimate story arc, wherein Iolaus II falls in love with Nautica (Andrea Dotchin), the mermaid daughter of ocean god Triton. Meanwhile, Hercules is unexpectedly reunited with his lost love Serena (played by Sam Sorbo, wife of series star Kevin Sorbo), who obviously wasn't quite as dead as she seemed back during season four. Though virtually each and every fifth-season episode picks up where the previous episode left off, there are a handful of amusing self-contained stories. In "Genies and Grecians and Greeks, Oh My," larcenous supporting characters Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) and Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) find themselves in possession of a magic lamp inhabited by a beautiful but klutzy genie. And "For Those of You Just Joining Us," like season four's Yes, Virginia, There is a Hercules," takes place in the present, focusing on another creative crisis plaguing the production staff of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. As before, the series' semi-regular actors are seen in modern costumes as the long-suffering producers, writers, and technicians, who this time are threatened with instant unemployment unless they come up with newer and better story ideas. And as before, star Kevin Sorbo shows up as himself -- in a manner of speaking. The fifth season of Hercules concludes with the spectre of Doomsday in the form of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. At the time, there were rumors that the series would be canceled, hence the ambiguity of much of the action in the climactic episode (especially regarding the "resuscitation" of poor Iolaus). Ultimately, however, Hercules was renewed for a sixth season -- albeit an astonishingly short one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season four of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys adheres to the basic premise of the previous three seasons: Half-god, half-human Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) continues to spread good will and good deeds throughout the known world, accompanied by his mortal friend Iolaus (Michael Hurst), aided and abetted by various and sundry gods, demigods, and humans and antagonized by an equivalent number of villains, chief among them the Queen of Gods, Hera (played this season by Meg Foster), who is still determined to destroy her stepson Hercules as a means of getting even with her husband (and Hercules' father) Zeus (Roy Dotrice). That said, the fourth season offers a number of entertaining diversions and digressions, beginning with the first episode, "Beanstalks and Bad Eggs," which incredibly but successfully transposes the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale to the milieu of Greek Mythology. Other episodes in this irreverent vein include "And Fancy Free," a musical spoof of the recent theatrical feature "Strictly Ballroom," in which series regular Michael Hurst, normally cast as the virile Iolaus, has a high old time in the "drag" role of dance instructor Widow Twankey (a character who would continue to show up in future installments); "Men in Pink," an outrageous parody of Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, focusing on the two larcenous recurring characters Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) and Autolycus (Bruce Campbell); and perhaps best of all, "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules," set in modern-day Hollywood, in which the production staff of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (played in mufti by several of the series' semi-regulars) frantically cast about for a replacement when their star Kevin Sorbo (playing himself, sort of) suddenly vanishes. The most spectacular digression from the series' "norm" is manifested in "Stranger in a Strange World," the first of several episodes set in a bizarre parallel dimension, wherein the personalities of the various Hercules characters are radically altered -- and not always for the better.

While it is pleasant to see the normally belligerent war god Ares (Kevin Smith) as a benignly sexy stud, for example, it is disturbing to witness Hercules "morph" into a despotic dictator known as The Sovereign. The cast's visits to this parallel universe would increase in subsequent episodes, with some fascinating interpolations and crossovers. A few new characters make their first appearances during this season, among them the appropriately named Discord (Meighan Desmond), troublesome handmaiden of the malevolent Ares, and Hercules' half-brother, Apollo (Scott Michaelsen), a source of envy and discomfort for Hercules vis-à-vis his tattered relationship with Zeus. Three of the "new" faces are, however, not all that new in the general scheme of things: a preponderance of flashback sequences during season four requires the presence of a trio of younger actors to play the earlier versions of Hercules, Hercules' stepfather Jason (portrayed as an "adult" by Jeffrey Thomas) and Iolaus. Season four ends with the death of Hercules' mortal mother,Alcmene (Liddy Holloway), and an invitation extended to Hercules from his father, Zeus, to become a "full immortal" and take his rightful place in Olympus. Curiously, this situation does not result in a cliffhanger, to be resolved at the beginning of Season Five, though Hercules' ultimate decision to retain his half-human status does make possible all that is to come in future episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season one of the weekly syndicated series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys picks up the action where the fifth of the Hercules TV movies, 1994's Hercules in the Maze of the Monsters, left off. Olympian goddess Hera is determined to wreak vengeance upon her husband, Zeus, king of the gods, for the outrageous act of impregnating the mortal Alceme (played during this season by Elizabeth Hawthorne) -- the result of this union being, of course, the mighty half-god, half-human Hercules (Kevin Sorbo). Hera's wrath is aimed specifically at Hercules, whom she punishes by murdering his wife and children. This tragedy causes a near-inseparable rift between Zeus and Hercules, with the latter renouncing his godly birthright and responsibilities and embarking upon his own campaign of destruction and devastation on Earth. Fortunately, Hercules sees the errors of his ways before it is too late, and together with his mortal friend Iolaus (Michael Hurst), he sets upon the first of many journeys to use his super-strength for good rather than evil throughout Greece and the known world. Though Hercules' main mission is to rescue the human race from the pettiness and casual cruelties of the less savory Gods, he also finds time to "reform" a number of Olympian deities, demigods, and monsters who have temporarily taken the wayward path, beginning with the misguided Cyclops.

It is during season one that Hercules meets for the first time Salmoneus (Robert Trebor), an itinerant salesman and erstwhile promoter whose many get-rich-quick schemes do far more harm than good, and whom our hero must periodically save from the consequences of his greed and foolish ambition. Additionally, the mighty muscleman experiences his first conflict with the redoubtable Ares (Kevin Smith), god of war, whose unsavory allegiances and fluctuating loyalties will continue to bedevil the series' "good guys" for the next five seasons. Hercules also has memorable encounters with his childhood sweetheart, the goddess of retribution Nemesis (Karen Witter) -- who, need it be added, more than lives up to her name -- and with gorgeous female blacksmith Atlanta (Cory Everson), a muscular blacksmith who develops a strong attraction to Hercules, the only man who could ever come up to her standards of strength and fortitude. By far, however, the more significant of Hercules' run-ins during this first season are those with the fearsome warrior princess Xena (Lucy Lawless). At first mortal enemies, Hercules and Xena gradually develop a begrudging respect for one another, and by the time the final episode of season one rolls around, Xena has seen the errors of her warlike ways and vows to emulate Hercules by performing good deeds for one and all -- and, hopefully, expunging all the wickedness she has perpetrated in the past. (This plot development proved to be an ideal segue into Lucy Lawless' own starring series, Xena: Warrior Princess.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the last of five made-for-TV movies starring Kevin Sorbo as legendary superhero Hercules, the title character has settled down in a peaceful existence as a farmer with his beloved mortal family. Though Hercules tries hard to teach his children nonviolence, his mighty strength must come back into play when a disgruntled Minotaur begins kidnapping the local citizenry. In his efforts to defeat the monster, Hercules is reunited with his old friends Iolaus (Michael Hurst) and Deianeira (Tawny Kitaen). It ultimately falls to Hercules' Olympian father, Zeus (Anthony Quinn), to prove that the misunderstood Minotaur is not so much a villain as a victim of low self esteem. Many of the action highlights are lifted from Sorbo's four previous Hercules films. Syndicated in the U.S. beginning in late November, 1994, Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur served as the pilot for the weekly series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jason Bateman stars in this sequel to Teen Wolf as the original's cousin, Todd. Though not a boxer, he receives a college boxing scholarship, and upon discovering that he is afflicted with the same werewolf genetics, transforms from unremarkable to unbelievable. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

This combination romance and wartime drama by Etienne Perier was unusual at the time it was released because it portrayed World War II in the Pacific from the perspective of Gwen Terasaki, a woman from the Southern U.S., married to a Japanese diplomat. Based on her autobiography, the interesting story relates how the couple left for Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and remained in Japan throughout the duration of the war. Their experiences and hardships during the war are detailed, as well as the tragedy that separated them once the war was over. Since the suffering of the ordinary Japanese citizen at this time and the racial undercurrents connected to the Pacific war are brought forward, the film stirred some controversy when it was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide