Stephen J. Cannell Movies

Based on the life and career of Tony Schembri, police chief of Rye, NY, the weekly, hour-long ABC crime series The Commish starred Michael Chiklis as Tony Scali, police commissioner of the fictional New York community of Eastbridge. Although dedicated to his job and extremely tough on perpetrators, Tony often took an unorthodox approach to police methods, and he was often known to be quite a jovial fellow amongst his co-workers. Tony also enjoyed his "down time," especially with his wife, Rachel (Theresa Saldana), son David (Kaj-Erik Eriksen), and infant daughter Sarah (played by twins Dayna and Justine Cornborough), who was born at the end of the series' first season. Anoher member of the Scali household -- at least during the show's first year or so on the air -- was Tony's cheerfully indolent brother-in-law, Arnie Metzger (David Paymer). Back on the job, Tony's associates included three different Chief of Detectives: Irv Wallerstein (Alex Bruhanski), Paulie Pentangeli (John Cygan), and Cyd Madison (Melinda McGraw). Among the other crew members were officer Stan Kelly (Geoffrey Nauffts), who is killed by a car bombing at the end of season three, patrol car officer Ricky Caruso (Nicholas Lea) and his partner officer Carmela Pagan (Gina Belafonte), officers Jonathan Papdakis (Ray Scrivano), Gordy Tuefel (Michael Patten), and Mike Rose (Pat Bermel) and detectives Lopez (Jason Scott Schombing) and Hibbs (Ian Tracey). Another fine product from Stephen J. Cannell's production firm, The Commish was filmed in its entirety in Vancouver, despite its distinctively "New Yawk" setting and attitude. The series lasted four full season, plus a limited run of four "movie specials" in 1995. ~ Rovi

This hip-hop comedy stars Mario Van Peebles as rapper Chilly D, who becomes possessed by the spirit of outrageous fashion designer Yves Malmaison (Richard Fancy). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Season Six of the cop drama Hunter gets under way with "On Air", with LAPD detective Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) and Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) protecting a radio talk host (guest star Erin Gray from a homicidal fan. Hunter and McCall's mercurial superior officer Captain Devane (Charles Hallahan) is center of attention in the subsequent episode "Shalalagh", as he romances a woman (Fiannula Flanagan) who is related to a notorious IRA activist (Nicholas Guest). Also on the schedule this season is "A Girl Named Hunter"--said girl being an infant, named for our hero by a woman who is being terrorized by an illegal adoption agency; "Lullaby", in which Hunter joins forces with Scotland Yard to trap a modern-day Jack the Ripper who kills to the tune of "Brahm's Lullaby" (this one features an early appearance by Gary Sinise); and most movingly, "Yesterday's Child", in which an Asian murder suspect (Joon B. Kim) turns out to be the son Hunter never knew he had. Likewise worth noting is the episode "The Nightmare", if only because its director was former Hunter regular James Whitmore Jr. The season's requisite two-part episodes include "The Legion", wherein Hunter matches wits with a white supremacist who will stop at nothing to spring his brother from prison; and the season finale "Street Wise", wherein a rekindled romance with an old flame (Robert Connor Newman) leads Hunter's partner Dee Dee to make a fateful decision. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season Four of the cop drama Hunter brings back Fred Dryer as unorthodox LAPD homicide cop Rick Hunter, Stepfanie Kramer as his partner (and, it is hinted, his lover) Dee Dee McCall, and Charles Hallahan--promoted to star billing this year--as their bombastic superior Captain Devane. Among the season's best episodes are the opener "Playing God", wherein the discovery that a recently deceased pillar of society may have had mob connections nearly prompts Hunter and Dee Dee to quit the force in disgust; "Allegra", in which a woman from Hunter's past is the victim of a spectacular murder; "Black Dahlia", a speculative reopening of the infamous unsolved murder case of the 1940s, featuring such venerable character actors as Jeanette Nolan and Lawrence Tierney); "Fourth Man", in which Hunter is again suspected of being a "dirty cop" when an old drug-bust case comes back to haunt him; and a rare light-hearted episode, "Murder He Wrote", a parody of you-know-what series with Marge Redmond as "Jessica Fletcher" clone Jennifer Brasher and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as the archetypal "murder victim who needs killing." The season also serves up a brace of intriguing multipart episodes. In the two-parter "Naked Justice", Hunter tries to ascertain the link between a murdered movie star and a mysterious street person. And in the three-part "City of Passion", adapted from a novel by Dallas Barnes, Hunter and McCall explore the possibility that a serial killer is tied in with a Satanic cult. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The fifth and final season of The A-Team opens with a three-part story, as an injured Hannibal (George Peppard) is captured by the mysterious General Hunt Stockwell (Robert Vaughn). Threatening to put Hannibal on trial for his life if his demands aren't met, Stockwell orders the A-Team to rescue a group of hijacked hostages in Spain. Among those hostages is movie special-effects expert "Dishpan" Frankie Sanchez (Eddie Velez), who was responsible for the on-set "accident" which allowed Hannibal to fall into Stockwell's hands, and Vietnam veteran Josh Curtis (Sandy McPeak), the only person able to confirm that the A-Team had been ordered to rob a bank in Hanoi during the war, and thus were unfairly sentenced to prison. Unfortunately, one of these two worthies will end up stabbing the Team in the back! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Acting as talent scout for the Floorem, a tough country-western bar in Dry Creek, Arizona, Face (Dirk Benedict) books what he thinks he is a C&W singer named Cowboy George. Imagine Face's shock and awe when he discovers that he's engaged the services of androgynous rock star Boy George, who shows up at the Floorem with the rest of Culture Club in tow! The presence of Boy George complicates the plans of the club's crooked owner Danforth (L.Q. Jones), who intends to steal the club's payroll during an upcoming concert. In their efforts to foil the robbery, the A-Team must not only escape from jail, but also avoid a few disgruntled patrons who aren't exactly Boy George fans (And how did The Lennon Sisters get mixed up in all this?) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama a veteran cop takes in a problematic adolescent who might have seen several policemen murdered. The old cop sees his action as a way of regaining his self-respect. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Heavily disguised for a new assignment, Hannibal (George Peppard) is mistaken for a skid-row wino named Jim Beam (Elisha Cook Jr.)--and vice versa. It soon becomes obvious that someone is trying to murder Beam. . .but why? To solve this mystery, and to rescue Hannibal in the process, the A-Team sets up a skid-row mission called the Road to Hope, with Murdock (Dwight Schultz) tearing a passion to tatters as street preacher Harry Dean Hanover (when he isn't trying to pass himself off as the Invisible Man, that is!). Look for future X-Files regular Mitch Pileggi in a small role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In order to bring loan shark Jack "The Ripper" Lane (Wings Hauser) out in the open, the A-Team opens its own Irish pub, The Naked Lady. Disguised as pub owner Sean O'Shay, Hannibal (George Peppard) is apparently killed on orders from Lane, but it's actually a clever ploy to get inside the head villain's mansion (who'd suspect a corpse in a coffin?). Featured as the traditionally imperiled heroine is a pre-Northern Exposure Janine Turner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having played to dismal ratings during its first season, the NBC cop drama Hunter increased its viewership dramatically during Season Two, thanks to several corporate and creative decisions. To begin with, the network removed the series from its "suicide" slot opposite CBS' Dallas and into a slightly more appealing Saturday night berth, where its principal competition was the fading The Love Boat. Also, Roy Huggins was brought in as the new producer, whereupon he immediately set about to broaden Hunter's appeal by softening the characters and changing the basic locale. The fact that LAPD homicide detective Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) was the son of a gangster was allowed to fade into obscurity before disappearing completely, while Hunter's previously impervious partner Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) was less the "brass cupcake" she'd been in Season One and more of a sensitive, compassionate human being. It was further hinted that the relationship between Hunter and Dee Dee went far beyond a professional one. Additiionally, Huggins moved the two partners off the mean streets of downtown LA and into a more refined "uptown" setting. Replacing Captain Dolan as Hunter's dyspeptic superior officer this season is Bruce Davison as Captain Wyler, less irascible and vindictive than Dolan but not much more sympathetic to Hunter's unorthodox police methods. Also added to the cast are John Shearin as Lt. Ambrose Finn, whose later death in the line of duty would allow Hunter to demonstrate the more sentimental side of his personality,and Garrett Morris as Arnold "Sporty" James, bombastic street hustler and informant. In the season opener "Case X", directed by onetime Starsky and Hutch star David Soul, Hunter searches for the serial killer of female porn stars. Later episodes include "The Biggest Man in Town", in which Hunter and Dee head to a resort community run by a man who may be a big-time criminal; "Rich Girl", wherein a guilt-ridden Hunter seeks out the actual perpetrator of a crime for which a suicidal young woman was wrongly accused; "Killer in a Halloween Mask", taking place on the set of a Hunter-like TV series for which Hunter and Dee Dee serve as technical advisors; "Fagin 1986", in which our hero mercilessly targets another corruptor of youth; "The Set-Up", bringing Hunter in contact with the "untouchable" international criminal who may have caused the death of his former partner; and "The Return of Typhoon Thompson", clearly inspired by the story of boxer "Hurricane" Carter and starring Isaac Hayes in the title role. The most memorable of the season's offerings is the two-part "Rape and Revenge", with Hunter declaring a vendetta against the South American man who raped Dee Dee, then managed to escape prosecution by declaring diplomatic immunity. Only slightly less fascinating is another two-parter, "The Beautiful and the Dead", in which the murder of a gorgeous girl in a seedy motel plunges Hunter into a complex espionage yarn involving both Federal and Russian secret agents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Police Commissioner Larry Crenshaw (William Windom) is the primary suspect when his wife Connie (Rosemary Thomas) is murdered. This places Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) in a ticklish situation: they are ordered to investigate the one man who most desires to see them thrown off the force--and they must save his hide if he turns out to be innocent. Before the inevitable slam-bang finale, the viewer is treated to an abundance of unexpected plot twists, most of them involving a disreputable private eye (Ray Girardin) and a deceptively charming tennis player (Sam Jones). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi