Lee Rich Movies

Set in a city hospital, this film is essentially a whodunit -- with the resident pathologist investigating -- but was quite probably intended as a pilot for a possible series, so it plays more like a murderous version of E.R. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

"Who shot J.R.?" Those were the words on the lips of Dallas fans throughout the world as the popular prime-time serial launched its fourth season on CBS. Speculation ran high over the identity of the person who, at the tail end of season three, had pumped several slugs in the chest of the sublimely unprincipled Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). It was one of the best-kept secrets in the annals of popular entertainment; indeed, not even the cast members knew "who dun it" (to cover their bets, the producers filmed scenes of every member of the cast pulling the trigger -- including Larry Hagman). During the fifth episode of the season, which became the second highest-rated show in TV history, the culprit is exposed -- and it is giving nothing away at this late date to reveal that J.R.'s would-be assassin was his cast-off mistress Kristin (Mary Crosby), younger sister of his own wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gary). Upon his recovery, J.R. resumes his power struggle with younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy), who in J.R.'s absence has assumed control of Ewing Oil. Almost immediately upon returning to his office, J.R. hires sharkish PR agent Leslie Stewart (Susan Flannery) to promote his "new" image as "The All-American Businessman" -- even as he tries to undermine his own country's foreign affairs by engineering a political coup in a faraway country in order to increase his wealth!

Meanwhile, Sue Ellen's lover, Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), urges her to leave J.R. and take her son, John Ross (now played by Tyler Banks) with her. After numerous dead-end love affairs, J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) decides to marry Mitch Cooper (Leigh McCloskey), a poor medical student who is troubled by the Ewing's affluence; J.R. doesn't think much of Mitch, but he develops a hankerin' for his sister, Afton (Audrey Landers), a professional singer. And in one of the season's most momentous developments, Southfork manager Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) is revealed to be the illegitimate song of J.R. and Bobby's dad, Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) -- whereupon Ray further increases his influence in the community by wedding the politically powerful Donna Culver (Susan Howard). In an effort to whip up audience interest in the same manner as the previous season's cliffhanger, season four of Dallas closes as attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), sworn enemy of J.R. Ewing, finds the body of a woman floating in the Ewings' swimming pool. Even if this contrivance hadn't occurred, CBS had no fear that Dallas would lose its audience; as of the end of its fourth season, the series was America's top-rated series -- the first dramatic program to pull off this coup since Marcus Welby, M.D. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a policeman quits the force to investigate the death of his partner independently. He is assisted by a pretty young woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ever anxious to enter the "nighttime serial" market engendered by Dallas, NBC commissioned Flamingo Road, a casual remake of the 1949 Joan Crawford film of the same name. The TV-movie pilot, which aired in May of 1980, introduces the dramatiis personae. Howard Duff plays the corrupt political boss of a small Florida town (a role originated by Sidney Greenstreet in 1949). Cristina Raines is the Crawford counterpart, a faded nightclub singer who wanders into Duff's town and upsets the political and social apple cart by shacking up with a local contract (John Beck). Duff tries to destroy Raines by dredging up her past, to no avail. When Flamingo Road became a series in 1981, it manage to hang by its fingertips in the ratings for eighteen months. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steadily building up its viewership during its first few seasons, Dallas certainly gives its fans their money's worth during season three, which begins as the newborn son of the delightfully demonic oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and his wife, Sue Ellen (Victoria Principal), is kidnapped. Though this crisis is soon resolved, it is clear that the J.R.-Sue Ellen marriage is in big trouble, mainly because J.R. thinks that the baby's real father is his sworn enemy, attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). In other developments, Mary Crosby makes her first appearance as Sue Ellen's younger sister Kristin Shepard, with whom J.R. has an affair. While cheerfully manipulating Asian politics in order to control more overseas oil fields, J.R. still finds time to continue trying to sabotage the marriage between his younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Bobby's wife (and Cliff Barnes' sister), Pamela (Victoria Principal). In the same spirit of bad will, lawyer Alan Beam (Randolph Powell) is hired to dig up enough dirt on J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) so that she will be forced to leave the family's Southfork estate -- but Alan ends up proposing to Lucy, the better to get his mitts into the Ewing fortune. Elsewhere, Sue Ellen has a romantic fling with rodeo rider Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), the son of a wealthy Texan. The affair between Southfork's secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), and influential socialite Donna Culver (Susan Howard) intensifies. And J.R. and Bobby's mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), is diagnosed with breast cancer. The season concludes with one of the most famous "cliffhangers" in TV history, as the wheeling-dealing J.R., hanging around his office after working hours, is shot down and left for dead by an unseen assailant! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

David Dukes stars as a marriage-bound young man who is rendered a paraplegic by a surfing accident. Dukes fears that his paralysis has resulted in impotence. His future wife Andrea Marcovicci is similarly fearful. Without the help of counselors or physical therapists, the unmarried couple manages to overcome the young man's sexual dilemma. Are you still sure you want to see this TV movie? Some Kind of Miracle was based on some kind of an autobiography by Mary and Jack Willis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the once-notorious trilogy of novels by James T. Farrell, the three-part miniseres Studs Lonigan isn't quite as earthy and explicit as its source, but is lot more faithful to the original than the 1960 film version. Set in Chicago and covering the years from 1916 to 1931, this is the story of a brawling, braggadocio young Irish-American lad named Studs Lonigan (played as a child by Dan Shor, and as an adult by Harry Hamlin in his first major TV role). Despite his rough veneer, Studs is sensitive and concerned about his future, though he doesn't want to follow the values set forth by his tradition-bound parents (Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst). Hanging around with his childhood buddies, Studs gets into all sorts of scrapes and becomes involved with a number of women, notably the decent, demure Catherine (Diana Scarwid) and the lusty, libidinous Lucy (Lisa Pelikan). Though he grows in age and size, Studs has trouble maturing emotionally, surrounded by the pressures of a rough, prejudice-ridden neighborhood and the increasing hooliganism of his cronies. As the Depression crashes heavily upon the scene, Studs finds himself "trapped" in the very sort of middle-class quagmire that he'd always hoped to avoid. Earning an Emmy Award for art/set direction, the 6-hour Studs Lonigan originally aired March 7, 14 and 21, 1979, as part of NBC's Novels for Television anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stephanie Zimbalist stars as the brilliant, athletic teen-aged daughter of Cloris Leachman and Michael Connors. Stephanie's perfect world is shattered when she is caught in the middle of a bus-train collision. She survives, but suffers severe brain damage and the loss of a leg. Zimbalist must make the "long journey back" to recovering her health and self-esteem, with her parents and friends helping every step of the way. Originally telecast December 15, 1978, Long Journey Back was adapted for television by Audrey Davis Levin from a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having proven itself as a viewer magnet during its five-episode trial in the spring of 1978, the multi-plotted prime-time serial Dallas launched its second season (and its first "full" one) in the fall of that same year, though it would not be until the series was moved from Saturday to Friday night that it would begin its rapid upward climb in the ratings. Already established as the series' antihero is the charming but thoroughly untrustworthy J.R. Ewing, eldest son of Texas oil millionaire Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) and his wife, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes). Throughout the second season, J.R. carries on a two-pronged battle, not only feuding with the politically ambitious Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), the son of Jock's hated rival Digger Barnes (played briefly by David Wayne before the role is taken over by Keenan Wynn), but also engaging in a fierce power struggle over control of Ewing Oil with his honest younger brother, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) -- who happens to be married to Cliff's sister, Pam (Victoria Principal). This season marks the first appearance by J.R. and Bobby's other brother, Gary, played in the first three episodes of the year by David Ackroyd, who would be replaced by Ted Shackelford when it was decided to spin Gary and his wife, Valene (Joan Van Ark), into their own series, Knots Landing.

Perceiving Gary as a threat, J.R. connives to get Gary's daughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) to move out of the family mansion, Southfork; however, many of his schemes come a cropper, such as his plan to marry off Lucy to millionaire Kit Mainwaring (Mark Wheeler) -- who turns out to be gay. J.R. also does his best to undermine Bobby by trying to break up his marriage to Pamela. This may not be too difficult, inasmuch as Bobby is considerably put out when he discovers that Pam was married before, to Vietnam veteran Ed Haynes (Robin Clarke). Meanwhile, J.R.'s troubled wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), worried that Pam will bear a child before she will, embarks upon a "conception race" with her sister-in-law. Also, the viewer is introduced to Pam's mother, Patricia (Martha Scott), and her younger sister Kristin, played in two episodes this season by Colleen Camp (the role would be taken over on a permanent basis by Mary Crosby in season three). Almost immediately upon arrival, Kristin makes a play for Bobby -- which of course delights the devious J.R. In other developments, Morgan Fairchild makes her one and only appearance as Bobby's old flame Jenna Wade, a role that would ultimately be played, as a "regular," by Priscilla Presley. Miss Ellie faces a crisis when her presumed-dead brother, Garrison (Gene Evans), shows up, insisting that he is rightful owner of Southfork; Susan Howard is introduced as the politically well-connected Donna Culver, who proceeds to cheat on her husband with Southfork's sullen and secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly); and after facing political ruin at the hands of J.R., Cliff Barnes steps up his vendetta against the "man you love to hate." As the season rushes to a close, a pregnant Sue Ellen is rushed to the hospital to bear a son, John Ross Ewing III -- but J.R., who doesn't trust his wife any farther than he can throw her (he's already tried to have her locked away in a sanitarium), is convinced that his rival Cliff is the baby's father! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Max (Robert Morley) is a wealthy, world-class conoisseur of fine food, who cannot stop himself from eating when the food is first-class. His doctor has given him stern warnings that he must lose over one hundred pounds, or he will die of heart failure. The presence of so many four-star chefs in Europe is a hazard for him. When many of these same chefs are found murdered in inventive ways, each related to the chef's specialty, it begins to appear that Max is the prime suspect in their deaths. Meanwhile, the ex-wife (Jaqueline Bisset) of a fast-food tycoon (George Segal) has earned the right to cook the dessert course at a dinner billed as "the world's most fabulous meal." Despite their profound disagreements, he is worried that she will be one of the murderer's victims.This film, which was loved by some critics and hated by others, is based on the best-selling novel Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan and Ivan Lyons. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV thriller, a group of tourists aboard a cruise ship must be quarantined after they become afflicted with a lethal virus. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Acknowledging the death of series regular Diana Hyland during the previous season of Eight is Enough, Season Two opens with Sacramento columnist Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten) being identified as a widower, whose wife Joan has been deceased for nearly one year. While this time passage makes it respectable for Tom to re-enter the dating scene, it does not explain the fact that his eight children have only aged a few months since last we saw them at the end of Season One! But Tom does not remain unattached for long. In the season's second episode, Betty Buckley joins the cast as Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott, a widowed teacher hired to tutor Tom's son Tommy (Willie Aames) while the boy is healing from a sports injury (in the same episode, daughter Mary [Lani O'Grady] defiantly moves out of the Bradford home to set up housekeeping with her boyfriend, played by no less than Don Johnson). The subsequent romance between Tom and Abby leads swiftly to the altar, as they become man and wife in the two-hour episode "Children of the Room", originally telecast November 9, 1977 (which is the same day that they wed in the context of the episode!) The following week, the entire family honeymoons in Hawaii, where the younger Bradfords characteristically stir up as much trouble as possible. Later on, an emotional high point is reached when the children celebrate their first Christmas without their "real" mom. In other episodes, daughter Joannie (Laurie Walters) precipitates a crisis when she agrees to appear nude in a stage play; Mary despairs when she is rejected from medical school; Tom is strongarmed into writing a newspaper advice column as "Ms. Dinah"; Tommy (Willie Aames) resorts to cheating in order to pass his English class; and when Abby suffers a serious concussion, the kids keep her awake until the doctor comes by describing highlights from past episodes (yes, it's a "clip show"). The season finale "Who's on First" takes place during a community talent show, permitting Broadway veteran Betty Buckley to show off her spending singing voice (no, she doesn't sing her signature tune from "Cats", mainly because it hadn't been written yet). Guest stars during Season Two include Sylvia Sidney, Robin Williams, Will Geer, Danny Bonaduce, Stepfanie Kramer, and Dick Van Patten's own sons Jimmy and Timmy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling Vincent Bugliosi book of the same name, Helter Skelter is a made-for-TV account of the investigation and prosecution of Charles Manson (Steve Railsback), who was convicted of leading a group of followers (known as "The Family") to murder seven people in California, including actress Sharon Tate. The film takes a Law & Order-like approach, starting with the discovery of the murders, which leads to the police gathering snippets of evidence that they eventually connect to the bigger picture. The second half of the movie concentrates on how District Attorney Bugliosi (George DiCenzo) attains a conviction despite the enormous amount of press coverage the case received. Nancy Wolfe, Christina Hart, and Cathey Paine portray the three loyal Manson Family members who were the co-defendants at his trial. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide