Jerry Stiller

When 40-year-old San Francisco bachelor Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) attends the wedding of his ex-fiancée -- and is seated at a "singles table" full of children -- he realizes maybe he's been too picky in his love life, and it's time to settle down. Fortunately, he doesn't have to compromise his standards when he meets Lila (Malin Akerman), a funny, attractive blond who does environmental research for a living. Lila's company wants to relocate her to Europe, but only because she's single -- they don't force married couples to uproot themselves. So Eddie hastily proposes to her, even though they've only been dating for six weeks. But the moment they exchange vows, Eddie starts to notice Lila's rough edges and annoying habits, which had remained hidden underneath her perfect exterior. Their Cabo San Lucas honeymoon gets off to a rough start full of tuneless pop singalongs and surprising revelations about Lila's job and her past. Things only get worse for a confused Eddie when he meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), a Midwesterner in Cabo for a family reunion -- and starts to wish he'd held out just a little bit longer. The Heartbreak Kid is Peter and Bobby Farrelly's remake of the 1972 Elaine May comedy of the same name, starring Charles Grodin. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Ten years after The Lion King shot to the top at the box office and first introduced the characters of Simba (Matthew Broderick) and his pals Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), Disney presented this retelling of the Academy Award-winning animated musical. Switching the perspective to that of meerkat Timon and warthog Pumbaa, The Lion King 1 1/2 puts a new spin on the events of the original film. This time around, the comic duo are conveniently at the center of much of the story. Along with returning cast members Moira Kelly, Whoopi Goldberg, and Cheech Marin, The Simpsons' Julie Kavner and Seinfeld's Jerry Stiller lend their voices to newcomer characters Timon's Mom and Timon's Uncle Max, respectively. The straight-to-video film also features the never-before-heard song "That's All I Need." ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Season six of The King of Queens begins by opening an old wound: namely, the argument between blue-collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James, Leah Remini) over Doug's weight problem. Ironically, Carrie is not upset because Doug is fat, but because he has shed several pounds -- and now is attracting the attention of various and sundry female onlookers! Though this crisis will be resolved, there is still Carrie's cantankerous dad, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), who lives with the couple, to contend with. Elsewhere, Doug's pal Deacon (Victor Williams) is given the opportunity to reconcile with his wife, Kelly (Merrin Dungey), from whom he's been separated for two years. Among the many highlights of the series' sixth season are a guest appearance by Anne Meara, the wife and longtime comedy partner of regular Jerry Stiller; another guest-star turn by Janeane Garofalo as Doug's ex-girlfriend Trish Flintoff; the trepidations accompanying rumors that the law firm where Carrie works may be laying people off; Doug's dilemma when he recalls "all the girls I've loved before" while coming out of the anesthetic after having his appendix removed; a frenzied attempt to prevent the opening of a rare bottle of wine before Doug can sell the bottle on eBay; and the burgeoning relationship between Doug's friend Spence (Patton Oswalt) and his new girl, Denise (Rachel Dratch). In the season finale, Arthur insists that his walking companion, the considerably younger Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan), move into the Heffernan basement after she is booted from her apartment. Ratings for The King of Queens continued to be encouraging for CBS during the 2003-2004 season, though rumors persisted that the next season would be the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season five of The King of Queens is still set in the titular New York borough, and still revolves around blue-collar delivery driver Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) and his legal-assistant wife, Carrie (Leah Remini) -- not to mention Carrie's cantankerous widowed father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), who lives with the couple. The most significant plot development during this season is the divorce of Doug's pal Deacon Palmer (Patton Oswalt) and his wife, Kelly (Merrin Dungey). This puts Doug in the position of being the occasional surrogate parent to the couple's children, Kirby (Marshaun Daniel) and Major (Damani Roberts). Highlights from the fourth season include Doug's "temporary bachelor" status when Carrie begins working the night shift at the law firm; Carrie's conviction that her prayers are coming true, and the method by which she louses up this divine intervention; a titillating episode involving a sexy addition to Doug's bowling team and Carrie's misadventures with a breast-obsessed child; Doug's frantic efforts to cover up an indiscretion -- namely, taking a photograph of his "privates"; two Thanksgiving dinners with no turkeys; Carrie forcing Doug to get professional help for his binge-eating; and various run-ins with the Heffernans' intellectual new neighbors, Mike and Debi Ross (Michael Lowry, Marcia Cross). The season closer finds Carrie going bed-shopping thanks to Doug's carelessness -- and isn't that former "Incredible Hulk" Lou Ferrigno as the Heffernan's next-door neighbor? Though ratings fluctuated throughout The King of Queens' fifth season, the series continued to perform admirably, at one point ranking as America's tenth most popular program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A process server makes an unusual alliance with a beautiful but devious woman in this comedy. Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry) is a former attorney whose career went bust when he picked up some clients who turned out to be associated with the Mafia. These days, Joe makes his living as a process server, who presents people with legal papers -- papers they would usually prefer not to get. One of Joe's fellow servers, Tony (Vincent Pastore), is trying to weasel him out of his job, and has starting tipping off Joe's targets before he can deliver their papers in order to get Joe in dutch with their boss, Ray (Cedric the Entertainer). Joe, however, is able to persuade Ray to give him another chance with a high-profile client, Gordon (Bruce Campbell), a wealthy Texas cattle baron who has decided to divorce his wife and business partner, Sara (Elizabeth Hurley), in order to marry another woman, Kate (Amy Adams). When Joe presents Sara with the divorce papers, she is shocked by the news, which would cost her her half of the Gordon fortune. After Joe gets carjacked and finds herself on the same bus with Sara, she makes him a deal: If he's willing to take back the papers, say he never presented them, and serve a divorce petition to Gordon first, she'll pay Joe an even million dollars. Serving Sara became the focus of some unexpected controversy during its production -- first when Matthew Perry took a brief leave from the production to enter a rehabilitation clinic to fight an addiction to painkillers, and later when Elizabeth Hurley's former boyfriend, Steve Bing, accused Perry of being the father of Hurley's child (a charge both Hurley and Perry denied, and was proven false by blood tests). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Blue-collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James, Leah Remini) are still living in their modest but comfy digs in Queens, NY -- and still sharing space with Carrie's tactless, obstreperous father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller) -- as The King of Queens enters its fourth season. The previous season's two-part cliffhanger, involving Carrie's pregnancy, is resolved in a melancholy fashion when she miscarries, though the couple still intends to conceive again sometimewhere down the line. Also down in the dumps is Arthur, whose last friend from his old nursing home has moved away. His reaction to this turn of events is not to moan and kvetch (his accustomed behavior), but to spend his entire day sleeping -- only to wake up full of energy in the evening, just when Doug and Carrie would rather take it easy. This compels Doug to hire someone to listen to, and put up with, Arthur; the person chosen is Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan), a character introduced in the previous season as a ditsy baby-store salesperson named Marilyn. Otherwise employed as a dog walker for Doug's pal Spence (Patton Oswalt), Holly agrees to walk with Arthur three times per week and feign interest in his long-winded war stories (though eventually she comes to genuinely enjoy the old guy's company). In another development, the rapidly unraveling marriage of Doug's buddy Deacon (Victor Williams) and his wife, Kelly (Merrin Dungey), totally collapses, and Kelly moves out with her two children. Highlights from season four include Doug's efforts to break the 951-consecutive-perfect-delivery record at his job; Carrie going on a retreat with her fellow law-firm employees; Arthur's struts and frets as he prepares to undergo heart surgery; Doug and Carrie recalling the events leading up to their wedding, including a "Sign from God" -- and later on, the couple staging an elaborate reenactment of their first date; Carrie driving Doug to distraction as she prepares for a big-time legal case; the unexpected discovery of a generous check from Doug's cousin, and the ensuing consequences; and Doug's dreams of quitting his job and running his own sandwich shop. The season ends with the series' 100th episode, in which Arthur reluctantly agrees to see a psychotherapist about his hilariously uncontrollable anger. The 2001-2002 season saw The King of Queens posting its best ratings so far, finally cracking the Top 20 of network programs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rodney Dangerfield co-wrote and stars in this comedy about a businessman who learns that when it comes to marriage, strength is in numbers. Monte Peterson (Dangerfield) is a real estate developer whose business acumen exceeds his success in romance; after finalizing his third divorce, Monte heads to Utah, where he discovers a small town called Redwood Springs. There, Monte finds an estate for sale which would be an ideal location for a ski resort. While closing the deal, Monte discovers that there are a few strings attached -- Brother Wallace, the late owner, was a member of a little-known religious sect, and his will specifies the new owner must join the church. Monte isn't too thrilled when he's told buying the land would mean giving up tobacco, liquor, and gambling, but he cheers up considerably when he learns that the sect embraces polygamy, and that Brother Wallace's three lovely young widows -- Stephanie (Judy Tylor), Virginia (Kate Luyben), and Emily (Angelika Baran) -- would be happy to marry him. Soon Monte picks up another piece of land next door, and two more wives to go with it, Sarah (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Megan (Anita Brown). But Preston Gates (John Byner), a crooked real estate man, has been buying up most of the town on behalf of gangster Tony Morano (Andrew Dice Clay), and soon Preston and Tony are trying to figure out a way to take Monte's new resort away from him (and his spouses) before Tony's boss Don Giovanni (Jerry Stiller) gets angry. My Five Wives also stars Molly Shannon, John Pinette, and Rob Deleeuw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor and playwright Stephen Burrows makes his directorial debut with this independent comedy that takes a witty look at the downside of working in the movie business. Steve (Burrows) is a writer, actor, and comic who years ago left his hometown of Milwaukee, WI, for the bright lights of Hollywood and who, after years of struggling, has managed to get his foot in the door of show business thanks to his appearance in a widely seen commercial for a personal hygiene product called "Crotch Fresh." Steve decides to pay a visit to his friends in the Midwest, and while in Milwaukee he meets Sam (Traci Elizabeth Lords), an attractive woman interested in knowing more about his career in entertainment. As Steve and Sam get to know each other, he regales her with a number of remarkable stories about fascistic acting coaches, egocentric producers, and studio heads too young to hold a driver's license. Stephen Burrows was able to persuade a number of his well-known colleagues to appear in Chump Change, including Tim Matheson, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Fred Willard, and Abe Vigoda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After four decades in show business, the husband and wife comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara finally make their big-screen debut together in this story about a marriage on its last legs. Sam (Stiller) and Molly (Meara) have been married for over 40 years. Their children are grown and living on their own, and the romance has drifted out of their relationship; arguing has become their favored method of communication. But the bickering goes too far when Molly asks Sam to get rid of the carp he's keeping in the tub in their guest bathroom. Sam informs Molly that if she doesn't like the fish, she can leave -- and Molly takes him up on the offer, moving in with their son Joel (Mark Ruffalo). This is hardly good news for Joel, who is having problems with his wife and feeling tempted to stray by an attractive blonde at work. Meanwhile, Sam and Molly's daughter Ruth (Jane Adams) tries to convince her father to win back her mother, but Sam receives some surprising competition when Molly starts dating an old friend named Lou (Bob Dishy). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Answering the question of "Where have all the New Wavers gone?" is The Suburbans, a comedy from first-time director Donal Lardner Ward, who also stars and co-wrote the screenplay. In 1981, power pop band The Suburbans had it all -- big hair, skinny ties and a hit record. But they never followed up on their one chart success, and years later, most of the band's members have dropped out of the music business in favor of "real jobs." However, when one of the ex-Suburbans gets married, the four members are reunited at the reception and play their lone hit for old times sake. As fate would have it, one of the wedding guests is Cait (Jennifer Love Hewitt), a young A&R executive who loved the Suburbans as a kid and thinks they could have another shot at the big time. But does pushing-40 bandleader Danny (Ward) really want to put a stake in the heart of his marriage to Grace (Amy Brenneman) for another moment in the spotlight? The Suburbans features a period-appropraite cameo from A Flock Of Seagulls and supporting performances from Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller, Will Ferrell and Robert Loggia. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This German-made children's fantasy (with English dialogue) employs marionettes from Germany's acclaimed Augsburger Puppet Theatre to tell a tale of lovers in the rodent community beneath the streets of Manhattan. The screenplay was adapted from the children's book by Tor Seidler (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986), illustrated by Fred Marcellino, and expanding on the 1995 short film pilot Monty Spinneratz. The tale focuses on artist Monty Mad-Rat Jr. and politician's daughter Isabella Noble-Rat. Isabella is impressed when Monty takes her on a tour of New York's underground sewers, but her family doesn't want her dating beneath her station. Meanwhile, the "democratcy" is threatened by both rising drain waters and a chemical concocted for a mass extermination of the rat populace. Fortunately, Monty has some magical Mexican shells which could save the situation. Four onscreen performers here (Lauren Hutton, Beverly D'Angelo, Jerry Stiller, Josef Ostendorf) have no strings attached. In Germany, this film opened to a $3 million box office. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Seinfeld's controversial series finale, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) find themselves stranded in Latham, MA -- and even worse, they are facing arrest for violating the town's new Good Samaritan law (it seems there was this mugging...). Hoping to beat the rap -- and make it to California in time for Jerry to sell his proposed sitcom "about nothing" -- the gang engages the services of flamboyant lawyer Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris). Alas, the prosecution has managed to round up a daunting array of witnesses to bolster their case against the foursome, including Sidra (Teri Hatcher) of "they're real and they're spectacular" fame, the Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas), Marla the Virgin (Jane Leeves), and the Bubble Boy (Jon Hayman) -- while the sour-faced judge (Stanley Anderson) with the familiar-sounding name fumes, and a vengeful Newman (Wayne Knight) chuckles from the sidelines. As for the now-legendary final scene...haven't we had this conversation before? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide