Barbara Stock Movies
- 1998
Sara Rose Peterson guest stars as the sinister Jade D'Mon, who turns out to be the earthly incarnation of the demon goddess Hecate. At the moment, "Jade" is trying to conceive a demon child, and to that end has stolen the boyfriend (Todd Cattell) of an innocent young girl (Christie Lynn Smith). Having enchanted the boy into proposing marriage, the goddess arranges a wedding party -- which, by a strange coincidence, is being catered by Piper Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs). Sensing that there's danger afoot, Piper and her sisters try to foil Hecate's evil scheme -- a scheme that has already claimed the life of the priest who was to have performed the marriage ceremony. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Rose Peterson, Barbara Stock, (more)
- 1996
While being escorted to prison from Phoenix to New York, crazed killer Peter Cronin (Anthony Michael Hall) hijacks a commercial jet in flight with the help of accomplices. Holding the 200 passengers and the crew members hostage, Cronin forces the plane to land in Dallas, then demands another, more powerful aircraft for the last leg of his escape. As FBI agent Frank Layton (Perry King) and detective Deni Patton (Ally Sheedy) attempt to negotiate with Cronin, time runs perilously short for the hostages, who know that the killer isn't bluffing when he threatens to kill one prisoner per hour unless his demands are met. A curious reunion for former Breakfast Club costars Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy, the made-forTV Hijacked: Flight 285--which is so weighed down with the "backstories" of the many characters that it could well have been retitled "The High and the Mighty at Gunpoint"--made its ABC network debut on February 4, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Perry King, (more)
- 1995
Rookie cop Monica (Roma Downey) is partnered with veteran officer Zack Bennett (Joe Penny) on his first day back after recovering from a shooting. Zack's former partner Ben (Paul Rodriguez) is angry over the fact that Zack has demanded to be paired up with something else. What Ben doesn't know is that Zack is harboring a terrible secret: he has become dangerously addicted to prescription drugs. Monica's Heavenly assignment is to straighten Zack out, but this may prove impossible after he steals the stash of an arrested drug dealer (John Hawkes)--who as a result is set free to commit even more heinous crimes! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
A murder case ignites the curiosity of Fr. Dowling and a nun who set out to solve the mystery against the wishes of his bishop and the FBI. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1987
The third and final season of Spenser: For Hire finds the titular private eye hero (Robert Urich again unattached romantically, inasmuch as his second-season sweetheart, Assistant DA Rita Fiori, has been written out of the show. But before you despair over the emotional well-being of Boston's best and most ethical P.I., be it noted that Barbara Stock, absent since Season One, has returned in the role of guidance counselor Susan Sullivan. It is explained that, after a year's residence in California, Susan has returned to Beantown, determined to give her relationship with Spenser a second chance despite the danger represented by Spenser's many enemies in the Underworld. But while Susan is back, another of the series' regulars, Richard Jaeckel at Lt. Martin Quirk of the Boston PD, has departed. The scriptwriters contrive to have Quirk retire from the force after suffering a heart attack. The season opens with Spenser mediating a deadly feud between a judge and a mobster, and soon after our hero's sentimental nature again resurfaces as he helps an alcoholic priest create a halfway house for homeless teams. The subsequent episode "Sleepless in Seattle" represents something of an inside joke for scripter Lee Goldberg, who names all the members of the fictional "Kincaid" clan after the characters in The Partridge Family. Meanwhile, Spenser's brooding, implicitly lethal street contact Hawk (Avery Brooks) exhibits the charisma that will soon enable him to star in his own self-named TV series, especially in the episodes wherein Hawk shield Susan against a "respectable" sexual predator, and in another story in which he tries to negotiate with a berserk, gun-wielding postal worker (and this BEFORE the popular coinage of the phrase "Going postal"!) Among the future stars appearing guest roles on Spenser: For Hire this season are Kadeem Hardison, Samuel L. Jackson, Laura San Giacomo, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ving Rhames. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, (more)
- 1987
- R
This crime drama tells the story of the man behind the terrible Kansas City massacre, Verne Miller. Miller started out as a South Dakota sheriff and during the 1920s became a notorious gangster hit man. He started out doing jobs for Al Capone in Chicago and was so good at his job that Capone appointed him head of his Kansas City operation. The trouble begins when Miller thinks he has more power than he actually does and defies his boss to save two captured gangsters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Glenn, Barbara Stock, (more)
- 1986
In this made-for-TV film, a down-and-out private eye's life is further complicated by the arrival of his estranged pre-teen son. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Based on a series of suspense novels by Robert B. Parker, the weekly, hour-long Spenser: For Hire starred Robert Urich as the title character. The TV series was filmed on location in Boston, the home-based of private investigator Spenser (no other name), who in addition to being wily and resourceful was also highly principled and scrupulously honest: In other words, he had no qualms about turning the legal tables on his own clients if he found out they were actually guilty or lying to him. No matter what the situation, Spenser meant what he said and said what he meant, even if he framed his responses in the form of philosophical quotations. Backing Spenser's words was his tactiturn African American street contact and "enforcer", the likewise single-named Hawk (Avery Brooks), who though he always carried a giant Magnum gun seldom needed weaponry to cow the villains into submission (this character was later spun off into his own series, A Man Called Hawk). In the series' first and third seasons, Spenser's lady friend was guidance counselor Susan Silverman, played by Barbara Stock; during Susan's absence in Season Two, Spenser kept time with a former enemy turned friend, assistant district attorney Rita Fiori (Carolyn McCormick). Our hero's contacts at the police department were hard-nosed Lt. Martin Quirk (Richard Jaeckel), who liked Spenser, and slovenly Sgt. Frank Belson (Ron McLarty), who didn't. The 66-episode Spenser: For Hire was broadcast by ABC from September 20, 1985 through September 3, 1988, followed by four made-for-TV "Spenser" movies, filmed between 1993 and 1995. A sixth such film was scheduled for 2000,but was cancelled upon the death of star Robert Urich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, (more)
- 1985
Season One of Spenser:For Hire begins with the two-part "Promised Land", one of a handful of the series' episodes actually based on a "Spenser" story by novelist Robert B. Parker. In this one, tough but ethical Boston private eye Spenser (Robert Urich) is hired to find the wife of a powerful businessman, only to realize that his client may not be 100 percent trustworthy. In addition to Spenser himself, the series' inaugural season introduces Avery Brooks as Spenser's fearsome but loyal street contact Hawk (Avery Brooks), his guidance-counselor girlfriend Susan (Barbara Stock) and his liasons at the Boston PD, Lt. Quirk (Richard Jaeckel) and Sgt. Belson (Ron McLarty). Subsequent episodes found Spenser protecting a volatile police witness, going after a duo of thrill killers, butting heads with a crooked landlord, protecting the so-called twin sister of a neurotic woman, exposing a team of "dirty" vice cops, going undercover to trap a gang of heroin pushers who have infiltrated a private high school, attempting to dissuade the clueless Sgt. Frank from romancing a white supremict, and trying to avoid extermination by that most terrifying of adversaries, the Woman Scorned. Among the season's guest star are George Grizzard as Susan's ex-husband Frank Silverman, Shirley Knight as Lt. Quirk's wife Katie, and a young Jimmy Smits as a firebrand Mexican dockworker in an episode reminiscent of On the Waterfront. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, (more)
- 1985
Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) is shocked when her favorite radio DJ Arthur Boyd is murdered right in the middle of a broadcast. David (Bruce Willis) prods Maddie into investigating the tragedy, which she does. In the process, Maddie discovers that the "late" Mr. Boyd is still alive--but if she doesn't mind her own business, her own life may be in dire jeopardy. Actress Melinda Dillon provided a few uncredited contributions to the script of this episode: However, Dillon had nothing to do with the celebrated "boinking" discussion that serves as the highlight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
- PG
This run-of-the mill children's story features little prince Simon (Vidal Peterson) who has had to run away from his kingdom because his father Wulfrich (Edward Morrow) has been killed by the black-hearted magician Shurka (Thom Christopher). Now that Shurka has taken over the kingdom, Simon cannot fight him off alone. So he enlists the help of Kor (Bo Svenson), a lumbering, over-the-hill warrior who still has considerable punch left -- mainly because of his size. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bo Svenson, Vidal Peterson, (more)
- 1984
A group of villains previously defeated by the A-Team pool their savings and hire professional assassin Major Kyle (Ed Lauter) to get rid of the Team once and for all. Kyle's plan is to play upon the well-known weaknesses of the various team members in order to kidnap them one by one--and then to kill them slowly and painfully, while Team leader Hannibal (George Peppard) is forced to watch. Tricia O'Neill repeats her portrayal of Dr. Maggie Sullivan, a character introduced in the first-season A-Team episode "Bad Day at Black Rock". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
This made-for-TV movie was initially shown under the title I, Desire. Coroner's aide David Naughton can't understand why one of the corpses under his care has been drained of blood. Doing a little detective work on his own, Naughton follows the trail of clues to sexy streetwalker Marilyn Jones. Could it be that this far-from-happy hooker is a vampire? Dorian Harewood costars as the detective on the case. I Desire originally aired November 15, 1982, two weeks too late for Halloween. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
