Gerald McRaney Movies

In this thriller, city slickers chuck their careers, pull up stakes and take up residence at a peaceful lakeside community to escape the urban rat race. Unfortunately, they soon discover that things are not as peaceful as they seem when the husband finds a mutilated corpse floating in the lake. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

While visiting his former partner in an Arizona border town, LA cop Jack Lucarelli witnesses a murder. The killer is white slaver Gerald McRaney-who turns out to be one of local sheriff Wilford Brimley's most trusted deputies. Nobody believes Lucarelli's eyewitness account, not even his ex-partner Jameson Parker, another of Brimley's deputies. Eventually, it dawns on Parker that his department is seething with corruption. He and Lucarelli work secretly to put an end to McRaney's activities, leading inexorably to the film's climactic bloodbath. The otherwise eminently forgettable American Justice is interesting for its reteaming of onetime Simon and Simon costars Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney, this time on opposite sides of the law. Parker coproduced the film with costar Lucarelli, while one of the film's supporting actors, Dennis A. Pratt, wrote the script . ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Wolfgang Petersen adapted Michael Ende's children's story for this charming fantasy film that spawned several sequels. Bastian (Barret Oliver) is dealing with his mother's recent death. His father (Gerald McRaney) is an imperious sort who continually lambastes Bastian for daydreaming and falling behind in school. On top of his father's badgering, he has to contend with a bunch of school bullies waiting for him in the schoolyard. One day he decides to play hooky and walks into a strange bookstore, where in the attic, he discovers a book called "The Neverending Story". As Bastian reads the book, he's enveloped in the unfolding tale. A sickly child-like empress (Tami Stronach) from a land called Fantasia is concerned about who will take over the land if she dies. She decides it is best for Fantasia if she remains alive, so she dispatches a young warrior named Atreju (Noah Hathaway) to find a cure for the empress's malady. It turns out the land is consumed with a plague called The Nothing, generated by blighted dreams and hopeless fantasies. As Atreju continues onward to search for a cure for The Nothing, he encounters an assortment of strange creatures. Bastian is so consumed with the tale that he finds himself catapulted into the land of Fantasia himself. Atreju realizes that the only way to save the land from its blight is with the help of this strange earth boy, Bastian. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Jane Seymour stars in The Haunting Passion as Julia Evans, a woman forced to make a decision between two lovers. The gimmick here is that one of her suitors is an invisible--but very sexy--ghost. The other man in Julia's life is her neglectful husband Dan (Gerald McRaney), a former athlete who is trying to launch a sportscasting career. On the verge of surrending to her spectral romeo, Julia toys with the idea of committing suicide so that she'll be with him forever. . .while her grumpy ex-jock husband waits for her to come to her senses. Made for television, The Haunting Passion debuted October 24, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bionic Woman star Lindsay Wagner is here cast as Joanne Tilford, who six years after attempting suicide, is discharged from an upscale mental clinic. Returning home to care for her husband Howdy (Gerald McRaney), who has suffered a heart attack, Joanne soon discovers that her role in the Tilford family unit has been usurped by housekeeper Louise Lowry (Barbara Babcock), who regards herself as the "second mother" to Joanne's children. Adding to the heroine's woes are her brother Everett (Richard McKenzie) and sister-in-law Rita Jean (Barbara Cason), who fully expect that the still-fragile Joanne will suffer a mental relapse at any moment. Officially based on Zoe Sherburne's novel Stranger in the House, this made-for-TV film also bears a passing resemblance to the 1958 theatrical feature Home Before Dark. Watch for Peter Billingsley, then best known as Messy Marvin on a series of popular TV commercials and soon to be the star of A Christmas Story, in the role of Joanne's son. Memories Never Die made its CBS network bow on December 15, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Where the Ladies Go is a TV movie set in a white-bread Oklahoma town, where most of the housewives suffer from terminal boredom. Good ol' boy Earl Holliman comes to the rescue by establishing the El Fidel, a bar which is open from 9 AM to 3 PM, or "ladies' hours." Karen Black, Candy Clark and Lisa Hartman are among the ladies who frequent the El Fidel, which, considering what goes on during business hours, could well have been renamed the "El Infidel." While the Southern accents come and go depending upon the skills of the individual actresses, the film maintains a fairly even entertainment keel. Where the Ladies Go was written by Carol Sobieski, who scripted many a "female bonding" TV flick of the 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) have no sooner delivered a car to demolition-derby Augie Detweiller (John Quade) than they are accused of operating a smuggling ring. Deducing that Detweiller is the real brains behind the smuggles, the boys sign up to race in the derby for investigate purposes--and thus target themselves for demolition of the permanent kind! Deputy Enos (Sonny Shroyer) delivers a terrific "death speech" in this episode, which features future Simon and Simon and Major Dad star Gerald McRaney in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After witnessing a murder committed by notorious mob hitman Del Kane (Madison Arnold), Angel (Stuart Margolin) is placed in protective custody by the authorities. Much to the dismay and disgust of Jim Rockford (James Garner), Angel is set up in a luxurious hotel with unlimited room service. And much to the dismay and disgust of the cops, Angel's testimony is discredited and Kane goes free! Now it's up to Jim to save Angel from being bumped off himself. . .and he ever gets out of this mess alive, Angel hopes to write a book about his near-death experience. Future Simon & Simon star Gerald McRaney appears as a harried DA in this episode, which represents perhaps the only instance in TV history wherein a character is tied to a freeway trestle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jim (James Garner) is pressed into service as best man when the redoubtable Angel (Stuart Margolin) gets married to Regin Boyajian (Elayne Heilveil). It is not love but fear that has motivated Angel to walk down the aisle: he figures that by wedding Regina, he will avoid being killed by her thuggish relatives, who have been victimized by Angel's latest scam. Somehow, all this matrimonial intrigue is linked to a 14-year-old unsolved murder, and to a high-profile car salesman (James Wainwright) who will go to any lengths to keep his past life as a street-gang member from becoming public knowledge. Future Simon&Simon star Gerald McRaney shows up in a small role--and listen for the voice of frequent Rockford Files director Jackie Cooper). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jim (James Garner) is baffled by the sudden disappearance of his girlfriend Karen (Pat Delaney). Even more disturbing is the fact that Karen's next-door neighbor was found murdered at the same time Karen vanished. Investigating, Jim discovers that both Karen and her neighbor had something in common: Michael Cordeen (Alan Miller) a man with apparent mob connections. But by the time he has made this discovery, someone else has been killed...and that "someone else" was likewise linked to Cordeen. This episode is based on Thin Air, a mystery novel by Howard Browne. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John-Boy (Richard Thomas) is elated when a big-city publisher offers to assemble his short stories into a book. But elation turns to despair when John-Boy learns that he has been bamboozled by a "vanity" press and is expected to pay his own publication costs--and this after a public celebration has been arranged in his honor. Meanwhile, budding musician Jason (Jon Walmsley) prepares to make his professional debut with bandleader Bobby Bigelow (Mayf Nutter in his first series appearance). Featured in the guest cast is Kathy Cronkite, the daughter of CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This lurid meat-clever murder movie tells the story of a former mental patient accused of hacking up beautiful women, all of whom were his former lovers. The promos of the film were said to be more inspired than the picture itself. Filmmakers glorified in the gory scenes saying the film was filmed in "Violent Vision"; while television commercials offered $1,000 to the family's of viewers who dropped dead of fright, as well as claiming that many scenes were too violent to show on the commercials. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi