Comedy Classics

Singing stars from two very different generations appear in Live A Little, Love A Little. Elvis Presley plays Greg, a photographer who divides his time working for a skin magazine and a conservative newspaper. Rudy Valle plays Penlow, the veteran newspaper publisher. Lansdown (Don Porter) is the publisher of a girly magazine as Greg tries to work for both without the other finding out. Greg falls in love with a fashion model (Michele Carey) in this situation comedy that even die-hard Elvis fans have a hard time swallowing. By this time, Elvis planned to fulfil his remaining movie obligations and return to the stage, as his 1960s film career had failed to take on the dramatic seriousness he desperately sought. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This forgettable comedy finds Joe Lightcloud (Elvis Presley) as a mixed-blood Indian with strong ties to his tribe and his father Charlie (Burgess Meredith). Joe tries to get government assistance for the tribe in exchange for permitting the local congressman to graze cattle on Indian land. Maime (Quentin Dean) is the object of Joe's affection, but they are under the watchful eye of her mother Glenda (Joan Blondell), who owns the local saloon. The Jordanaires back up Elvis on a few songs, most notable being "U.S. Male" by guitar-great Jerry Reed. By this time, Elvis was extremely tired of churning out movies with such dismal scripts. Later in 1968, he would make a triumphant return to live performing with his NBC television special which featured Jerry Reed's "Guitar Man." Elvis was playing out the string of films set up by his controversial manager Colonel Tom Parker, who never wanted Elvis to be considered as a serious dramatic actor. Parker even went so far as to take Elia Kazan to task for even mentioning such an idea. It was such thinking that prompted the King Of Rock & Roll to return to the stage once again after an eight-year hiatus. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Elvis Presley plays a double role in Kissin' Cousins. When the U.S. government wants land owned by the hillbilly clan headed by Pappy Tatum (Arthur O'Connell), they send Air Force Lieutenant Josh Morgan (Presley), a cousin of the Tatum's, to try and secure the land for a proposed missile base. Josh comes face-to-face with Jody Tatum, his blonde-haired look-alike. Glenda Farrell plays Ma Tatum, and distaff interest for Elvis is provided by Cynthia Pepper, Yvonne Craig, a busty Beverly Powers, and Hortense Petra. Watch for Maureen Reagan as one of the Kittyhawks, a group of desperate, man-hungry females out to get some love. This film was the first of the low-budget movies that would unfortunately plague the rest of Elvis' movie career. The song selection also reflects a decline in the quality of both recording and acting parts offered to Presley. Once he fulfilled his contractual obligations for the forgettable features, Elvis ended his film career and devoted his efforts exclusively to live shows and recording. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Steve and Elyse Keaton (Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter-Birney), once 1960s radicals, now find themselves in Reagan-Era American trying to raise a traditional suburban family. Son Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) is an ambitious Young Republican and his sister Mallory (Justine Bateman) is a shallow victim of the corporate culture, obsessed with music, clothes and boys. Their only normal kid is young Jennifer (Tina Yothers), a bit of a tomboy.

Season One of Family Affair is by and large a "shakedown cruise" for wealthy consulting engineer Bill Davis (Brian Keith) and his new, ready-made family. After the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law in an accident, Bill is placed in charge of the couple's three children: 6-year-old twins Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnnie Whitaker), and 15-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver). The responsibilities of instant parenthood understandably puts a crimp in Bill's swinging-bachelor lifestyle, but he loves the children enough to grit his teeth and make the best of things--as does his "veddy British" gentleman's gentleman Mr. Giles French (Sebastian Cabot), who has quite a time overcoming the shock of being, for all intents and purposes, a "nanny." Stories during Season One deal with Bill's trials and tribulations dealing with such necessities as getting the kids enrolled in school and coping with the orphaned youngsters' insecurities arising from spending the previous several months being shunted from one relative to the next. The most poignant moments find Buffy, Jody and Cissy recalling their deceased parents--and it is particularly compelling to witness Buffy's obsessive attachment to her doll Mrs. Beasley, the one remaining viable link between herself and her late mother. On a more upbeat note, despite his newly acquired parental obligations Bill still manages to find time to squire several lovely young ladies, played by such attractive actresses as Mary Murphy, Rita Gam and Kathleen Crowley--not to mention Judith Landon, the then wife of series star Brian Keith. Among the noteworthy guest stars showing up in Season One are Myrna Loy, cast as a once-wealthy dowager reduced to domestic work; Brian Donlevy as a down-to-earth "hardhat" who turns out to be a millionaire architect; Richard Loo as a stuffy Chinese diplomat; Sterling Holloway as a window washer who happens to be a whiz at math; and John Agar as a charismatic rodeo star. This is also the season in which John Williams makes nine guest appearances as Mr. French's brother Nigel French, who signs on as temporary replacement in the Davis household while his brother briefly serves the Royal Family (in real life, Sebastian Cabot had been forced to briefly bow out of the series due to illness). Though nowhere near as popular as its Monday-night competition Peyton Place, Family Affair still managed to carve out a comfortable ratings niche and accumulate a loyal audience during its Freshman season on CBS, ending up as the nation's 14th highest-rated program. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Before The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murphy Brown and Ally McBeal, there was That Girl. Nominated for an Emmy® Award for these episodes, Marlo Thomas gives Ann Marie some of her most memorable moments in Season 4 of That Girl. From the banana spy camera she wields in the 2-part season opener, Mission Improbable through her unforgettable donning of a chicken suit in Nobody Here But Us Chickens she demonstrates her undeniable talent for physical comedy. Faithfully along for Ann's wild ride are her boyfriend Donald (Ted Bessell) and her parents(Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp).

The fifth season of Family Affair was also the series' last season on CBS. Any series which features a pair of cute little children runs the risk of wearing out its welcome the older those children become, and it could not be denied that Anissa Jones and Jody Whitaker, respectively cast as twin orphans Jody and Buffy, weren't quite as spontaneous and appealing at age eleven as they'd been at age six. This burst of maturity was less injurious to costar Kathy Garver, cast as the twins' older sister Cissy, inasmuch as there were more story possibilities for a blossoming 19-year-old than there'd previously been for a slightly awkward 15-year-old--especially in terms of Cissy's social life with erstwhile boyfriend Gregg (Gregg Fedderson) and other eligible beaux. And of course, the added years could hardly affect Brian Keith as the kids' bachelor uncle Bill Davis, nor Sebastian Cabot as Bill's imperious British butler Mr. French. Still, viewership dropped off considerably during Season Five, with Family Affair plummeting from 5th place in the ratings to a position far below the "Top Thirty" list. (It didn't help matters that the series was now bucking up against the very popular Flip Wilson Show on NBC.) In an effort to pump new life into the flagging property, the reliable Nancy Walker was added to the cast in the recurring role of Emily, the Davis family's brash, outspoken housekeeper. Though Walker did not appear often enough to make any real impact, she did occasionally provide an amusing contrast to the proper and reserved Mr. French--and the fact that Emily had a handsome medical-student son (played by Peter Duryea) certainly added a bit of spice to the life of boy-crazy Cissy. Although Family Affair was definitely slipping, a few of the Season Five episodes were among the series' best, notably an entry in which the twins befriend a secretive young Latino boy who turns out to be the son of an exiled South American leader. The series closes with the last in a long line of stories concerning the kids' willingness to champion the cause of people less fortunate than themselves--and Uncle Bill's willingness to help out when the youngsters realize that they've gotten in over their heads! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Despite some awkward, uncomfortable and downright embarrassing moments during Season One, Season Two of Family Affair finds the Davis household in a relative state of peace and contentent, with bachelor consulting engineer Bill Davis (Brian Keith) having thoroughly acclimated himself to his duties as surrogate parent to his orphaned nephew and nieces. For their part, 7-year-old twins Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnnie Whitaker) and 16-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver) are more secure than before with the stability of their home life, fairly certain that their beloved Uncle Bill isn't about to bundle them off to another relative on the slightest pretext. Even Bill's imperious butler Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) has learned that being a "male nanny" isn't such a horrendous fate. The season opens with the celebrated "facts of life" episode, in which the twins try to wade through an ocean of contradictory information about the human reproduction process. Later on, little Jody suffers his first true "love pangs", while sister Buffy tends to prefer the company of her doll Mrs. Beasley and older sibling Cissy is off on her own 1960s-teen orbit. Guest stars this season include Ann Sothern and Anna Lee as two of Mr. French's former flames (still waters run VERY deep!); former child stars Jackie Coogan and Marcia Mae Jones as a freewheeling blue-collar couple; Joan Blondell as a flamboyant, Ethel Merman-esque Broadway star; Martha Hyer as a glamorous movie queen who may very well forsake her career to marry Bill (or maybe not!); and an odd Brady Bunch-like exercise, wherein Bill gets serious about an attractive widow (Colleen Gray) with three children of her own. Also, Gregg Fedderson, the son of series producer Don Fedderson and soon to join the cast in the semi-regular role of Cissy's boyfriend Gregg Bartlett, begins showing up this season in other roles. The 1967-68 TV season was a very good one for CBS, with four of the network's series heading the "top ten" list--and Number Four just happened to be Family Affair, despite the formidable opposition of ABC's Peyton Place. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After three years on CBS' powerhouse Monday-night schedule--and two consecutive years in TV's "top ten" list--Family Affair moved to a Thursday berth for its fourth season on the air. Despite this displacement, not to mention fresh competition from NBC's long-running Daniel Boone and the ABC upstart The Ghost and Mrs Muir, the series retained its huge following, remaining securely fastened into the "Number Five" ratings position. Beyond the shift to a different evening, very little had changed on Family Affair proper. We still find bachelor engineer Bill Davis (Brian Keith) gamely coping with the pressures of surrogate parenthood as guardian of his orphaned nephew Jody (Johnnie Whitaker) and nieces Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Cissy (Anissa Jones). Likewise still on hand is Bill's supremely efficient British manservant Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot), who has grown to like his role as the children's "male nanny"--with reservations, of course. This season's guest stars include the magnificent Ida Lupino as a titled British lady whom Mr. French fondly remembers as his former sweetheart, a London barmaid named Maude; a very young Darlene Carr (remember her as Karl Malden's daughter on Streets of San Francisco?) as a starry-eyed teenager who develops a crush on the hapless Bill; former B-western star Bob Steele as. . .a former B-western star; and in an unusually serious episode, Dana Andrews as a troubled ex-convict who has trouble going straight. Also showing up with increasing frequency is Gregg Fedderson, the son of Family Affair creator Don Fedderson, who after a brief apprenticeship in character parts is seen in the recurring role of Cissy's boyfriend Gregg Bartlett. Perhaps the most memorable episode this season is "What's So Funny About a Broken Leg", hastily written to accommodate the fact that costar Anissa Jones' leg was really in a cast. Certainly the most elaborate installment is the two-part Season Four opener, wherein the entire family seriously considers bidding farewell to New York City and moving bag and baggage to Tahiti! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the key American independent films of the 1990s, Richard Linklater's feature debut is an audacious look at the twentysomething culture in the college town of Austin, Texas. Set over the course of a 24-hour period, the film is a collection of short, unconnected glimpses into the dropout subculture, touching base with a variety of musicians, students, street people and general eccentrics. While there's no real plot to speak of, Linklater's eye for nuance and gift for dialogue are superb, and the portrait he paints is so uncannily accurate that the term "slacker" was almost immediately co-opted as a media buzzword, one interchangeable with the similarly-overused "Generation X." Regardless, the film is an evocative reflection of a community and its culture and remains a definitive artifact of its time and place. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi