Thomas Thompson wrote Richie, all about the death of George Richard “Richie” Diener Jr. at the hands of his father, who was not charged with the shooting death of his son. The TV movie is directed by Paul Wendkos, who also made another great drug movie, Cocaine: One Man’s Seduction. He also directed the remake of The Bad Seed and The Mephisto Waltz, among many more movies.

Richie Werner (Robby Benson) and his friends only care about getting high, which means more than school, work or anything else. That’s something his father George (Ben Gazzara) can’t understand, that his mother Carol (Eileen Brennan) attempts to and that he himself tries to shield his brother Russell (Lance Kerwin) from.

Richie and his dad do at times get along, like when he gets a job working at a fast food place and when he’s trying to win the heart of Sheila (Cynthia Eilbacher). Yet their relationship is often one of near violence and constant arguments. By the end, Richie is taking handfuls of Secobarbital and threatening his dad with a pair of scissors, telling him he doesn’t have it in him to shoot him. He does, cut to a funeral.

I’m maddest at Sheila, who went from a cute date to telling Richie she already had a guy to finally reading Psalm 23 at his gravesite. You know when he needed you, Sheila? When he was taking handfuls of pills and smoking that reefer.

The sound of Richie yelling and the loud gun blast upset so many people that it was edited from future showings of this on TV. Speaking of being out of control, Richie’s thug friend Brick grew up to be Roger Rabbit. Yeah, Charles Fleischer. And his friend Peanuts? Clint Howard. No wonder his dad was worried, those are some insane friends.

Don’t have the box set? You can watch this on Tubi.

Delbert Mann won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty as well as the infamous NBC TV movie Heidi, Which interrupted the upset of the Oakland Raiders beating the New York Jets. The adaption was by Jack Pulman, who was also the writer for I, Claudius.

It stars Robin Phillips (who I know as the rich guy who kills Arthur Edward Grimsdyke in Tales from the Crypt) as David Copperfield. The cast is packed with stars, including Richard Attenborough as Mr. Tungay, three-time Academy Award nominee Edith Evans as Betsy Trotwood, Cyril Cusack as Barkis, Pamela Franklin (The Legend of Hell House) as Dora Spenlow, Susan Hampshire (The Trygon Factor) as Agnes Wickfield, Wendy Hiller as Emma Micawber, Ron Moody (Dominique) as Uriah Heep, Laurence Olivier (do I have to tell you?) as Mr. Creakle, Vanessa and Lynn’s father Michael Redgrave as Daniel Peggotty, Ralph Richardson as Wilkins Micawber, Emlyn Williams as Mr. Dick, Sinéad Cusack (Cyril’s daughter) as Emily, James Donald (Quatermass and the Pit) as Edward Murdstone, James Hayter (The Blood On Satan’s Claw) as Porter, Megs Jenkins as Clara Peggotty, Anna Massey (The Vault of Horror) as Jane Murdstone, Andrew McCulloch as Ham Peggotty, Nicholas Pennell as Thomas Traddles, Corin Redgrave as James Steerforth, Isobel Black (Twins of Evil) as Clara Copperfield and Liam Redmond (23 Paces to Baker Street) as Mr. Quinion.

This was on NBC in the U.S. but was in theaters everywhere else.

I think it proves how cultured I am that I went through everyone in a movie based on a classic and told you what British horror movies they were in.

Directed by William A. Graham (Return to the Blue Lagoon, Change of Habit) and written by Stanley Z. Cherry, this movie finds Johnny Gaines (Bill Bixby) learning that he has a son named B.J. (Darrell Larson) whom he’s never known, all while he’s still sleeping with 16-year-olds. Or nearly sleeping with them, as his kid shows up right before his initials happen to his dad.

Johnny is still a boy, protected by his father Al (Jack Albertson) and mother Ethel (Ann Sothern) who are starting to wonder why their son doesn’t want to settle down with Edye (Diane Baker). Can Johnny settle down and become a father to the son he never knew while maybe not being someone who double books dates and tries to get his son drunk to go out with someone as his replacement?

Plus: Tom Bosley as Edye’s dad and Judy Strangis in the cast (she was Dyna Girl!).

Don’t have the box set? You can watch this on Tubi.

This movie is very much something I would have watched as a kid on TV.

It was a pilot for a TV series that was actually on the air from February 7 to March 21, 1981 for seven episodes, with Jerry Reed playing J.D. Reed and Geoffrey Scott taking over Tom Selleck’s role as Will Eubanks. The movie itself was released as a film in other countries with titles such as Highway Action, Nashville Detective and Ramblin’ Man. 

Reed and Eubanks are two friends who constantly get on each one another’s nerves in the best of ways. Reed is devoted to gambling while Eubanks always has a book in hand. They leave a rigged card game by destroying the gas station that it was in and hop a train for Hollywood but end up in Nashville. There, they stay in the home of their friend Lonnie (Randy Powell) and get caught up in a scheme that involves Kate (Morgan Fairchild) looking for her lost singer sister Carla (also Fairchild), which brings them into the orbit of Ray Stevens, Roy Acuff and Barbara Mandrell, all playing themselves. There’s also famous country star Woody Stone (Claude Akins), a sheriff played by Elvis’ bodyguard Red West, a madame played by Lucille Benson (Mrs. Elrod, who is a major star here) and it’s all written by Hammer writer Jimmy Sangster. Huh? How is this possible? What if I told you that Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer, of course) is also in this?

It’s directed by Burt Kennedy (Support Your Local Sheriff!, All the Kind Strangers, Suburban Commando) who was also a noted writer of Westerns and a fencing stunt double. He was in vaudeville at the age of four and received the Silver Star, Bronze Star,and Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster for his bravery in World War II.

I love that each chapter has paintings by Jaroslav Gebr. It gives the show a Western feel while showcasing his great art. Gebr also worked on The Sting, Buck Rogers In the 25th Century, Battlestar Galactica, Xanadu, The Blues Brothers and so many more TV shows. You can learn more about his art at the official website.

Don’t have the box set? You can watch this on Tubi.