Fran Ryan Filmography

Night Court: A Family Affair, Part 1

Synopsis: Season Eight of Night Court goes into session with the first episode of a two-part story, as Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) learns that, thanks to an unforeseen technicality, he must get a high-school diploma if he wants to keep his job. At the same time, public defender Christine Sullivan Read More

Night Court: A Family Affair, Part 2

Synopsis: In the conclusion of Night Court's two-part Season Eight opener, court bailiff Dan (Richard Moll) is in hot water with prosecutor Dan (John Larroquette) after allowing Dan's promiscuous sister Donna (Susan Diol) to seduce him. Also, Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) may not get his belated Read More

Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again

Actors: Christopher Rich, Lauren Holly, Karen Kopins, Sam Whipple, Gary Kroeger

Synopsis: Archie Andrews and his Riverdale buddies Jughead, Betty, and Veronica, from the enduring adolescent comic book, are all grown up and trying to deal with the '90s in this live-action comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Chances Are

Actors: Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey, Jr., Ryan O'Neal, Mary Stuart Masterson, Christopher McDonald

Synopsis: Handsome young Washington attorney Louie Jeffries (Chris McDonald) has it all: a promising career, a beautiful wife, and a baby on the way. But after discovering a local judge is in cahoots with the Mob, Louie bites it in a car crash and finds himself in Heaven. Unsatisfied with the customer Read More

Out Cold

Actors: John Lithgow, Teri Garr, Randy Quaid, Bruce McGill, Lisa Blount

Synopsis: Dave (John Lithgow), a meek, unassuming man who's the co-owner of a butcher shop, discovers his obnoxious business partner Ernie (Bruce McGill) dead in the meat locker. Dave thinks he might have accidentally locked Ernie in and caused his death. Much of the movie involves Dave's efforts to dispose Read More

Murder, She Wrote: The Sins of Castle Cove

Synopsis: In an episode clearly inspired by Peyton Place, a former student of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) scandalizes the town of Cabot Cove when she publishes a thinly-disguised "roman a clef" titled "The Sins of Castle Cove." The locals aren't too happy that their personalities and peccadilloes Read More

Nick Knight

Actors: Rick Springfield

Synopsis: A night beat cop, a good vampire who only drinks cows' blood, is after a bad vampire, who is sucking the blood of the city's human inhabitants. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Thanksgiving Day

Synopsis: In this black comedy, a wealthy but flaky family tries to deal with their lives after their bizarre father suffers a fatal heart-attack on Thanksgiving and falls face first into the turkey. Now the family must somehow get their act together enough to pay bills and make funeral arrangements. Read More

Lucky Stiff

Actors: Donna Dixon, Joe Alaskey, Jeff Kober, Barbara Howard, Fran Ryan

Synopsis: In this black comedy about cannibalism, an overweight man (Joe Alaskey) is thrilled when a beautiful woman (Donna Dixon) invites him to her family's home for Christmas dinner. Little does he know that he's slated to be the main course. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Murphy Brown: Nowhere to Run

Synopsis: It is obvious that Murphy (Candice Bergen) is back at the top of her game when she files a story exposing a major mob functionary who is connected with a prostitution ring. Unfortunately, the mob concludes that the exposee was actually the handiwork of Murphy's producer Miles (Grant Shaud). Read More

Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge

Actors: Steve Forrest, James Arness, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor

Synopsis: James Arness returns to the role of US marshal Matt Dillon after a twelve-year absence in the made-for-TV Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge. Amanda Blake is also back as Miss Kitty, "hostess" of Dodge City's Long Branch saloon. The plot involves Dillon's reunion with Kitty in a Dodge City festooned with Read More

Night Court: Paternity

Synopsis: Dan's chickens come home to roost when the libidinous prosecutor is slapped with a paternity suit. The plot thickens when Dan (John Larroquette) comes face to face with the 10-year-old (Matt Shackman) claiming to be his son. And elsewhere, Bull (Richard Moll) is surprised by the competition in his Read More

Quiet Cool

Actors: James Remar, Adam Coleman Howard, Daphne Ashbrook, Jared Martin, Nick Cassavetes

Synopsis: This actioner is set in a remote, heavily forested area in Northern California where marijuana growers raise their illegal crops and run whole communities with their terrorist tactics and wealth. The tale centers on the efforts of a fearless New York cop to free one such community from the tyranny Read More

Stewardess School

Actors: Brett Cullen, Mary Cadorette, Don Most, Sandahl Bergman, Vicki Frederick

Synopsis: Columbia Pictures spent as estimated $8 million dollars on this laughless sex comedy that crashes and burns before ever leaving the ground. Two bumbling boneheads who are kicked out of flying school decide to remain airborne by becoming stewardesses. Bathroom humor, sight gags, and the Read More

Father of Hell Town

Actors: Robert Blake, Jeff Corey, James Gammon

Synopsis: This made-for-TV movie was edited from several episodes of the short-lived television series Hell Town, in which Robert Blake starred as Father Noah "Hardstep" Rivers, a tough but giving Catholic priest trying to do good works in a rough ghetto neighborhood. Also appearing in Father of Hell Town Read More

Rebel Love

Actors: Jamie Rose, Terence Knox, Fran Ryan, Charlie Hill, Carl Spurlock

Synopsis: This drama concerns a romance that crosses the lines of North and South during the American Civil War. Colombine (Jamie Rose) is a Yankee war widow who one day welcomes an ailing traveling salesman into her home. As the two interact, she falls in love and eventually the "salesman" reveals he is Read More

The Sure Thing

Actors: John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards, Boyd Gaines, Tim Robbins, Lisa Jane Persky

Synopsis: Director Rob Reiner's The Sure Thing is essentially It Happened One Night for the 1980s, but its lack of surprise in no way impedes its entertainment value. John Cusack plays Walter "Gib" Gibson, a self-involved college freshman who makes plans to head to California, there to touch base (and a few Read More

Eyes of Fire

Actors: Dennis Lipscomb, Rebecca Stanley, Sally Klein

Synopsis: An interesting diversion for the genre, this stylish but leaden supernatural period piece tells the tale of an 18th-century minister (Dennis Lipscomb) and his flock who are exiled to the wilderness after being accused of witchcraft by the citizens of Dalton's Ferry. The small community settles Read More

Ghost Dancing

Actors: Dorothy McGuire, Victoria Racimo

Synopsis: In a rare television appearance, Dorothy McGuire plays a farm widow who has been impoverished by the siphoning of her water supply. A nearby big-city aqueduct has priority over water rights, leaving the rural outskirts virtually dry. Attempting to bring her cause to the forefront, McGuire Read More

Tough Enough

Actors: Dennis Quaid, Carlene Watkins, Stan Shaw, Pam Grier, Warren Oates

Synopsis: In this sports-oriented drama, Art Long (Dennis Quaid), a loser as a country singer, starts competing in local fist-fight matches in order to bring home a little extra cash -- and is caught up in his successes enough to continue on to the big national finals. Predictable from the first round Read More

Private School

Actors: Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell, Matthew Modine, Michael Zorek, Fran Ryan

Synopsis: Three of the hallmarks of education in America -- nudity, teenage sex, and big, destructive gags -- are on plentiful display in this teen comedy. Christine (Phoebe Cates), a student at an exclusive all-girls private school, is in love with Jim (Matthew Modine), who attends an academy for boys Read More

Laverne & Shirley: The Monastery Show

Synopsis: This unique episode features only one of the series' regulars--namely, Lavrne (Penny Marshall). Depressed over recent events in her life, Laverne retreats to a monastery in hopes of getting her head together. Under the watchful eye of the Mother Superior (Fran Ryan), Shirley does her best to fit Read More

Brainwash

Actors: Yvette Mimieux, Christopher Allport, Cindy Pickett, John Considine, Walter Olkewicz

Synopsis: Also known as Mystique, Brainwash and The Naked Weekend, Circle of Power is not recommended viewing for any aspiring executive about to undergo leadership classes. Yvette Mimieux plays the head of an organization called Executive Development Training, or EDT for short. Her grueling Read More

Johnny Belinda

Actors: Richard Thomas, Rosanna Arquette, Dennis Quaid

Synopsis: Rosanna Arquette stars in this TV remake about a young deaf mute who is befriended by the town doctor. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Savannah Smiles

Actors: Mark Miller, Donovan Scott, Bridgette Andersen, Peter Graves, Chris Robinson

Synopsis: Savannah Smiles is a sweet little film that proved a surprising hit on the Saturday matinee circuit. Mark Miller and Donovan Scott play a pair of good-natured escaped convicts who cross the path of precocious runaway Bridgette Andersen. When Andersen explains that she's hit the road because her Read More

Taxi: Elegant Iggy

Synopsis: Elaine (Marilu Henner) is convinced that an invitation to a fashionable art-society party is her ticket to success in the art world. But she is not so certain that burned-out hippie Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) is the right person to escort her to the party. Alas, just as Elaine has Read More

The Dukes of Hazzard: Duke vs. Duke

Synopsis: It's time again for the annual illegal Hazzard County Derby, staged (as usual) by the redoubtable Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke). Through a series of unforseen circumstances, the Duke boys are forced to race against each other, with Bo (John Schneider) in the "General Lee" and Luke (Tom Wopat) Read More

Take This Job and Shove It

Actors: Robert Hays, Art Carney, Barbara Hershey, David Keith, Tim Thomerson

Synopsis: Inspired by Johnny Paycheck's song of the same name, Take This Job and Shove It is a comedy/drama of big business vs. little guys. His corporate employers put Frank Maclin in charge of a project to shape up a newly acquired brewery. It just so happens that this places him back in his Iowa hometown Read More

Stripes

Actors: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Candy

Synopsis: Bill Murray decides to be all that he can be -- and it ain't pretty -- in this hit comedy. John Winger (Murray) is a quick-witted but unambitious loser who comes home after getting fired to discover that his car has been repossessed and his girlfriend is leaving him. With no idea of what to do Read More

The Waltons: The Hostage

Synopsis: Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) comes to the rescue of a 14-year-old mountain girl named Sissie (Debbie Lytton) , whose father has sold her into marriage. Angry over Mary Ellen's interference, Sissy's prospective husband Job (Gary Grubbs) kidnaps Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) in retaliation. On a Read More

The Adventures of Nellie Bly

Actors: Gene Barry, J.D. Cannon, Linda Purl, John Randolph

Synopsis: Linda Purl stars as Nellie Bly, famed 19th century female journalist, in this "Classics Illustrated" TV movie. A tireless crusader, Nellie exposes corruption amongst the rich of New York and miserable working conditions amongst the poor. In her most famous exploit, Nellie decides to emulate Jules Read More

The Long Riders

Actors: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Stacy Keach, James Keach, Dennis Quaid

Synopsis: The hook in Walter Hill's mythic retelling of the James-Younger outlaw legend is in the casting; the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford Brothers are played by a string of acting brothers, the Keachs, the Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests. The film begins as outlaws are robbing a bank. After the Read More

Christmas Mountain

Synopsis: In this holiday western an aging saddletramp discovers the spirit of Christmas when he must spend it with a widow and her family during the great blizzard of 1888. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Rocky II

Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith

Synopsis: By concentrating on character development with this first of several sequels to his Oscar-winning smash Rocky (1976), writer/director Sylvester Stallone earned critical praise that would desert him with the boxing saga's shallower subsequent chapters. Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, a Read More

The Waltons: The Attack

Synopsis: Under intense pressure to keep his store solvent while still obeying the new wartime price and rationing restrictions, Ike Godsey (Joe Conley) suffers a heart attack. As the Waltons lend a helping hand at the store, Ike is pressured by his wife Corabeth to sell the place and retire -- and to prove Read More

Big Wednesday

Actors: Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, Gary Busey, Patti D'Arbanville, Lee Purcell

Synopsis: Jan-Michael Vincent plays a self-destructive beach bum to whom surfing is a Zen experience. We first meet Vincent in the devil-may-care 1960s, in the company of his carefree buddies William Katt and Gary Busey. The boys reunite ten years later, after one has served time in Vietnam. The beach is Read More

Straight Time

Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh

Synopsis: Paroled criminal Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman) is compelled to withstand the calculated cruelties of slimy parole officer Earl Frank (M. Emmet Walsh). The more Max tries to go straight, the more he is defeated by circumstance or hectored by the sadistic Frank. It becomes clear after a while that Read More

The Great Brain

Synopsis: In this family film, based on John D. Fitzgerald's award-winning children's novel, set in Utah during the early 1900s, a young boy has great fun conning his family, friends, and neighbors, until he finds himself in hot water. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Charlie's Angels: Terror on Ward One

Actors: Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, David F. Doyle, Richard Derr

Synopsis: A rapist, disguised in surgical garb, has been attacking on-duty student nurses at a hospital during the night shift. To flush out the assailant, the Angels go undercover at the hospital, bringing Bosley (David Doyle) along for backup. As Sabrina (Kate Jackson) poses as an investigative reporter Read More

Deadly Game

Actors: Andy Griffith

Synopsis: Twice during the mid-1970s, Andy Griffith unsuccessfully attempted to launch a TV detective series titled Abel Marsh. The first pilot film was The Girl in the Empty Grave; the second was The Deadly Game. Griffith once again stars as resort-town sheriff Abel Marsh, this time wrestling with a Read More

The Apple Dumpling Gang

Actors: Bill Bixby, Susan Clark, Don Knotts, Tim Conway, David Wayne

Synopsis: The Apple Dumpling Gang stars Bill Bixby as Russell Donovan, a slick frontier gambler. In Runyon-esque fashion, he is compelled to look after three precocious oprhaned kids. He can't handle the responsibilities alone, so he agrees to an in-name-only marriage to hoydenish stagecoach driver Read More

Gunsmoke: Season 20

Actors: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor, Fran Ryan

Synopsis: The record-breaking 20th season of Gunsmoke also proved to be the series' last stand--not because it had lost its huge fan base (the series still managed to rank among the 30 highest-rated series for the 1974-75 season) but because, after two decades, James Arness had decided to move beyond his Read More

How to Seduce a Woman

Actors: Jackie Brett, Angus Duncan Mackintosh, Eileen McDonough, Schoneberg

Synopsis: This sex farce stars Angus Duncan as a lothario on a mission to sleep with five very different women. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters: Season 02

Actors: Johnny Whitaker, Scott Kolden, Billy Barty, Rip Taylor, Fran Ryan

Synopsis: Several changes are effected for Sigmund and the Sea Monsters as the Saturday-morning Krofft Brothers comedy series enters its second season. The opening episode, "A Genie for Sigmund", introduces zany comedian Rip Taylor as Sheldon, a bumbling genie found hiding in a seashell by the series' title Read More

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters: Season 01

Actors: Johnny Whitaker, Scott Kolden, Billy Barty, Mary Wickes, Joe Higgins

Synopsis: Season One of Sid and Marty Krofft's whimsically wacky Saturday-morning series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters begins as young Johnny and Scott Stuart (Johnny Whitaker, Scott Kolden) befriend a green, pint-sized, tentacled sea monster named Sigmund Ooze (Billy Barty), who has been disowned by his Read More

Pickup on 101

Synopsis: In this counter-culture melodrama, a youthful hitcher teams up with an aging vagabond on a lonely Southwestern road. The two are given a lift by an unemployed rocker. Soon the three find themselves at odds with assorted "establishment" characters until the old hobo has a fatal heart attack. As he Read More

Bonanza: A Visit to Upright

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mitch Vogel, Alan Oppenheimer

Synopsis: Three of the Cartwright men-Joe, Hoss and Jamie-head to the town of Upright to sell a rundown saloon. They decide to hold onto the property when it develops that a fortune in gold might be hidden on the premises. The boys' insistence upon retaining the saloon messes up Ben's business deal with Read More

Million Dollar Duck

Actors: Sandy Duncan, Dean Jones, Lee Montgomery, Joe Flynn, Tony Roberts

Synopsis: In $1,000,000 Duck, the titular duck is exposed to radiation and begins laying golden eggs, which brings it under the scrutiny of the treasury department, the FBI, and a gang of comic-opera crooks. The cast includes Disney perennials Dean Jones and Joe Flynn, with Sandy Duncan taking over the part Read More

Scandalous John

Actors: Freddie Hernandez, Brian Keith

Synopsis: The Old West is just not the same, what with so few cattle being run, and law-abiding folk running around like they own everything. In this family comedy drama, it's too much for John McCanless (Brian Keith). He is a cranky old rancher and former gunslinger who has no intention of selling his Read More

Green Acres: Season 06

Actors: Eddie Albert, Eva Gabor, Pat Buttram, Tom Lester, Alvy Moore

Synopsis: The merriment continues unabated as Green Acres enters its sixth and last season, with city slickers Oliver and Lisa Douglas (Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor) no more successful at managing a rural farm than they'd been in season one. New to the cast is Judy McConnell as Darlene Wheeler, the latest of Read More

The Partridge Family: My Son, the Feminist

Synopsis: To impress his latest girlfriend Tina (Jane Actman), Keith (David Cassidy) pretends to be a staunch supporter of the Women's Liberation Movement. As a result, the reluctant Partridges are expected to perform Tina's wretched "activist" songs at an upcoming rally for P.O.W. (Power of Women)--and to Read More

I Dream of Jeannie: One of Our Hotels is Growing

Synopsis: Tony (Larry Hagman), Jeannie (Barbara Eden), Roger (Bill Daily) and Dr. and Mrs. Bellows (Hayden Rorke, Emmaline Henry) head to LA to spend a weekend vacation at a fancy hotel. Alas, although the Bellows are registered, Roger was unable to secure rooms for himself and Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. Thus Read More

Green Acres: Eb Uses His Ingenuity

Actors: Fran Ryan, Jean Blake, Gaye Huston

Synopsis: Eb (Tom Lester) needs money in a hurry, but Oliver (Eddie Albert) refuses to give him a loan, suggesting instead that Eb rely on his "ingenuity" to raise the necessary funds. Oliver soon regrets his words when Eb not only transforms the Douglas farm into a baby care assembly line, but also rents Read More

Adam-12: Log 142: As High as You Are

Synopsis: In their efforts to arrest an injured burglary suspect, Officers Malloy (Martin Milner) and Reed (Kent McCord) encounter resistance in the form of a rampaging street gang. Elsewhere, the two cops are summoned to an apartment house, where the residents are up in arms over a rather unusual family Read More

Green Acres: Retreat from Washington

Actors: Guy Raymond, Fran Ryan, Dodo Denney, Robert Sampson, Ketty Lester

Synopsis: In the conclusion of a two-part story arc, Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram) watches the Douglas farm in Hooterville while Oliver (Eddie Albert), Lisa (Eva Gabor), Kimball (Alvy Moore), and Arnold the pig are in Washington. Seeking a quick financial turnover, Haney decides to temporarily transform the farm Read More

The Doris Day Show: Season 01

Actors: Doris Day, Denver Pyle, Fran Ryan, James Hampton, Philip Brown

Synopsis: Newly widowed Doris Martin (Doris Day) and her two sons Toby (Tod Starke) and Billy (Philip Brown) move into the farm owned by Doris' uncle Buck Webb (Denver Pyle) as The Doris Day Show launches its first season. Featured in the early episodes are James Hampton as Buck's versatile hired hand Read More

The Beverly Hillbillies: The Housekeeper

Synopsis: Feeling that Granny is overworked, Mr. Drysdale hires a housekeeper named Miss Meek (Fran Ryan) to help out at the Clampett mansion. Unfortunately, Miss Meek's working methods leave a lot to be desired; she'd rather sleep than dust, vacuum, or cook. Even worse, the new servant immediately rubs old Read More

Green Acres [TV Series]

Actors: Eva Gabor, Eddie Albert, Pat Buttram, Tom Lester, Alvy Moore

Synopsis: The third of producer Paul Henning's enormously successful "rustic" comedies of the 1960s, Green Acres made its CBS bow on September 15, 1965. Reversing the situation established on Henning's The Beverly Hillbillies, in which a group of yokels was transplanted to luxurious Beverly Hills, Green Read More