Steven Helmer Publications

People who know me know I'm really not that big on nostalgia. However, there are exceptions to that, including my tendency to re-watch some of my favorite shows from when I was a kid (and some from before I was a kid). This includes Night Court , which I've watched in re-runs more times than I can count, including as recent as this morning. One thing I've noticed as I once again rewatched the series that ran from 1984 until 1992 is, while the outstanding ensemble of main characters is obviously what people remember, the show also got a nice boost from what I like to refer to as part-time employees. These are characters that were only on the show for a short time, either for certain storylines as a fill in for when one of the main cast members was absent or left the series. They may not have been there long or received top billing, but they kept Night Court rolling. Here are my five favorites:  Court Clerk Mavis Tuttle (Alice Drummond) - I won't go into details about th...

Synopsis: Two lower-level employees at an insurance company discover $2 million in fraud. Hoping for promotions, they report their discovery to their boss, Bernie Lomax, who promptly invites them to spend the holiday weekend at his beach house in the Hamptons. When they arrive, they find their boss dead and, later, learn he was the one stealing from the company and has arranged for them to be murdered. Believing it is their only chance to avoid being killed; they go out of their way to convince everyone Bernie is still alive. Who's in it?  The movie stars Andrew McCarthy , Jonathan Silverman , Terry Kiser , Catherine Mary Stewart and Don Calfa. You can read my review here:  Movie Review: Weekend at Bernie's (1989) (wizzley.com)

I am a person who has always believed a television series can be made stronger by having a good nemesis for a beloved character. House, MD , for example, finally hit its stride for me when the series introduced Edward Vogler ( Chi McBride ) and wasn't as enjoyable when they wrote him off the show. Even the original episodes of this series had their share of recurring villains, ranging from sleezy journalist Al Craven ( Terry Kiser ) to Dan Fielding's ( John Larroquette ) boss, Vincent Daniels ( Daniel Frishman ) that added an element of suspense to a comedy series. This is why I feel the decision to make podcaster Remecca ( Stephnie Weir ) just a one-and-done character in last night's episode was a mistake. Remecca reminded me a lot of Al Craven, who was a thorn in Harry Stone's ( Harry Anderson ) side because he was always working to portray things in a negative light. This included everything from finding out about Harry's criminal record to finding out confidenti...

Synopsis : Years after causing her abusive and alcoholic father's death, a telekinetic teenager returns to Crystal Lake with her mom and her psychiatrist, Dr. Crews, who is secretly trying to exploit her gift. When her powers grow stronger, she accidentally releases Jason Voorhees (still chained to the bottom of the lake) and he immediately starts another killing spree. Who's in it? The movie stars Lar Park-Lincoln , Terry Kiser , Kane Hodder , Susan Blu and Kevin Spirtas. Review : Even though I recorded this film when I came across it on one of our movie channels a few days ago, I wasn't really sure if I was going to end up watching it. However, the 6th installment of this movie franchise wasn't too terrible (and was an improvement over the two that preceded it). So, as a result of that, I gave this installment a try too. Unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations. I think the biggest problem with this film is the same one I see with a lot of sequel...