Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up.
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?
Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.
After 15 years of marriage, Katie and her husband, Ben, have grown apart. While they keep up the facade of having a contented marriage, mostly to not worry their children, they aren't happy together and argue frequently. While the kids are away at camp, Katie and Ben decide to separate and try to reassess their relationship to see if they should stay together or split up for good.
Roland Dane finally retires to the house he was brought up in. Lost in thoughts of his lost love Lark, he does not want to be disturbed in his last days. However, the appearance of his niece and her subsequent romance with Lark's nephew causes him to reevaluate his life and offer some advice so the young couple doesn't make the same mistake he did, all those years ago.
Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.
An animated show about a bison with his own talk show modeled after the Jack Benny Show.
After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.
A innocent dentist is murdered and the only apparent motive seems to be to steal a set of dental x-rays. To the police it looks like an accident, but private eye Brad Runyan thinks there's more to it.
After winning a beauty contest in Texas, a teenage girl is unprepared for the demands of travel, press conferences and interviews that go with winning the title and participating in a national beauty pageant.
Sociology professor Steve MacInter is conducting a survey at Collins College about the mores and lifestyles of the young people. Some of the good citizens begin to find exception to his sociological survey when they find out it includes questions about sex. Reporter Betty Ducayne receives an anonymous tip that the good professor is engaging in corruption of youth and when Steve's past comes up to haunt him, all heck breaks loose.
Ben and Beatrice Chambers discover that their son Norman is gay and so Ben is intent on setting him right.
Following American reporter Stephen Fitzgerald from Ireland to New York, a grateful leprechaun acts as the newsman's servant and conscience.
In Las Vegas, two best friends--a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
A suburban housewife writes a novel based on her neighbors' sex lives. It becomes a runaway best seller, but causes no end of trouble in her marriage and her relationships with her neighbors.
King David enters into an adulterous affair with the beautiful Bathsheba, which has tragic consequences for his family and Israel.
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.
Spoiled socialite Cynthia Grace is suffering from a blood clot. Not unexpectedly, Tommy Coalt falls in love with Cynthia, much to her parents' dismay. Soon he's drawing up plans to marry the girl and setting up private practice in a smaller town.
Don't Ask Me, Ask God is a TV Special starring Michael J. Fox.
The team of smart-talkin' toddlers known as Everything Is Terrible! have once again emerged from their VHS cocoons to conjure a jam on culture so culture-jamtastic that we're sorry we can't be there to hold your hand as you watch in dazed amazement. Thousands of hours of brain-boiling footage have been concentrated into an impenetrable jewel of an experience, teach us once and for all that loving well is the best revenge.
A dramatization of the story of legendary movie actor James Dean. The film's writer, William Bast, had roomed with Dean in the early '50s, when both were trying to break into films as actors, and was his lover for a time.
Star-studded charity New York City premiere of the film Giant.
New Tinseltown gossip columnist Dina Moran helps faded movie star Georgia O'Hanlon dig up dirt on amoral characters.
An over-the-hill gumshoe reluctantly teams with worldly retired master thief to solve a string of art thefts and murders.
A New Jersey trucker creates a hit TV show with help from his girlfriend in the ratings business.
Jane Osgood runs a lobster business, which supports her two young children. Railroad staff inattention ruins her shipment, so with her lawyer George, Jane sues Harry Foster Malone, director of the line and the "meanest man in the world".
Mitch Robbins' 40th birthday begins quite well until he returns home and finds his brother Glen, the black sheep of the family, in his sofa. Nevertheless he is about to have a wonderful birthday-night with his wife when he discovers a treasure map of Curly by chance. Together with Phil and unfortunately Glen he tries to find the hidden gold of Curly's father in the desert of Arizona.
Three New York businessmen decide to take a "Wild West" vacation that turns out not to be the relaxing vacation they had envisioned.
Hired by the deceased's ex-wife, a private eye checks out the death of a gay man who had AIDS.
Inheriting a family resort in Hawaii, the Wyatts find it in such a run-down condition that they decide to sell it after trying to fix it up. Amidst confusing goings-on among the triplet teenage girls and the boys they meet, Jeffrey meets an old high school rival who promises to keep the resort as-is if Jeffrey will sell it to him. He has other plans in mind, however, and they are not limited merely to Jeffrey's resort
Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows teach viewers computer terminology, basic functionality and the many common uses of home computers.
A bumbling art expert, hired by an insurance company to protect a Rembrandt on loan from the Louvre, schemes to steal it.
Interwoven with scenes that are meant to grab attention by their stunning composition, this biographical look at Finland's violinist Arto Arsi is not so much a narration of his childhood and early years, as an attempt to artistically show what was happening inside his psyche during that time. Literally sold to a master teacher, Sergei Rippas (Tarmo Manni) by his mother when he was still a child, the violin prodigy was forcefully and strictly raised to practice, practice, and perfect his technique. Once an adult, Arsi finds a way to escape the rigors of a U.S. tour and drowns his overworked self in drink, or seeks out one-night stands, or otherwise lets off steam. The tightly-wound spring that has been coiled since he was forced into his grueling training and work sessions -- shown through symbolic images -- eventually snaps in a healthy way, freeing Arsi at last to continue on, simply for the love of music.
Members of a town's Jewish community decide to substitute for their Christian friends and neighbors so they can enjoy Christmas. The good folk humorously attempt jobs they have never done before.
Kermit the Frog throws a glamorous party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub to celebrate the premiere of the Muppets' first feature film, The Muppet Movie. Hosts Dick van Dyke and Rita Moreno interview the wide array of celebrities and Muppets who attend the event. Gary Owens serves as off-camera announcer, and appears on-screen to introduce Miss Piggy.
A look at the legacy of icon actor James Dean on the 40th anniversary of his tragic death. The special follows his life and career, with obvious attention to the three big films that made him a legend; and interviews with the people who knew him.
Filmed in 1983 at Las Vegas's Tropicana Hotel and hosted by Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley, this variety special features a star-studded cast. Performers include Kiley, who sings his show-stopping rendition of "The Impossible Dream," and Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, who belts out "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows, Roberta Peters, impressionist Rich Little and mime duo Shields & Yarnell also make appearances.