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Nancy McKeon's TV movies


Another thread to discus the films of an actress known for her TV movie career. Here are the ones I've seen:

1. This Child is Mine (1985) Lindsay Wagner and her husband (Chris Sarandon) adopt Nancy's baby, and then Nancy changes her mind, and wants to raise the baby herself. This is pretty good, but not great.

2. Strange Voices (1987) Nancy stars as a college student who starts to show signs of having schizophrenia. Valerie Harper costars as Nancy's concerned mother. I like this one.

3. A Cry For Help: The Tracey Thurman Story (1989) Nancy stars as a woman who can't seem to get any protection from her abusive ex-husband. She calls the police repeatedly, but they don't take her seriously until it's too late. This one is still frequently shown on Lifetime.

4. Baby Snatcher (1992) Nancy is a single mother, whose baby is kidnapped by a desperate woman (Veronica Hamel). This is good, but not as good as "Empty Cradle", which is a similar story.

5. In My Sister's Shadow (1999) Nancy stars as a woman who falls for her sister's stalker. Janet Leigh has a large supporting role as Nancy's mother. I like this one very much- mainly because it is Janet Leigh's last good part.

6. Comfort and Joy (2003) Nancy stars as a single woman who gets into a car accident on Christmas Eve. She awakens to find herself living a different life, as a wife and mother. This is pretty good for a Christmas TV movie.

7. The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982) This is great as a novelty- seeing the "Facts of Life" cast star in a movie that is shot on film (instead of being shot on videotape like their sitcom). I highly recommend this.

8. High School USA (1983) Very weak TV movie with an amazing cast. Michael J. Fox, Dana Plato, Dawn Wells, Dwayne Hickman, Todd Bridges, Bob Denver, Tony Dow, Crispin Glover, and Anthony Edwards are just a few of the stars. Unfortunately the script is beyond horrible.

...Those are the ones I've seen so far.

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A CRY FOR HELP is definitely the best of her TV movies, she was just so good as 'Tracey Thurman' not bad in STRANGE VOICES either. I like BABY SNATCHER, but more so because I'm a big fan of Veronica Hamel, have to agree with you though, this one is not as good as EMPTY CRADLE didn't really like THIS CHILD IS MINE, it was a bit too "soapy" for me, also wasn't too impressed with the acting. I haven't seen the others, but IN MY SISTER'S SHADOW sounds interesting.

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IloveKoba,
You're right about "This Child is Mine". But I didn't think it was awful.

I think you'd like "In My Sister's Shadow".

And I agree that Veronica Hamel is great. I also liked her in "A Child's Cry for Help" with Pam Dawber, and "She Said No" with Lee Grant. Veronica is a terrific actress.

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I saw Nancy in the 2006 disaster miniseries "Category 6: Day of Destruction". I really enjoyed that one, especially because I love disaster movies. Brian Dennehy and Randy Quaid costarred.

I think I saw most if not all of "Comfort and Joy" and I enjoyed that one, too, even if it was just a tv movie version of "The Family Man", a Nicholas Cage movie.

I keep meaning to watch the Tracey Thurman movie. I have it on my DVR.

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I saw Nancy in the 2006 disaster miniseries "Category 6: Day of Destruction". I really enjoyed that one, especially because I love disaster movies. Brian Dennehy and Randy Quaid costarred. Yes!

I keep meaning to watch the Tracey Thurman movie. I have it on my DVRIt's so good, but you will rage. The worst part is you know that it is a true story. Though I'm sure some parts were overly dramatized, even if only the core of the story is true it is horrible enough to disturb you. Also for me, having to watch Dale Midkiff in that role...it is such a contrast from his fairly recent Love Comes Softly character. My mom got me watching disaster movies and the Love series. Haha.



Rest in peace Sherman Hemsley. You will be missed.

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Thanks tvmovieviewer!

Some of these I haven't seen in years. A couple I don't believe I have ever seen, like High School USA, though it's possible. I wish Lifetime aired some of their older movies more often (or even at all for some of them) because they really were much better than the more recent movies.

Strange Voices was really good and I think (especially for the times) it was a great intro for people who don't understand mental illness. People can still learn a lot from it. I also felt a personal connection to this movie so I may be biased.

A Cry for Help made me really mad. Especially considering it was a true story. I thought Nancy was really good in it. And to see Dale Midkiff in that type of role was eye opening to say the least. He actually scared me a bit.

Comfort and Joy was such a fun movie to watch for the holidays.

Baby Snatcher was definitely good. I don't remember what happened in Empty Cradle but I feel like I've seen it years ago. I remember Lori Loughlin being on Full House and them advertising it, but when I was young we didn't have cable. Do you know if Lifetime lets their movies air on other stations? Or if they did? I just found it on youtube and I'm going to watch soon!

There was a period when I enjoyed anything Facts of Life-related so I'm sure I'm sure I've seen it before but I'm still I'm going to try to watch that on youtube soon as well.


Rest in peace Sherman Hemsley. You will be missed.

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Kelea7,
"Empty Cradle" wasn't made for Lifetime. It was made for one of the 3 major networks (NBC, ABC or CBS) but LMN (Lifetime Movie Network) is the only channel that still airs it occasionally.

I'm glad you can watch it on youtube- it's very good.

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Oh! That makes so much sense with what I remember, because I definitely recall it being advertised as I explained it. Thanks.




Rest in peace Sherman Hemsley. You will be missed.

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Nancy mckeon is great.

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