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One cannot understate the strange cultural dominance Hugh Wilson's 1984 comedy "Police Academy" held over the pop zeitgeist throughout the 1980s. Clearly a child of "Animal House," "Police Academy" was a traditional snobs-vs.-slobs comedy that pitted winking wiseacres against their stern commanding officers at a police school in an unnamed city. I've long had a theory that the "Police Academy" movies take place in Metropolis, the city where Superman lives. With Superman taking care of major crimes, the local police force would likely become complacent, unused to enforcing the law. 

None of the "Police Academy" movies were well-reviewed, recognized by critics as crass, dumb, and low-brow. This is a series that banks on misogyny, offensive stereotypes, and a lot of crotch/sex humor. There is no wit to the "Police Academy" movies. Roger Ebert famously gave the first film zero stars, citing merely how dreadfully unfunny and uninspired it is.

Shout Factory announced today that they will be releasing The Police Academy Collection, a Blu-ray set that will feature all seven movies in the comedy series. The set will be available on November 21st.

The first movie in the Police Academy franchise kicked off the premise when a newly elected mayor announced a policy that required the police department to accept all willing recruits. This leads to a group of misfits attempting to prove themselves as police officers, and naturally, hilarity ensues. Steve Guttenberg starred as Carey Mahoney in the first four movies.

Here’s the list of Police Academy movies included in Shout Factory’s Blu-ray collection:

Police Academy (1984) Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988) Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989) Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994)

The only actors who...

George R. Robertson, the Canadian actor who portrayed the police chief and later police commissioner Henry Hurst in the first six Police Academy films, has died. He was 89.

Robertson died Sunday at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, his family announced.

Robertson also showed up in small roles in three films that were nominated for the best picture Oscar — Airport (1970), Norma Rae (1979) and JFK (1991) — and portrayed vice president Dick Cheney in the 2006 ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11.

Robertson appeared as Hurst in 1994 in the first Police Academy movie, directed by Hugh Wilson, and stuck around through Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989). His character grows more tolerant of the wacky recruits led by Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) as the franchise moves along.

The actor did not make the trip to Moscow for the 1994 installment but was on one episode of the 1997-98 Police Academy series at CTV.

George Ross Robertson...

In 1984 audiences were enchanted by the bright- eyed — and quirkily named — Punky Brewster. Abandoned by her parents, the original NBC iteration of “Punky Brewster” followed the titular character, played with charm by Soleil Moon Frye, as she and her dog lived life with her foster dad, the crotchety but loving Henry (George Gaynes).

The original “Punky Brewster” ran for just four seasons with an abrupt cancellation in 1988. Though popular in the way most nostalgic 1980s series are today, the show never sustained a massive following like “Full House,” sticking in audiences’ minds more for its memorable title and bonkers “very special episodes,” including one about the dangers of being locked in a refrigerator. That being said, the series did connect with fans who had been through the foster system, remaining one of the only sitcoms to discuss foster care.

That being said, there is a question of just what audience...

In the mid to late-1980s, the titular character on “Punky Brewster” (played by Soleil Moon Frye) was a free-spirited, elementary school student coming of age while being raised by a foster father Henry, played by George Gaynes. Now, almost four decades later, Punky is a newly single mom experiencing a second coming-of-age when she bonds with young, free-spirited foster girl Izzy, played by Quinn Copeland, in Peacock’s continuation series of the same name.

“Really through Izzy’s character Punky finds so much of her Punky power again,” Frye, who also serves as executive producer on the new show tells Variety. “I feel like so many of us grow up and it’s so easy to forget that inner spark. So, to feel that coming back again and reigniting is such an amazing and incredible feeling for both me and for Punky.”

The first 10-episode season of Peacock’s...

Margaux’s catchphrase “peasants!” never quite took off on Punky Brewster, but that didn’t stop her from being a part of the title character’s ragtag gang of pals. And now fans of the original will be happy to learn — via the exclusive Season 1 sneak peek photo above — that Ami Foster will reprise her role as Margaux in a guest-starring turn.

All grown up like her good friends Punky (star Soleil Moon Frye) and Cherie (Cherie Johnson), Margaux is now a high-powered owner of a PR firm in the sitcom’s 10-episode revival, which premieres Thursday, Feb. 25, on Peacock.

Punky Brewster fans watched her grow up as a kid, but the beloved ’80s sitcom ended before anyone could see her date, fall in love and even get married. But if the new trailer for the forthcoming Peacock revival (bowing Feb. 25) is any indication, Soleil Moon Frye’s Punky Powered adult version will make up for lost time.

And although Punky is shown working as a successful photographer and newly divorced mother of soon-to-be four — she decides to adopt a homeless Foster child named Izzy (Quinn Copeland) — her ex-hubby, Travis (Freddie Prinze Jr.), is ever near. A seemingly good guy,...

Another TV classic is getting a refresh! Back in January, NBC's streaming service Peacock officially gave a series order for the sequel to '80s NBC sitcom Punky Brewster, and now, a year later, we have a premiere date! The new series, which features Soleil Moon Frye reprising her original role as the titular Punky along with Cherie Johnson, as Punky's best friend, will starting streaming on Feb. 25.

The series is in the same vein as Disney Channel's Girl Meets World and Netflix's Fuller House, following an all-grown-up Punky as a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl (Quinn Copeland) who reminds her a lot of her younger self.

Related: Punky Brewster Is All Grown Up (Ish) in the Delightful Teaser For Peacock's Sequel Series

The original Punky Brewster - created by David W. Duclon -...

NBCUniversal announced Thursday that Eighties sitcom Punky Brewster is coming back (via streaming service Peacock) and a collective chill went down the backs of anyone who was actually alive to watch the original.

The premise of the show was pretty bleak, despite the title character’s spunky name: Eight-year-old Punky’s dad walks out on her family, causing her mother to leave her at a shopping center with her dog, Brandon. After wandering into an abandoned apartment, Punky comes upon the crotchety building manager, Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), who eventually becomes her foster father.

Peacock, NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service, has ordered a 10-episode first season of Punky Brewster, with original series star Soleil Moon Frye set to reprise her role as the titular character who became a pop culture staple of the 1980s. The follow-up series to the 1984 NBC sitcom hails from Universal Content Productions (Ucp) and Universal Television, divisions of NBCUniversal Content Studios. It will premiere on Peacock when the service launches later this year. Punky Brewster previously had received a pilot order at Peacock.

Also returning to the series is Cherie Johnson, reprising her role as Punky’s best friend. Joining the series are Quinn Copeland (Waitress the Musical), Lauren Donzis (No Good Nick), Oliver De Los Santos (Occupation: Rainfall), and Noah Cottrell (Skyscraper). Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer) guest stars in the pilot as Punky’s ex-husband.

“I am beyond thrilled and honored to be bringing Punky back!

As strange as this may sound for a forty year old man to say, Punky Brewster was my jam back in the day. The 80s sitcom which ran for four seasons on NBC, followed the exploits of Penelope "Punky" Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) who after being orphaned by her mother, is adopted by a cantankerous but loving photographer named Henry (George Gaynes). The show was a light, bubbly,…...

Kayti Burt Sep 17, 2019

The Punky Brewster sequel is one of a few planned reboots at NBCUniversal's upcoming streaming service Peacock.

Punky Brewster is coming back! The upcoming NBC streaming service, now officially named Peacock, has made a slew of announcements about some of the new content that will be coming to the service, along with a "gigantic library of all favorites."

It turns out the "new" content will have a pretty nostalgic bent, too. In addition to reboots of Battlestar Galactica and Saved By the Bell, NBCUniversal also announced they will be "rebooting" Punky Brewster, the 80s kid TV show starring Soleil Moon Frye about an orphaned girl who is fostered by a grumpy older man named Henry, in the form of a sequel. The original series ran from 1984 to 1986, but enjoyed popularity in syndication, which is when this writer caught (and loved) it.

The Punky Brewster reboot will...

NBCUniversal’s newly named Peacock streaming service will feature several original series, the company said Tuesday, including a pair of reboots from the vaults: a newly unveiled Saved By the Bell with original castmembers including Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez, and Punky Brewster, which returns original star Soleil Moon Frye as a grown-up version of her former character.

The titles were unveiled along with several other original offerings set for the April 2020-launching service this morning including a rebooted Battlestar Galactica that will be executive produced by Mr. Robot‘s and Homecoming‘s Ep Sam Esmail.

All the reboots originated from NBCU-created series and will be part of the 15,000 hours of content expected at launch spanning original and library titles along with movies from the NBCU family.

Saved By the Bell, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last month, was a high school-set comedy that ran on NBC for four...

1975: Ryan's Hope's Jack visited Sister Mary Joel.

1984: Santa Barbara's Jade ran into David Hasselhoff.

1986: Another World's Reginald had a fire started to stop a story.

2003: The Young and the Restless' John punched Victor."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1941: On radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful, "Chichi" Conrad (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.

1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Secret Storm.

1972: The Edge of Night began airing at 2:30 p.m. Et, moving from its usual 3:30 p.

I guess the TV reboot/revival thing is still happening, because Punky Brewster reboot is now in the works. In the original series, abandoned kid Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) and her dog Brandon took up residence in vacant apartment building somewhere in Chicago. The building’s somewhat grumpy manager, Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), then became Punky’s foster father. […]

The post ‘Punky Brewster’ Reboot With Original Star Soleil Moon Frye in the Works, Because Sure, Why Not appeared first on /Film.

Exclusive: Another classic sitcom is eying a return with its original star. UCP is developing Punky Brewster, a sequel to the 1984 NBC sitcom, with Soleil Moon Frye set to reprise her role as the titular character that became a pop culture icon of the 1980s.

The multi-camera original series, created by David W. Duclon, centered on Punky (Frye), a bright young girl raised by a foster dad (George Gaynes). In the multi-camera/hybrid reboot, Punky (Frye) is now a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self.

The followup series is written and executive produced by Steve and Jim Armogida. Frye will also serve as executive producer along with Duclon and Emmy-winning producer Jimmy Fox (The Arrangement) of Main Event Media, an All3Media America company.

The 70s brought forth some well-remembered TV horror movies, that shocked impressionable kids back in the days of Watergate and Sonny & Cher. Karen Black top lines Dan Curtis’s trio of malevolent tales, all from original stories by Richard Matheson.

Trilogy of Terror

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1975 / Color / 1:37 flat television / 72 min. / Street Date October 16, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Karen Black, Robert Burton, John Karlen, George Gaynes, Jim Storm, Gregory Harrison, Kathryn Reynolds, Tracy Curtis.

Cinematography: Paul Lohmann

Film Editor: Les Green

Original Music: Bob Cobert

Written by Richard Matheson, William F. Nolan

Produced and Directed by Dan Curtis

As a celebrated horror phenomenon Dan Curtis pretty much passed me by. I know that TV’s Dark Shadows entranced a generation of horror-starved TV fans, but little that I’ve seen from the producer-director made a dent with me, including his feature films and his TV movies of horror classics.

1975: Ryan's Hope's Jack visited Sister Mary Joel.

1984: Santa Barbara's Jade ran into David Hasselhoff.

1986: Another World's Reginald had a fire started to stop a story.

2003: The Young and the Restless' John punched Victor."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1941: On radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful, "Chichi" Conrad (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.

1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Secret Storm.

1972: The Edge of Night began airing at 2:30 p.m. Et, moving from its usual 3:30 p.m. timeslot where it had been performing well in the ratings.

Last year, Kino Lorber Studio Classics revealed that they were bringing the beloved TV movie Trilogy of Terror to Blu-ray, and now they've revealed the release date, new artwork, and full list of special features for the new Blu-ray, including a new 4K restoration that should make the movie's possessed doll even more creepy!

Check out the new artwork by Jacob Phillips and the full list of special features below, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's It Came From The Tube retrospective on Trilogy of Terror, as well as Kino Lorber's previous reveal of their upcoming Kolchak Blu-rays!

From Kino Lorber: "Coming October 2nd on DVD and Blu-ray!

Just in Time for Halloween!

Trilogy of Terror (1975) with optional English subtitles

• Brand New 4K Restoration

• New Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Harland Smith

• New Interview with Composer Bob Cobert

• Audio Commentary with Karen Black and writer William F. Nolan...

Simon Brew Jun 20, 2017

Steve Guttenberg headlines what's supposed to be a reunion of the Police Academy cast. Life doesn't always work out as promised, though...

To the nearest $1m, the final Police Academy movie – Police Academy: Mission To Moscow – took a tidy $1m at the box office. It brought to a tragic end a movie franchise that had delighted surely a few people in its latter years, and certain given the office photocopiers a workout, as jokes were religiously recycled en masse. The Hangover series would put a better gloss on the recycling jokes schtick, and repeat the trick across its sequels many years later, to better commercial return.

See related Dunkirk: where you can see the IMAX preview in the UK Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk: filming started, cast confirmed Dunkirk: set video shows scale of Christopher Nolan’s new film

See also: What went wrong with Police Academy: Mission To Moscow.

Police Academy producer Paul Maslansky – who also tried to turn Ski Patrol into a series, foiled by the fact that barely anyone went to see the first and only one – has talked about rebooting Police Academy since. Most of the original cast are still with us, too, save for the brilliant David Graf (Tackleberry), Bubba Smith (Hightower), and George Gaynes (Commandant Lassard). Basically, a chunk of the core ensemble are available, and have been waiting for the call to return for a fresh Police Academy adventure. But the call, unfortunately, never came.

Hence, Lavalantula.

This is a film that centres on Steve Guttenberg, a washed-up movie star of the 90s who’s taken on a bug movie for $10,000. Going by the name of Colton West, we learn that he’s been the star of such movie franchises as Crazy Cops and Red Robot, and I know even typing this that nobody really cares. Instead, you’ve been drawn to this film for the same reason I was: it’s the cast of the Police Academy movies, just in a sort-of-horror film. Asda – and other supermarkets selling DVDs are available – had this next to Star Wars: Rogue One in my local store. One coin toss later, and Rogue One could wait.

It turns out, of course, that it’s a dose of trash that’s been doing the rounds for a little while. Spun out of the Sharknado series, Lavalantula was first shown on Syfy in the Us back in 2015, and I’ve barely found mention of it since. That notwithstanding, I armed myself with some of those new strawberry and vanilla Calippos (6/10 from me for them), and settled in.

Purveyors of The Asylum and Syfy attempts to recreate the feel of B-movies will know what they’re getting here. A perfunctory bit of plot, to get to some special effects that have been produced with second hand computers bought off Ilm. That’s less snooty than it sounds, mind. Lavalantula, a word that only seven of the 49 human beings who have ever tried managed to pronounce correctly the first time, is a solid audit as to what $20,000 or so’s worth of effects can buy you. Some lava and half-decent spiders is the answer. Given that London Has Fallen, for one, cost $105m to make and had effects that looked like Call Of Duty a generation back, Lavathingy does offer a decent recent in that sense. Don’t get carried away and start giving it awards or anything, though.

Thing is, it’s easy to look down on micro budget stuff like this. Yet who knows where the next big filmmaker is going to come from? Jennifer Yuh Nelson cut her teeth on the basic animated movies that used to go straight to bargain stores, and now she’s one of the highest grossing female directors of all time, courtesy of the Kung Fu Panda series. The late Jonathan Demme was one of many schooled by the low budget ways of Roger Corman – a model that Jason Blum has expanded on for his Blumhouse outfit, offering filmmakers low budgets in exchange for final cut – and whilst The Asylum has lower ambitions, everyone needs a break, right?

In this case, it’s director Mike Mendez, who worked on the likes of NCIS and CSI before giving the world Big Ass Spider! Here, he knows the trade off is he has to shoot lots of explanatory conversation scenes to stretch the budget (he does throw in a Raiders Of The Lost Ark boulder-rip-off at one moment, though, as well as a just on the right side of legal Pirates Of The Caribbean homage), reckoning he has but 10 minutes out of 80 that he can spend on effects. At one stage, he decides to have a man dressed as a spider fight a spider. Sadly, it’s less fun that it sounds.

The other concession to budget is you don’t actually get the cast of Police Academy for very long. This is less forgivable. Sure, you get shirtless Guttenberg stealing a bus, and in his own way giving us his own spin on Last Action Hero. His character also needs to reconnect with his son for reasons that are of no human interest. But everyone else? They’re shuttled in for quick cameos. You get them at the start, and then Winslow and Ramsey finally return an hour later. But by then, they’re plotting how to beat the big spiders, and – presumably fearing legal interest – the references to glories old are all but gone.

I can’t be the only person who put the DVD in to hear Michael Winslow recreate his collection of noises. But we get, what, five minutes with him in all? It’s like a Police Academy reunion where everyone but Steve Guttenberg got given the wrong time. There’s the odd concession and acknowledgement of the series elsewhere in the film - “they took out the Blue Oyster. I loved that place,” says pretend Captain Jack Sparrow (really) at one stage – but for Ramsey, Leslie Easterbrook and Winslow, the DVD packaging may as well provide you with a spotter book, so you can at least tick ‘em off once you see them.

Still, Ralph Garman is good fun here as the aforementioned Jack Sparrow knock-off, and 24 fans who wonder just what happened to that fella who played Tony Almeida Isn’t Dead Really will get their answer, as Carlos Bernard duly picks up his cheque. 24: Legacy couldn’t come along quickly enough, though.

On the plus side too, there’s little question that everyone’s in on the gag.

But when you yearn for the film to at least have an equitable number of laughs as a Police Academy sequel, it’d be fair to say a little alarm has long been going off. By the time the film is directly mirroring and quoting a moment from Jurassic Park, that old adage of invoke the memory of other, better films at your peril has long been proved.

The cheapest moment, incidentally, and this is a competitive contest, is the Basil Exposition-type Doctor/Professor/scientist character, clambering into a helicopter with the full chopper sound effect going. Only for the camera to leave the fact that the rotors aren’t turning fully in shot.

Yet I think I still want that horror movie with the Police Academy cast that I was sold. In fact, what I think what I’d like to see now is a big screen version of the PlayStation 4 game Until Dawn, but with Police Academy characters, to bring a bit of a choose your own adventure element to the fun. Plus, then you get to replay it, changing just a few plot elements next time you play, accurately reflecting one of the core components of the Police Academy business plan.

Guttenberg has since followed this up with a sequel, 2 Lava 2 Tarantula, where only two Police Academy alumni joined him. Another film is coming. But Lavalantula: Tokyo Drift is surely just a meeting and a beermat’s worth of plot away, where all of his co-stars will have deserted him, ready to rejoin him for the fourth film in the series. That’s how this stuff work, right? And then Statham will turn up two films later? Right?

Right?...

With her Punky Brewster days way behind her, Soleil Moon Frye is all about being a mom now. Et visited the actress at home in Los Angeles, where she and husband Jason Goldberg are raising their four kids.

"I'm feeling great," Frye, 40, tells Et's Cameron Mathison. "I'm juggling four incredible children of all different ages. It's very fun."

Watch: Soleil Moon Frye Gives Birth to Baby No. 4 -- Find Out His Cute Name!

Punky Brewster made Frye one of the biggest child stars in the world when it premiered in 1984. Nearly 30 years after its series finale, the show is striking a chord with a new generation, starting with Frye's own children: Poet, 11, Jagger, 8, Lyric, 2, and Story, 7 months.

"I had not shown them Punky and then finally after them asking, because all of their friends at school had seen it, I finally showed them," Frye shares. "It was really embarrassing, because my 2-year-old started calling me 'Punky' everywhere...

As someone who has always considered the werewolf to be his favorite movie monster, it has long been disheartening to see just how few truly good werewolf movies exist. Opinions may vary, of course, but I’d put the number somewhere between 10 and 20. While it’s not without its own charm, 1973’s The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, new to home video from Scream Factory after years of being unavailable, probably won’t be making that list.

A unique hybrid of monster movie, children’s fantasy, and 1970s domestic drama, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf finds young Richie Bridgestone watching the marriage of his parents dissolve. While on a trip to the family cabin with his dad (Kerwin Mathews), the pair is attacked by a wolf that bites his father. Before he can say, “I’m pretty sure my dad is a werewolf,” Richie’s dad becomes a werewolf and starts killing people.

For horror fans of a certain vintage, Dan Curtis is TV terror royalty. The Dark Shadows soap opera, The Night Strangler, The Norliss Tapes, Dracula, Dead of Night, and of course, Trilogy of Terror (1975) – a unique anthology telefilm that boasts not one, but four great performances by Karen Black. This one kept some night lights on, folks, mostly due to the final segment featuring an overly enthusiastic Zuni fetish doll.

Originally airing on Tuesday, March 4th, 1975 as an ABC Movie of the Week, Trilogy of Terror ‘s competition was M*A*S*H* / Hawaii Five – O on CBS, and the NBC World Premiere Movie. M*A*S*H* was always a hard one to pass up, but anyone into horror knew where their dial stopped.

Let’s flip open our tattered, ear marked, fake TV Guide and see what we have:

Trilogy Of Terror (Tuesday, 8:30pm, ABC)

A blackmailed school teacher.

Actor who delighted audiences as the twittish Commandant Lassard in Police Academy

The actor George Gaynes, who has died aged 98, gave warm, sparkling performances in two 1980s comedy hits. In Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie (1982), he played John Van Horn, a lecherous old ham known to his colleagues on a daytime TV soap opera as “the Tongue”. Breath-freshener at the ready, he tries his luck with a new female cast member, not realising that she is in fact a male performer (played by Dustin Hoffman) in drag. Pauline Kael of the New Yorker magazine called Gaynes’s work in the film “a small comic triumph” and said: “Once you’ve laughed at him, even the sight of him triggers more laughs.”

Two years later he played Commandant Lassard in Police Academy, about a ragtag assortment of trainee cops who triumph against the odds. Gaynes portrayed Lassard as a lovable twit with...

Angela Raiola, best known as “Big Ang” to viewers of VH1’s Mob Wives, died on Thursday morning after a battle with Stage 4 cancer.

RelatedGeorge Gaynes, Star of Punky Brewster and Police Academy Films, Dead at 98

The 55-year-old reality star was first diagnosed with throat cancer in April, according to TMZ, but it had since spread to her brain and lungs.

Raiola’s passing was confirmed via her official Twitter account:

Rip you amazing soul...

Actor George Gaynes died Monday, February 15, 2016. TV fans will remember Gaynes as the curmudgeonly foster and eventually adoptive father, Henry Warnimont, on the Punky Brewster TV series. Punky Brewster, along with Silver Spoons, was famously cancelled by NBC in 1986, only to be revived in first-run syndication through 1988. Gaynes and Soleil Moon Frye also voiced their characters on the animated Punky Brewster TV series, sometimes referred to as It's Punky Brewster.

The New York Times confirmed Gaynes passed away at daughter Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown's North Bend, Washington home. In addition to his daughter and her family, Gaynes leaves behind his wife of more than 62 years, actress Allyn Ann McLerie, a regular on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Gaynes was predeceased by son, Matthew, in 1989.

Read More…...

As the father on Punky Brewster and the doddering police commander Eric Lassard, famous for a scene in which he attempts to make a speech while being orally pleasured, the actor always threw himself into the material

Versatile character actor George Gaynes died in his daughter’s home in North Bend, Washington, at age 98 on Monday, leaving behind an enormous body of work that stretched across numerous sitcoms, made-for-tv movies, features films, theater and even opera productions all around the world.

Gaynes is probably best known for his film and television work in the 1980s – as an adoptive father on Punky Brewster, doddering police commandant Eric Lassard in seven Police Academy films, and a seasoned soap opera star besotted with Dustin Hoffman’s alter ego in 1984’s Tootsie.

Continue reading...

George Gaynes, known for his roles in Police Academy movies and Punky Brewster, has died at his family home in North Bend, Wash., at 98. Gaynes was born with the name George Jongejans on May 16, 1917. The Finnish-born American actor was beloved in the entertainment industry for six decades, including prominent roles in film, TV, […]

The post George Gaynes, ‘Police Academy’ Star, Dies At Age 98 appeared first on uInterview.

George Gaynes, best known to 80s children as coolest foster dad ever Henry Warnimont on Punky Brewster, died last Monday. He was 98 years old. Gaynes also starred in all seven Police Academy movies, but it was his starring role in a television show about a cute little girl whose mother abandons her at a grocery store, forcing her to live in a vacant apartment with her puppy until she's discovered by a cranky widower who later comes to love and adopt her, for which he found fame. That cute little girl's portrayer, Soleil Moon Frye, tweeted about Gaynes' death late last night: The universe just gained a gigantic star. You will be in my heart and soul always & forever. Your little Punky Rip George Gaynes — soleil moon frye (@moonfrye) February 17, 2016 Here are Gaynes and Frye in action, in the first-ever episode of one of the greatest shows to come out...

Soleil Moon Frye spent a good portion of her younger years with the late George Gaynes—who passed away on Monday—while filming their show Punky Brewster. In the popular sitcom, which aired from 1984-1988, a grumpy foster parent named Henry Warnimont (Gaynes) rescues Punky Brewster (Moon Frye) and her dog, Brandon, and they end up teaching him how to lighten up and enjoy life a little more. At just 12 years old, Moon Frye built a special bond with Gaynes during their time filming the show, and thus, after learning about his passing, she couldn't help but pay tribute to him. "The universe just gained a gigantic star," she wrote on Twitter. "You will be in my heart and soul always...

George Gaynes, who found fame as a foster parent on "Punky Brewster" and Commandant Lassard on "Police Academy" has died. Gaynes was at his daughter's house in Washington on Monday when he passed away. He was 98-years-old. Gaynes daughter Iya confirmed the death to the New York Times. Gaynes appeared on hundreds of episodes of sitcoms and TV dramas. He also did work on the big screen, appearing in films like "Tootsie" with Dustin Hoffman...

To be a part of one legendary franchise that defined a decade is a pretty special achievement for any actor to log on their resume. George Gaynes, a veteran character actor of television and film, had two to his credit, as he was part of the Police Academy movies, as well as the TV series Punky Brewster. These are two of the many achievements that Gaynes will be remembered for, as he has passed away at the age of 98. Deadline was one of the many publications that made the announcement this evening, and as of yet there has been no official cause of death announced. All that is known is that George Gaynes passed at his home in the Washington town of North Bend, and he is survived by his wife, a daughter and granddaughter, as well as two great-granddaughters. While his passing may seem sudden, he had been retired...

George Gaynes, the beloved character actor best known for his work in the “Police Academy” films and on “Punky Brewster,” died at his daughter’s home in North Bend, Washington. He was 98. His death Monday was confirmed by his daughter, Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown, according to the New York Times. Gaynes (above middle) starred as Cmdt. Eric Lassard in all seven of the “Police Academy” comedies, opposite Steve Guttenberg and Bubba Smith, as well as in a TV spin-off in 1998. Also Read: Johnny Duncan, 'Batman and Robin' Serial Actor, Dies at 92 He is also well known for his...

George Gaynes, the actor who played the absentminded Commandant Eric Lassard in all seven Police Academy films, has died according to multiple reports. He was 98.

Gaynes was also known for playing Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster and mob boss as Frank Smith on General Hospital, as well his stage work.

Variety reports that the actor died on Monday in North Bend, Washington.

Punky Brewster star Soleil Moon Frye honored Gaynes, who played her foster parent on the show, with a sweet tweet.

"The universe just gained a gigantic star," she wrote. "You will be in my heart and soul always & forever.

George Gaynes, the actor who played the absentminded Commandant Eric Lassard in all seven Police Academy films, has died according to multiple reports. He was 98. Gaynes was also known for playing Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster and mob boss as Frank Smith on General Hospital, as well his stage work. Variety report that the actor died on Monday in North Bend, Washington. The character actor had starred in 35 films as well as a string of successful television roles, and while he may not have reached superstardom his face is recognized by a generation who have loved his work.

George Gaynes, the actor who played the absentminded Commandant Eric Lassard in all seven Police Academy films, has died according to multiple reports. He was 98. Gaynes was also known for playing Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster and mob boss as Frank Smith on General Hospital, as well his stage work. Variety report that the actor died on Monday in North Bend, Washington. The character actor had starred in 35 films as well as a string of successful television roles, and while he may not have reached superstardom his face is recognized by a generation who have loved his work.

George Gaynes, the man TV’s Punky Brewster called “Henry” (and eventually “dad”) from 1984 to 1988, died Monday in North Bend, Wash., at the age of 98.

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Born in Helsinki in 1917, Gaynes began his career on the Broadway stage in the 1950s and ’60s, including a starring role in the original production of the musical Wonderful Town.

But Gaynes is best known for playing Henry Warnimont — a grouchy photographer-turned-building manager who raises, and ultimately adopts, a young girl (played by Soleil Moon Frye) — in the ’80s sitcom Punky Brewster. (Update:...

George Gaynes died on Monday at his daughter’s home in North Bend, Wash, his daughter Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown confirmed to The New York Times. He was 98. The character actor is best known for playing Commandant Eric Lassard in all seven Police Academy films, as well as the grouchy foster parent Henry Warnimont on the 1980s sitcom Punky Brewster. Gaynes also starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1982 film Tootsie, which received 10 Academy Award nominations, although only Jessica Lange won for best supporting actress. Gaynes' other film credits include The Way We Were, Altered States and Wag the

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George Gaynes, a character actor whose six-decade career included Tootsie, all seven Police Academy films and more than 85 episodes of Punky Brewster, died Monday in North Bend, Wa.. He was 98. Born George Jongejans on May 16, 1917, in Helsinki as raised in various Europeans countries, Gaynes got his start in the mid-1950s, guesting on TV series including from The Defenders and Cheyenne. He continued to work through the ’60s and ’70s on such small-screen classics as Alfre…...

George Gaynes, a character actor whose six-decade career included Tootsie, all seven Police Academy films and more than 85 episodes of Punky Brewster, died Monday in North Bend, Wa.. He was 98. Born George Jongejans on May 16, 1917, in Helsinki as raised in various Europeans countries, Gaynes got his start in the mid-1950s, guesting on TV series including from The Defenders and Cheyenne. He continued to work through the ’60s and ’70s on such small-screen classics as Alfre…...

George Gaynes died on Monday at his daughter's home in North Bend, Washington, his daughter Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown confirmed to The New York Times. He was 98.

The character actor is best known for playing Commandant Eric Lassard in all seven Police Academy films, as well as the grouchy foster parent Henry Warnimont on the 1980s sitcom Punky Brewster.

Gaynes also starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1982 film Tootsie, which received 10 Academy Award nominations, although only Jessica Lange won for best supporting actress.

Gaynes' other film credits include The Way We Were, Altered States and Wag the Dog. He appeared in ...

George Gaynes died on Monday at his daughter's home in North Bend, Washington, his daughter Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown confirmed to The New York Times. He was 98.

The character actor is best known for playing Commandant Eric Lassard in all seven Police Academy films, as well as the grouchy foster parent Henry Warnimont on the 1980s sitcom Punky Brewster.

Gaynes also starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1982 film Tootsie, which received 10 Academy Award nominations, although only Jessica Lange won for best supporting actress.

Gaynes' other film credits include The Way We Were, Altered States and Wag the Dog. He appeared in ...

Television shows didn't invent the idea of a Christmas miracle, but they sure help remind us that come Dec. 25, there's a chance that whatever woe and strife we're facing could vanish in a single, magical instant. And while not every show has a Christmas moment – and not every Christmas episode delivers a miracle – we thought we'd celebrate the season with 15 of our favorites.

1. The Brady Bunch

We're kicking off the list with "The Voice of Christmas," a first-season episode of The Brady Bunch that frankly it has it all: Santa Claus, a church, a child's steadfast belief in the power...

The Warner Archive Collection is really starting to put out some great DVDs that feature titles you aren’t going to find anywhere else, and the latest to be made available is Search. A massively fun show from the early 70s, Search starred Hugh O’Brian, Doug McClure, and Tony Franciosa, and was (although I’m testing my memory) a show that pulled great tech ideas into the espionage drama realm, at a point when some of the ideas were practically sci-fi.

The complete series is available now, and it’s a lost classic that deserves a look. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get a taste of it to know if you’re interested in buying, but for those who remember the series, this is a real treat.

Catch the full info below, and don’t let this one escape your notice.

Look no further: You can now find Search...

DVD Playhouse—March 2012

By Allen Gardner

J. Edgar (Warner Bros.) Director Clint Eastwood provides a rock-solid, albeit rather flat portrait of polarizing FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, covering his life from late teens to his death. Leonardo DiCaprio does an impressive turn as Hoover, never crossing the line into caricature, and creating a Hoover that is all too human, making for an all the more unsettling look at absolute power run amuck. Where the film stumbles is the love story at its core: Hoover’s relationship with longtime aide Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). In the hands of an openly-gay director like Gus Van Sant, this could have been a heartbreaking, tender story of forbidden (unrequited?) love, but Eastwood seems to tiptoe around their romance, with far too much delicacy and deference. The film works well when recreating the famous crimes and investigations which Hoover made his name on (the Lindbergh kidnapping,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 28, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95

Studio: Criterion

A group of actors get down to some serious Chekhovian business in Vanya on 42nd Street.

A group of New York actors rehearse Anton Chekhov’s classic play Uncle Vanya in a rundown theater in the 1994 comedy-drama film Vanya on 42nd Street.

The comedy-drama movie was shot in the 1990s, when theater director André Gregory mounted a series of spare, private performances of Uncle Vanya in a crumbling Manhattan playhouse. These unique moments were captured on film by director Louis Malle (Zazie Dans Le Metro ).

In Vanya on 42nd Street, a stellar cast of actors — including Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride), Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right) and Brooke Smith (Fair Game) — embark on a full read-through of the play (adapted into English by David Mamet). The resulting film of the event by Malle, which turned out to be his last movie,...

New Line will reboot the "Police Academy" franchise with original producer Paul Maslansky returning. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there is no writer or director attached yet."Academy" was a seven-film comedy series from Warner Bros. that revolved around the premise of a new mayor announcing a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The series followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers.The first film, "Police Academy," was released in 1984 and starred Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith, David Graf, George Gaynes and Michael Winslow. The series ended with 1994's "Mission to Moscow." The franchise took in about $240 million worldwide and inspired a pair of TV...

As you've likely heard, the Police Academy movies are on their way back to the big screen. Unfortunately, we won't be getting another installment with the original cast (Rip David Graf). And Monika has already asked for us to propose our dream replacements (just as long as 92-year-old George Gaynes can make one last appearance before he dies, I don't care who else is in this). So for today's Pitch, I'd like to suggest an unlikely writer/director for the reboot: Bobcat Goldthwait. The comedian-turned-filmmaker was a member of the Police Academy ensemble for three sequels, as the criminal-turned-cop Zed. Now he ought to return to the franchise behind the camera.

Would that mean the series has to return to its R-rated roots? This is what I'm actually hoping for. Police Academy is, after all, the franchise that shot a man head first into a horse's ass. Things like bestiality and autoerotic asphyxiation,...

We all love a bit of Police Academy…. don’t we?! 7 films was a bit too much but the first couple were genius. It was new, riske and exciting. The cast which included Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, G.W. Bailey, Bubba Smith, George Gaynes, David Graf and Leslie Easterbrook as Sgt. Callahan, was excellent and the films were so successful that a kids TV cartoon was spawned from it.

THR have interviewed original producer, Paul Maslansky who has said that the movie is going to be given a reboot – heck, why not, everything else is!

“”It’s going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV,” Maslansky said. “It’s going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It’ll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it.

If you grew up in the 1980s, the mere mention of Punky Brewster brings back very distinct memories of childhood days in front of the boob-tube. Love or hate the show, it's an indelible part of that decade. While there's little chance that we'll ever see a Punky Brewster reunion, actress Soleil Moon Frye recently revived her character for a special visit.

Punky Brewster revolves around a precocious little girl who has been abandoned by her mother in Chicago. With only her faithful dog Brandon as a companion, Punky starts living in a vacant apartment in an old building. There, she meets the grumpy landlord, photographer Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). The two quickly bond and Henry becomes her foster parent and later adopts her. Others in the series include Susie Garrett, Cherie Johnson, T. K. Carter, Ami Foster, and Casey Ellison.

While the concept...