Directed by:
Richard BenjaminCinematography:
Danny NowakComposer:
Joseph VitarelliCast:
Nathan Lane, Mark Linn-Baker, Saul Rubinek, Dan Castellaneta, Richard Portnow, Kristi Angus, Colin Fox, Sherry Miller, Zach Grenier, Victor Garber, Mackenzie Astin, Kelsey Matheson, Peri Gilpin (more)Plots(1)
Playwright Neil Simon got his first big break in the early '50s as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's fabled television series Your Show of Shows, and this comedy (adapted by Simon from his play) takes a fictionalized look at the backstage chaos that went into producing one of the landmarks of television's golden age. Max Prince (Nathan Lane) is the star of The Max Prince Show, a popular comedy-variety series with ratings that have begun to slip; Prince's show is still a major hit on the East Coast, but network executive Cal Weebs (Colin Fox) insists that it's too sophisticated for the Midwest, and urges Prince to dumb down his act. Prince has also become the whipping boy of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (Frank Proctor), and between the tensions of producing a hour of top-quality comedy each week and being pestered about his ratings, Prince is beginning to unravel. His relationship with his wife Faye (Sherry Miller) and their children is falling apart, and stress is eating him alive. Prince's brother Harry (Richard Portnow) is Max's assistant, and his last line of defense against both the network and his writing staff, which spend its days coming up with business for the show while hurling humorous invective at each other and anyone else within earshot. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Nathan Lane
USA
Best movies:
Angels in America Part One - Millennium Approaches (2017) (theatrical recording)
Angels in America Part Two - Perestroika (2017) (theatrical recording)
The Lion King (1994)
Mark Linn-Baker
USA
Best movies:
Manhattan (1979)
Twelve and Holding (2005)
Noises Off... (1992)
Saul Rubinek
Best movies:
Unforgiven (1992)
The Express (2008)
True Romance (1993)
Dan Castellaneta
USA
Best movies:
Bart Wars: The Simpsons Strike Back (1999) (video compilation)
The Simpsons: Heaven and Hell (2002) (video compilation)
The Simpsons: Too Hot For TV (1998) (video compilation)
Richard Portnow
USA
Best movies:
Se7en (1995)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Trumbo (2015)
Kristi Angus
Canada
Best movies:
The Safety of Objects (2001)
When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story (2010) (TV movie)
White Chicks (2004)
Colin Fox
Canada
Best movies:
A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000) (series)
A Christmas Story (1983)
One Week (2008)
Sherry Miller
Canada
Best movies:
Lucky Girl (2001) (TV movie)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Separate Vacations (1986)
Zach Grenier
USA
Best movies:
Fight Club (1999)
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Zodiac (2007)
Victor Garber
Canada
Best movies:
Titanic (1997)
Dark Waters (2019)
Argo (2012)
Mackenzie Astin
USA
Best movies:
Harrison Bergeron (1995) (TV movie)
The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Kelsey Matheson
Canada
Best movies:
Living Death (2006)
Comfort and Joy (2003) (TV movie)
Dracula 2000 (2000)
Peri Gilpin
USA
Best movies:
Spring Forward (1999)
For the Love of a Child (2006) (TV movie)
Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron (2007) (TV movie)
Karyn Dwyer
Canada
Best movies:
The Art of the Steal (2013)
Cheaters (2000) (TV movie)
Better Than Chocolate (1999)
Gerry Quigley
Canada
Best movies:
Cinderella Man (2005)
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
Khaled (2001)
Keith Knight
Canada
Best movies:
Owning Mahowny (2003)
Self Defense (1983)
Class of 1984 (1982)
Philip Craig
Best movies:
Cinderella Man (2005)
Maurice Richard (2005)
A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000) (series)
Shaun Smyth
Best movies:
The Silencing (2020)
Three to Tango (1999)
Evidence of Blood (1998) (TV movie)
Ardon Bess
Best movies:
Guns (2008) (TV movie)
Death Toll (1978)
Free of Eden (1998) (TV movie)
Roger Dunn
Best movies:
Nuremberg (2000) (TV movie)
Police Academy (1984)
Harrison Bergeron (1995) (TV movie)