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Cheryl Gates McFadden was a dancer before she was an actress. She studied theater in college (she has a Bachelor of Arts degree) and lived in Paris for a spell, performing with the celebrated movement coach Jacques Lecoq. In New York in the 1970s, she taught dance at various colleges, and formed her own theater troupes and comedy companies. In the 1980s, she landed a few high-profile gigs serving as a choreographer and movement coach on "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Labyrinth." She can be seen giving her commentary in a making-of documentary on the "Labyrinth" DVD. 

McFadden, however, exploded in popularity in 1987 when she was selected to play Dr. Beverly Crusher, the chief medical officer on board the USS Enterprise on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." McFadden (who was just going by Gates back then) didn't get to do much dancing on "Star Trek," but she was given a mature,...

A new episode of The Arrow in the Head Show has just arrived online, and in this one hosts John “The Arrow” Fallon and Lance Vlcek are taking a look back at director Wes Craven’s troubled and compromised 1986 film Deadly Friend (watch it Here). To find out what The Arrow and Lance think of the film, check out the video embedded above!

Based on the novel Friend by Diana Henstell, Deadly Friend was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and has the following synopsis: Lonely teenage genius Paul, a specialist in brain research, has two best friends: his remarkable robot and the beautiful girl next door. When tragedy strikes both of his friends, he desperately tries to save them by pushing technology beyond its mortal limits into a terrifying new realm. Like a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein, Paul discovers too late that he has created a rampaging monster!

Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson,...

Deadly Friend Collector’S Edition: "From Director Wes Craven comes a terrifying tale of technology gone haywire! A lonely teenage genius, a specialist in brain research, has two best friends: his remarkable robot and a beautiful girl next door. When tragedy strikes both of his friends, he desperately tries to save them by pushing technology beyond its mortal limits into a terrifying new realm. Like a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein, Paul discovers too late that he has created a rampaging monster!

Directed by West Craven and featuring an all-star cast including Matthew Labyorteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, and Anne Twomey, this entertaining sci-fi, horror cult classic makes its Blu-ray debut in a Collector’s Edition on October 12, 2021 from Scream Factory. Deadly Friend Collector’s Edition features new 2K scan, new interviews with Kristy Swanson, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin, special makeup effects artist Lance Anderson, and more. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.

Here's an old Paramount Pictures memo that was in the archives of Paramount, or maybe they found it behind a desk while moving offices. The memo was written on April 13th 1987 to the head of Network Television. It gives us a look at the actors who were being considered for certain roles in the series. One of the most interesting names on the list is Wesley Snipes being considered for the role of Georgi! He was actually the frontrunner for the part. Could you imagine!

Check out a transcript of the list below and let us know what you think.

Transcript:

To: John Pike

Date: April 13, 1987

From: John Ferraro

Subject: Star Trek/Casting

Per your request, following is a list of actors who are being considered for their respective roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Picard

Patrick Stewart

Mitch Ryan

Roy Thinnes

Yaphet Kotto

Patrick Bauchau

Tasha

Lianne Langland...

Letters Of Note have uncovered an old memo from the archives at Paramount, written on April 13th 1987 to the studio's Head of Network Television - detailing the actors being considered for the various roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is interesting to see some of the names that were inconsideration for the cast, but didn't end up getting the part (for whatever reason). Hit the jump to see the full memo. Transcript: To: John Pike Date: April 13, 1987 From: John Ferraro Subject: Star Trek/Casting Per your request, following is a list of actors who are being considered for their respective roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard Patrick Stewart Mitch Ryan Roy Thinnes Yaphet Kotto Patrick Bauchau Tasha Lianne Langland Julia Nickson Rosalind Chao Leah Ayers Bunty Bailey Data Mark Lindsay Chapman Eric Menyuk Kevin Peter Hall (also for Geordi) Kelvin Han Yee Ryker Michael O'Gorman Gregg Marx...

A movie misnomer if there ever was one, "Picture Perfect" is a textbook example of how not to make a romantic comedy.

Sure, it's got all the trappings -- an unlucky-in-love female lead (Jennifer Aniston), a supportive best friend (Illeana Douglas), a wrong guy she takes for Mr. Right (Kevin Bacon), a right guy but she doesn't know it yet (Jay Mohr), a couple of wedding sequences and a generous selection of standards on the soundtrack. But director Glenn Gordon Caron and writers Arleen Sorkin & Paul Slansky have made one disastrous slip-up: They've neglected to make their protagonist sympathetic.

Despite Aniston's considerable comic charm, her Herculean efforts here just aren't enough to overcome her character's tragic flaw, not to mention the plodding comic pacing and nonsensical plotting.

At the boxoffice, it's not going to be a pretty picture.

A talented ad executive, Aniston's Kate Mosely finds her professional life interfering with her personal life when she discovers her boss, Mr. Mercer (Kevin Dunn), won't consider her for a promotion because she's (a) unattached and (b) doesn't own property. Hence, with no tangible responsibilities, there's nothing to stop her from picking up and leaving the firm anytime she feels like it!

Buying into Mercer's logic (and with the filmmakers expecting viewers to do likewise), Kate, with much prodding from colleague Darcy O'Neal (Douglas), fabricates a fiance, offering as evidence a Polaroid taken of her with Nick (Mohr), the nice young videographer at her friend's wedding.

Kate gets her promotion, but when her boss wants to take her and her beau out for dinner, she has to track down Nick and strike a deal with him to play the part -- and then to stage a breakup with her in front of her employer. Meanwhile, Kate has been going hot and heavy with co-worker Sam Mayfair (Bacon), a rogue playboy who's only attracted to unavailable women.

Of course, nothing goes as planned, but after the dust settles, Kate learns what's truly important in life. Or something like that.

The cast certainly does what it can with the material. Aside from Aniston's noble attempts, Bacon plays the part of the swaggering cad with just the right amount of smarm, and Olympia Dukakis pours it on thick as Kate's smothering mother.

Mohr, last seen as Tom Cruise's two-fisted cell phone-calling rival in "Jerry Maguire", is fine as the nice guy with an agenda, but, as written, he comes across more as a plot contrivance than an actual character. The much-needed chemistry between the two is never convincingly generated.

On the other side of the camera, the production values are all certainly serviceable.

PICTURE PERFECT

20th Century Fox

A 3 Arts production

A Glenn Gordon Caron film

Director Glenn Gordon Caron

Screenwriters Arleen Sorkin & Paul Slansky

and Glenn Gordon Caron

Story Arleen Sorkin & Paul Slansky

& May Quigley

Producer Erwin Stoff

Executive producers William Teitler,

Molly Madden

Director of photography Paul Sarossy

Production designer Larry Fulton

Editor Robert Reitano

Costume designer Jane Robinson

Music Carter Burwell

Casting Mary Colquhoun

Color/stereo

Cast:

Kate Jennifer Aniston

Nick Jay Mohr

Sam Kevin Bacon

Rita Olympia Dukakis

Darcy Illeana Douglas

Mr. Mercer Kevin Dunn

Sela Anne Twomey

Mrs. Mercer Faith Prince

Running time -- 100 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...