ABC MONDAY NIGHT MOVIE, THE: JOHNNY BULL (TV)
Summary
In this television movie drama set in 1959, a young English woman named Iris immigrates to the United States to live with her new husband, an American GI named Joe Kovacs, whom she met and married while he was stationed in England. Iris -- a Cockney war orphan -- has always dreamed of living in the sunny Hollywood of movie star magazines, but when Joe takes her home to live with his family in a depressed mining town in rural Pennsylvania, her illusions are quickly shattered. Joe's parents are stern, hard-working Hungarian immigrants who are dumbstruck upon meeting the very animated and slightly overdressed Iris. Iris immediately faces hostility from Joe's father -- hard-drinking, rifle-toting Stephan Kovacs -- who thinks she is loose because she was pregnant when she and Joe married, and from Joe's mentally retarded sister Katrine, who is jealous of Iris and calls her "Johnny Bull" (the Britain equivalent of "Uncle Sam"). Iris -- who loves to sing, dance, and draw -- is a fish out of water in the earnest, often joyless, Kovacs household. While Joe goes out to look for work, his gruff, but loving, mother Marie begins training Iris for the chores she is expected to perform as his wife -- grueling days of hand-laundering, breadmaking, and coal-picking. Iris, however is more interested in sketching ladies' footwear and reveals that she wishes to pursue a career in shoe design. Iris begs Joe to consider a move to California, but he confides that his brother deserted the family for the west, and he is determined to stay here and help -- especially now that his father has just lost his job in the coal mine and is ailing from lung problems. Slowly, over the months of Iris's pregnancy, Iris and Marie grow close -- Iris brings humor and lightness back into Marie's life, and Marie becomes the mother figure Iris never had. Meanwhile, however, Iris's relationship with Joe deteriorates when he is unable to find work and begins blaming Iris for not being the kind of wife he expected. Katrine, jealous of the bond between her mother and Iris, reveals a shocking secret about Marie, in an attempt to break them apart. Later, shortly after the baby is born, Joe finally decides to go on welfare, something his proud father had always forbidden the family to do. When Stephan learns of this, a terrible argument ensues in which Joe strikes out in anger at his father and Iris. Later, matters come to a climax when Stephan, returning home after a drinking binge, threatens Iris with violence, and she refuses to back down. Includes commercials and promos.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 19, 1986 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:59:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T86:0387
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Family - Drama; Marriage - Drama
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1986
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - AmorŽ cat food
- TV - Commercials - Beneficial loan services
- TV - Commercials - California Cooler beverage
- TV - Commercials - Chevrolet Nova automobile
- TV - Commercials - Coors beer (scholarship fund)
- TV - Commercials - Dentyne chewing gum
- TV - Commercials - Dole Fruit & Cream frozen dessert bars
- TV - Commercials - E.P.T. Plus home pregnancy test
- TV - Commercials - Folgers coffee
- TV - Commercials - Fruit of the Loom men's underwear
- TV - Commercials - Hanes men's underwear
- TV - Commercials - Hefty trash bags
- TV - Commercials - Honda Civic automobile
- TV - Commercials - J.C. Penney department stores
- TV - Commercials - Jhirmack shampoo
- TV - Commercials - KBIG-FM radio
- TV - Commercials - Kingsford charcoal briquets
- TV - Commercials - Mighty Dog dog food
- TV - Commercials - Mr. Clean soft cleanser
- TV - Commercials - Nissan trucks
- TV - Commercials - Pacific Telesis Group communications
- TV - Commercials - Pizza Hut restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Polaroid Spectra System camera
- TV - Commercials - Renault automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Suave shampoo
- TV - Commercials - United airlines
- TV - Commercials - Visa credit card
- TV - Commercials - Visine A.C. eyedrops
- TV - Commercials - Wendy's restaurants
- TV - Commercials - White Mountain Cooler beverage
- TV - Commercials - Wrigley's chewing gum
- TV - Promos - "Dynasty"
- TV - Promos - "Eye on Hollywood" (voice-over only)
- TV - Promos - "Eyewitness News" (KABC-Los Angeles)
- TV - Promos - "Good Morning America"
- TV - Promos - "Growing Pains"
- TV - Promos - "Hotel"
- TV - Promos - "Long Time Gone"
- TV - Promos - "MacGyver"
- TV - Promos - "Moonlighting"
- TV - Promos - "Nightline" (voice-over only)
- TV - Promos - "One Life to Live"
- TV - Promos - "Spenser: For Hire"
- TV - Promos - "The Colbys"
- TV - Promos - "The Right Stuff" (telecast of feature film)
- TV - Promos - "Who's the Boss?"
- TV - Promos - "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings"
CREDITS
- Herbert Brodkin … Executive Producer
- Robert Berger … Supervising Producer
- Thomas DeWolfe … Producer
- Claudia Weill … Director
- Kathleen Betsko Yale … Writer
- Dick Hyman … Music by
- Robards, Jason (See also: Robards, Jason, Jr.) … Cast, Stephan Kovacs
- Colleen Dewhurst … Cast, Marie Kovacs
- Peter MacNicol … Cast, Joe Kovacs
- Kathy Bates … Cast, Katrine Kovacs
- Suzanna Hamilton … Cast, Iris Kovacs, Introducing
- Bill Cobbs … Cast, Wiggins
- Tom Wright … Cast, Paulie
- Thomas Martell Brimm … Cast, Stoop
- Daniel R. Butler … Cast, Buddy Zupnik
- Richard Cowl … Cast, Janos
- E. Brian Dean … Cast, Sneaky Pete
- Cherie Elledge … Cast, Elvira Mae
- Pat Fuleihan … Cast, Vee
- Don Jones … Cast, the Immigration Officer
- Becki Jordan … Cast, the Unemployment Clerk
- Dan Lauria … Cast, Skuska
- Ben Cross … Talent, Polaroid commercial
- Barr, Roseanne (See also: Arnold, Roseanne; Roseanne) … Talent, Pizza Hut commercial
- David Hartman … Talent, "Good Morning America" promo
- Ted Koppel … Talent, "ABC News Brief"
- Terry Murphy … Talent, "Eyewitness News" promo
- Victoria Principal … Talent, Jhirmack shampoo commercial
- George C. Scott … Talent, Renault commercial