Over the Top

This is a funny, cute show! There seems to be very little violence, sex, or nudity, and the stars' ages and IQs are both over 20-something. So look quick, it may not last long.

And it sure didn't! ABC screwed this show badly: no promotion anywhere, and no chance to find its audience---or its audience to find it, in the meager three episodes that aired!

Tim and Annie are delightful together--they have been so before. I LIKE their slightly edgy, a bit distrustful relationship, it makes sense because Hadley may still love him, but she KNOWS better than to trust him.

The guy who plays the cook/demented fan is very funny--as long as he doesn't scream too often! The little boy is cute, especially when up against Mr. Curry's sarcasm. Which reminds me, Tim Curry is the ONLY actor who could get away with sneering at a cute little kid and have you beg for him to do it again, even a nice little kid like this one. (Shades of Home Alone 2)

Cast:

• Steve Carell--the cook, Yorgo
• Tim Curry--Simon
• John O'Hurley--boyfriend
• Annie Potts--Hadley
• Marla Sokoloff--the teen, Gwen
• Luke Tarsitano--the kid, Daniel
• Liz Torres--the maid, Rose

Episode Listing, with synopsis of each.

Here is an hysterical bio for Simon from the Columbia TriStar page. The person who wrote it either knows Mr Curry well, or just has a wicked sense of humor, 'cause there are a couple of items in it that are just a tad too close to the actor Tim Curry instead of the actor Simon Ferguson.

Born Allen Konigsberg in the fall of 1952 in Kent, England, Simon Ferguson has enjoyed a career that has spanned movies, television, theater, and infomercials.

Sent away as a small child to an all-boys academy in London, Simon was an undistinguished student. He quickly showed a talent for mimicry, however, and would frequently imitate the speech patterns and walks of his teachers, delighting his classmates, but ultimately getting himself expelled.

In 1969, he entered the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, or RADA. Simon's class included some very soon-to-be-famous faces such as Patrick Stewart, Ben Kingsley, Peter Postlethwaite, and Rowan Atkinson, who later went on to become the inimitable "Mr. Bean." This group became known as the "Foppish Five" and could often be seen around London until early morning hours, carousing and performing Shakespearean scenes using whatever pub props they could drum up. At RADA, Simon starred in many productions, including his infamous portrayal of Macbeth staged entirely under water.

Then it was off to America, where Mr. Ferguson had a meteoric rise in cinema, starting with character roles, and then graduating to leading-man status. He became known as a career chameleon, at times gaining as much as forty pounds for a role, even when neither director nor script really called for it. This period culminated in an Academy Award nomination in 1977 for his portrayal of an emotionally tortured voyeur in The Eavesdropper." The most memorable moment of the Oscar telecast was Mr. Ferguson's uncontrollable weeping when his name was not announced as the winner.

Mr. Ferguson's life soon devolved into a cycle of late-night parties and women -- perhaps his success had come too quickly. This era is marked with a series of quick marriages and divorces including, most prominently, a high-profile twelve day union with Hadley Martin, then an aspiring young actress, who has since disappeared from the public eye.

During this time, he foolishly turned down role after role, including the part of Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which was written as a swashbuckling British archeologist before Harrison Ford signed on. Mr. Ferguson's career spiraled downward. Rumor has it, he wanted the role of Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs" so badly that he showed up at the director's house in a straitjacket and leather restraining mask, and spent an entire afternoon shouting, "I ate her liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!"

He attempted a comeback in a gritty independent film, playing an aging cabana boy searching for love. This would be his first experimentation with full frontal nudity. Unfortunately, the project failed to place at the Bangkok Film Festival, and was subsequently released straight-to-video in the States as "Hard Bodies 3."

Mr. Ferguson then landed on the soap opera "Days to Remember," where he portrayed Dr. Milo Van Landingham for three years. However, his disruptive habits, unreliability and "boozy" acting led to his dismissal in September 1997. His current whereabouts are unknown. There have been many sightings in and around the island of Manhattan, but none confirmed.

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