THE HUNTRESS (2000-2001) – This Forgotten Television series is appropriate for Mother’s Day. Annette O’Toole and Jordana Spiro starred in what was basically a continuation of the Steve McQueen movie The Hunter. McQueen depicted the real-life bounty hunter Ralph “Papa” Thorson.
In 1994 Thorson was killed by one of his previous captures via car bomb. He also planned on killing Ralph’s widow Dottie Thorson and daughter Brandi. The two women carried on “Papa” Thorson’s bounty hunting business while simultaneously dodging assassination attempts by the man who killed their father and husband.
This actually happened and was covered in the True Crime book Deadly Games, written by Christopher Keane, who had also written The Hunter, on which the Steve McQueen film was based.
A made-for-TV movie titled The Huntress was produced in 2000 about the mother-daughter bounty hunters based on Keane’s book and launched the 2000-2001 series of the same title. The series ran for 28 episodes in the spirit of previous television dramas about real-life figures like Serpico, Elliott Ness and others.
Keane wrote or co-wrote nearly every episode.
THE HUNTRESS – This telefilm aired March 7th, 2000 with Annette O’Toole portraying Dottie Thorson and Aleksa Paladino playing Brandi Thorson. Paladino would be replaced by Jordana Spiro for the subsequent series. Craig T. Nelson played Ralph Thorson before his murder.
Alanna Ubach played another real-life character – Robin Ripley, a tough juvenile placed in Dottie Thorson’s temporary custody. The chemistry among the three actresses is great, with daughter Brandi focused and ready, mother Dottie struggling to adjust to bounty hunting and Robin providing extra street-savvy. Continue reading
MINNIE’S BOYS (1970) – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! This year Balladeer’s Blog looks at the musical comedy Minnie’s Boys, about Minnie Marx, the mother – and show-biz manager – of the five Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo and Gummo). Actors portraying her sons co-starred and conjured up the kind of hilarious chaos you’d expect. 
Let’s face it, trying to do a straight drama about the most anarchic comedians since Edward Lear and Eugene Ionesco would have been foolish, even if their mother is the lead character, not them. The storyline in Minnie’s Boys takes Minnie and her sons from their teenage years in vaudeville to their achievement of stardom. 
Ron Howard IS Johnny, a teenager who has come to town to discover who his birth parents are but who mostly just stands around staring at people and ESPECIALLY at houses. He seems completely taken aback that the townspeople find this somewhat creepy. Johnny is intrigued by the rash of missing persons plaguing the small town and feels they are connected to the secret of his past.
Balladeer's Blog 