Patrick made three made-for-tv movies, inbetween his theatrical premier in "Skatetown U.S.A" and his "Renegades" tv series which lead to his full time working status beginning with "The Outsiders". The first movie was "The Comeback Kid" which starred John Ritter and Susan Dey and aired April 11, 1980. The ABC-TV film received a glowing review in "Daily Variety", praising the director, writer, and performers.
In "The Comeback Kid", Ritter plays a minor league baseball player, "Bubba Newman", who has a hard time giving up his dream of making it to the major leagues. Susan Dey is a camp recreational counselor, "Megan Barret", whom Ritter meets and becomes involved with. "Bubba" becomes involved with a group of kids at the same time and eventually "grows up" as a result. Some of the kids featured include Kim Fields, Jeremy Licht, and Doug McKeon. McKeon, in fact, won the 1982 Best Young Actor in a Television Special for his portrayal of "Michael" in "The Comeback Kid". Patrick's character is "Chuck", one of Ritter's teammates, and can be heard chattering at the beginning of the film, and seen discoing in one of the "boys night out" scenes.
While these photos are not super in quality, those below will at least provide the idea of Patrick's look in "The Comeback Kid".
One of the most fun shoots I was involved with. This film starred John (Three's Company) Ritter as the director of a playground with a group of wild kids. A few of us would see our young careers off in the future. My brother was played by Doug (On Golden Pond) McKeon. Another one of the kids on the playground was played by a very young, but still very beautiful Kim (Living Single, Facts of Life) Fields. There were a total of probably ten kids, of varying ages, but we all had a blast. John Ritter was as funny in person as he is on screen; truly a great person.
Patrick's second tv movie was "Pigs vs. Freaks", filmed in 1980 but released and aired on July 6, 1984. Patrick portrays "Doug Zimmer", a returned Vietnam veteran and rookie policeman partnered with a tough long time cop played by the very talented Brian Dennehy. In the story, "Doug's" sister, "Janice", hangs out with some "hippie" pals including "Neal" (Grant Goodeve) who is her current boyfriend. Eventually, as tensions between the police and hippies mounts, a suggestion is made to let off some steam in a "pigs vs. freaks" football game. In the process, the "freaks" enlist the aid of draft-dodger-on-the-run-in-Canada "Mickey South", portrayed by Adam Baldwin. "Mickey" is an old flame of "Janice's" which creates a bit of a triangle. Another twist is the old friendship between "Doug" and "Neal" which has been derailed by their political differences.
"Pigs vs. Freaks" has a marvelous cast. In addition to those already named, there is Tony Randall as "Ramamba Organimus", a guru-type who becomes the coach, Gloria DeHaven, Elisha Cook Jr., Stephen Furst, and Eugene Roche. The movie was based on a Blue Ribbon film short by the same title, done in 1970 by Jack Epps Jr. Though originally scheduled to air in November 1980, the movie was inexplicably pulled and sat on the shelf until 1984 when it suddenly aired under the title of "Off Sides".
Patrick's final flick for television is "Return of the Rebels", starring Barbara Eden and Don Murray. In this story, Eden plays a widow and owner of a trailer park being ravaged by a group of young rowdies. To defend her property, as well as her teenaged daughter, Eden enlists the aid of former motorcycle groupies, including Murray, Jamie Farr, Christopher Connelly and Robert Mandan. The leader of the rowdies is "K.C. Barnes", played by Patrick. He succeeds well as the menacing culprit, and it is in fact scary to think how his character might be portrayed if filmed with today's standards.
"Return of the Rebels" aired fairly quickly after conclusion of filming, on October 17, 1981. Its original title was slated to be "The Eagle Rock Rebels Ride Again" (the name of the motorcyle gang was referred to as the Eagle Rock Rebels).
===
===
===
===
===
===
 |
|
 |
