Joshuas Herz

Melissa Gilbert-Brinkman plays Claudia Casara, an advertising illustrator who has an affair with architect Tom Chapman (Tim Matheson). Claudia forms a special bond with Tom's son Joshua (Matthew Lawrence), and after she and Tom split up, Joshua asks Claudia to adopt him. Apart from Tom's objections, things are complicated by the re-emergence of Joshua's mother Kit (Lisa Eilbacher), who wants a second chance with Joshua.

G-B's red hair features constant accessories here, the most notable being long scarves tied to the back. She looks funny when her hair is thrown over her face in a dodgem car crash, poses in a photo booth with Joshua, and does heavy breathing before her last meeting with him. The children's book she has written is her tribute to Joshua, where she names the main character after him and uses a self-portrait he has done for the cover.

The teleplay by Susan Cuscana has both Claudia and Joshua have an obscure obsession with the Fred Coe 1965 film A Thousand Clowns. Tom acting as a neglectful father isn't a surprise, nor is his breakup with Claudia, when he spouts lines like `You're lit from the inside', and calls her `baby'. However Claudia, who tells Tom she is `75% wishes and dreams' also reveals her interest in Joshua to be psychologically unsound, where she projects her romantic longings onto a 10 year old child. No wonder she can say something like `I stayed too long at the fair'.

Director Michael Pressman focuses the dilemma more on Joshua than Claudia, and Eilbacher gets to present a vulnerability that Gilbert lacks. Claudia at least has her mother (Debra Mooney), a huge Italian family, gay friend Nick (Jack Blessing), and a published book. All Kit has is cigarettes.