''Something for Joey'' is a 1977 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

sport drama film about the relationship between college football player

John Cappelletti John Cappelletti (born August 9, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers. Prior to his professional career, he att ...

(portrayed by

Marc Singer Marc Singer (born January 29, 1948) is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the '' Beastmaster'' film series, as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series '' V'', and as Matt Cantrell in ''Dallas''. Early life Singer wa ...

), and his younger brother Joey (Jeff Lynas). Other cast members included Geraldine Page,

Linda Kelsey Linda Jean Kelsey is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Billie Newman on the CBS drama television series '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nom ...

and

Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for his lead roles in Hollywood films of the 1980s and 1990s, including ''Cocoon'', ''Police Academy'', ''Three Men and ...

. It appeared on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...

Plot

Joey battled

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

since the age of three, and was one of the first children to undergo

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

for the disease. The story traces John through his years at Penn State seeking the Heisman Trophy, and Joey his preteens, as each brother inspires the other, and their family around them, to try harder in life. John wins the Heisman during a downturn in Joey's illness. During his acceptance speech, John names Joey as his prime motivator, then gradually breaks down in tears, as he tells everyone he wants Joey to have his trophy, for inspiring him and for enduring so much difficulty with leukemia. The whole Cappelletti family is there, and Joey runs to John's side. The film ends by revealing Joey succumbed to his leukemia and died with John by his side on April 8, 1976.

Cast

* Geraldine Page as Anne Cappelletti * Gerald S. O'Loughlin as John Cappelletti Sr *

as John Cappelletti * Jeffrey Lynas as Joey Cappelletti *

Paul Picerni Horacio Paul Picerni (December 1, 1922 – January 12, 2011) was an American actor in film and television, perhaps best known today in the role of Federal Agent Lee Hobson, second-in-command to Robert Stack's Eliot Ness, in the ABC hit televisi ...

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

Kathleen Beller Kathleen Beller (born February 19, 1956) is an American actress who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in '' Promises in the Dark'' (1979) and was well known for her role as Kir ...

as Jean Cappelletti *

as Joyce Cappelletti (also Narrator) *

as Michael Cappelletti *

James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in ''Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Wall Street'', ''The Return ...

as Dr. Wingreen

Reception

The film was adapted from a best-selling

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of the brothers, and was well presented and well received. It also appeared later on

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

in 1995. It was the most-viewed prime-time television show of the week upon its first airing in April 1977.(17 April 1977
The top 10 network programs
''Time-News'' (Idaho) The movie got 96% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Home media

The film was released by MTM Home Video in 1995 on VHS.

Nominations

The film was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy and Outstanding Writing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy - Original Teleplay at the Emmy Awards, as well as for the Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Made for TV in 1978.

References

External links

* * {{MTM Enterprises 1977 television films 1977 films 1977 drama films American drama films 1970s English-language films CBS network films MTM Enterprises films Films scored by David Shire Cultural depictions of players of American football Biographical films about sportspeople Cultural depictions of American men Films set in Pennsylvania Films directed by Lou Antonio 1970s American films