Hollywood Q&A

Q: Can you tell me who played the cop in “House at the End of the Street”? He looked really familiar to me and I’m not sure why.

A: There are a number of reasons you might know Canadianborn actor Gil Bellows — either from one of his high-profile gigs or his multitude of smaller supporting roles — but you also might just feel that way because he’s so comfortable in the sort of role he played in the 2012 horror flick “House at the End of the Street.”

He’s had a long and pretty varied career, with an impressive 112 film and TV roles to his credit. That means, of course, there are a whole lot of reasons you might know him, but two stick out: “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) and “Ally McBeal.”

In “Shawshank,” he played Tommy, who is incarcerated for burglary and reveals some key plot points to Andy (star Tim Robbins).

Shortly after that, Bellows landed a very different role on the feather-light legal-comedy series “Ally McBeal” as Billy Thomas, the ex-boyfriend with whom Ally is forced to work at Cage and Fish. He was a part of the sprawling ensemble cast for the first three seasons, returning a couple of times after that. He also appeared in a crossover with “The Practice.”

Along with “House at the End of the Street,” there are a lot of authority-figure roles among the other 100-plus entries on his resume. For example, he played an FBI agent in 2016’s “11.22.63” and the director of the NSA in the 2013 miniseries “Delete.”

He’s also popped up on some of the biggest procedural series of recent years — “Criminal Minds,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and, of course, “Law & Order.”

Q: My parents and I are trying to find a specific collection of DVDs: the “Little House on the Prairie: Final Farewell Collector’s Edition.” Can you help us?

A: There have been a lot of DVD releases of the classic ‘70s/’80s family drama “Little House on the Prairie,” but I can’t find any with that exact name.

But it’s possible that the one you’re looking for is “Little House on the Prairie: Special Collector’s Edition,” because, first of all, it includes the telefilm “The Last Farewell” and, second of all, it’s hard to find.

The “Special Collector’s Edition” is the subject of some confusion because what it actually collects is the unofficial 10th season of the beloved show, but it doesn’t say so outright. The show technically ended with its ninth season, but the cast was later convinced to reunite for three TV movies, culminating with a proper finale, titled “The Last Farewell.” This is colloquially known as “the 10th season,” but not officially.

Prior to this set, the show was released on DVD season by season, and some people were confused and disappointed to see that the Season 9 box, labeled the “final season,” does not include the three movies.

The “Special Collector’s Edition” set seems to be out of circulation, but those three movies have since been included in other boxes.

Q: I put on a baseball movie the other day, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. It was called “The Rookie” and I was hoping it was a ‘90s Disney movie about a teenager who breaks his arm and becomes a superstar pitcher. Instead, it was about a middleage teacher who joins the majors. What was I looking for?

A: The kid you were looking for wasn’t just any old rookie, he was “Rookie of the Year” (1993).

You’re certainly not the only one to be disappointed by expecting one and getting the other. They are, as you say, very different movies, despite both being made by Disney. And they were only released nine years apart (Dennis Quaid’s “The Rookie” was released in 2002).

“Rookie of the Year” is a light, kid-centric fantasy film, while “The Rookie” is going for something more realistic.

Of course, you can’t really lose by watching either film if you’re a baseball fan. Sports news website BleacherReport.com included both of them on its list of the 25 greatest baseball movies — “The Rookie” at No. 16 and “Rookie of the Year” just a few places lower at 24.