80’s Crush: Christopher Daniel Barnes

Leave it to Encore Love to introduce me to one of the worst movies ever made. Now, I’m usually a sucker for any type of romantic comedy. So, I was doing a quick V-day check of Encore Love, knowing they would be showing the best in schlock. I came across a “film” (using the term so loosely) called Shut Up and Kiss Me. It’s a madcap caper of two men finding the women of their dreams. It’s more silly-horny than romantic (I guess that’s why the description on my digital cable was “overheated”). What caught my eye is that it stars another 80’s Crush (second in the series) – Christopher Daniel Barnes. I knew him as C.D. back in the day, when he hung on my bedroom wall. He first captured my attention in the TV version of the film Starman, then went on to star in Day By Day with a pre-Melrose Place Courtney Thorne-Smith (what is it with the Melrose Place girls and my crushes?) and pre-Seinfeld Julia Louis-Dreyfus (what is it with the 3 names?) C.D. played the poor-man’s Kirk Cameron, as the teenage son in this family sitcom about a couple who runs a day-care out of their home. He tirelessly pined after Courtney Thorne-Smith’s character, a day-care worker, while incessantly wearing a blue bathrobe (that made him go down a notch in my book because I assumed he smelled bad). He was in some random things after that (episodes of Golden Girls, Blossom , and 90210). Oh, and he was Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid (sigh). And Greg Brady in the Brady Bunch movies (eh). So, it seems that he’s continued to work steadily, until this excremental movie (above) appeared. Hopefully, he can coast on Malcolm and Eddie money (oh yeah, he was in that too) for some time.