"Ghost Dad" (1990)

Some combinations will never work out: oil and water; fire and gasoline; peanut butter and mustard. Add to that list Bill Cosby and the movies. Remember "Leonard, Part 6"? "Ghost Dad" will make your memories of that one sweeter.

In this dismal, cheap-looking attempt at domestic fantasy in the "Topper" mode, The Cos plays a neglectful single father who is too obsessed with his career to mind his kids. After an accident puts him in the spirit world, he learns it's more important to be with your family than with your boss. Lessons are learned by all, at the expense of any entertainment value.

There's more preachiness here than in a hundred "ABC Afterschool Specials," and the special effects wouldn't pass muster on a local kiddie show. Wires are clearly visible when Cosby floats about, and the matte work that makes him walk through walls and fall through floors is embarrassing. Most astonishing, though, in what might pass for a "family film," is the abundance of scatological humor, with jokes about flatulence, urine specimens and even impotence. Most of these prompted groans from the preview audience, but the most telling comment came as the end credits crept up: "Yea! It's over!" cheered the little boy behind me. Yea indeed.