TBS (Wed., April 12, 8:05 p.m. ET)
It took Ken Burns and his Baseball series nearly a week and a half to explain that baseball is something more than just a sport. This outstanding documentary does the same thing in 2 hours. Using interviews with Aaron's friends and family and a combination of actual footage and dramatic re-creations of key events, Chasing the Dream offers an exhilarating inside look at how baseball can turn a man into a legend.
UNPLUGGED PLUGS IN
A
MTV UNPLUGGED IS THE SPAGO OF THE music business—the chic place to hang out and be noticed, with artists as diverse as Eric Clapton, Tony Bennett and Nirvana even producing hit CDs based on the series. Unplugged begins its sixth season this week with an appearance at 10 p.m. ET on Mon., April 17, by Courtney Love and her band Hole, followed by an Unplugged retrospective at 9:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, April 18, and the Cranberries at 10 p.m. Best bet: Courtney Love showing off her quiet side.
Following Aaron through his quest to beat Babe Ruth's home-run record, the program spends a great deal of time exploring the racism that spurred him to greatness. Chasing the Dream links the rise of his career to the civil rights struggle. As we see Aaron closing in on Ruth, we also see him become a leader in that fight. The recent strike may have tarnished baseball's image, but this documentary lets you believe again that athletes really can be heroes.
USA (Wed., April 12, 9 p.m. ET)
C
You've got to love the USA Network. Whether it's a mystery starring Pamela Anderson as an evil twin or a horror story about killer kitty-cats, this cable channel is the place to turn to for wacky so-bad-they're-good TV movies. Which is what is so disappointing about this teleflick. The premise sounds promisingly cheesy: a cold fish of a doctor (Harley Jane Kozak) falls for a fun-loving android (Griffin Dunne) who teaches her to be more human.
Too bad this concept is played for drama instead of laughs. By the time The Android Affair turns into a chase movie with our heroes on the run from evil scientists, it's almost funny how seriously this movie takes itself.
TNT (Sun. and Mon., April 16 and 17, 8 p.m. ET)
B-
It's Easter weekend, and on TV that means only one thing: time for a biblical epic. Which brings us to the latest miniseries from TNT, the channel that has previously aired Abraham and Jacob. Joseph tells the story of Joseph (Paul Mercurio), the son of Jacob (Martin Landau). Joseph is turned over by his brothers into a life of slavery but grows up to deliver his people from famine.
There's nothing inherently wrong with Joseph (unless you're troubled by the fact that the father has an American accent and all the sons have British accents except Mercurio, who is Australian). However, there is nothing particularly exciting about this production, either. The story creeps along with the solemn pacing of a serious Sunday sermon.
ABC (Sun. and Mon., April 16 and 17, 9 p.m. ET)
C +
Mixing plenty of fiction with the facts surrounding the creation of the state of Texas, this 4-hour miniseries quickly becomes Little Soap Opera on the Prairie. The primary story involves Stephen Austin (Patrick Duffy), who falls in love with a widowed settler (Chelsea Field), who happens to love a Mexican revolutionary (Benjamin Bratt), who...well, you get the idea.
Occasionally, Sam Houston (Stacey Keach) pops up, talking tough about Texas and freedom. But his story seems almost an afterthought. Mostly, Texas is just like driving through the state. Both take a long time, and after a while everything begins to look very familiar.
UPN(Tuesdays, 8 p.m. ET)
B
One of the tragedies going into this TV season was the cancellation of Fox's The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. It wasn't often you could find a western science-fiction, action-adventure comedy on television. Brisco may be long gone, but judging by this new series, it certainly hasn't been forgotten.
Also set in the Old West and relying on comedy and special effects instead of tough talk and gunplay, Legend features MacGyver star Richard Dean Anderson as down-on-his-luck novelist Ernest Pratt, whose books chronicle the exploits of a fictional cowboy hero, Nicodemus Legend. With the assistance of an eccentric scientist (Star Trek: The Next Generation's John de Lancie), Pratt reluctantly assumes Legend's identity to fight the bad guys every week. Anderson gives the character an irresistible goofy charm, and it's nice to see a western that doesn't take the genre too seriously.
(David Hiltbrand is on vacation.)
>TUBE: Martin Landau is Jacob to Paul Mercurio's Joseph on TNT; a Hank Aaron documentary hits a home run; Richard Dean Anderson stars in Legend, a sci-fi western
SCREEN: Liam Neeson is a great Scot in Rob Roy; Johnny Depp supplies dash to Don Juan DeMarco; Tank Girl comes off as cartoony fun
SONG: Juliana Hatfield rocks the hard way; Radiohead returns with The Bends; Guns N' Roses' Slash moonlights; Michael Feinstein should have parted with Such Sweet Sorrow
PAGES: Bill Bryson studies American English; James W. Hall unleashes an exotic new thriller; Maryanne Vollers reexamines Medgar Evers's assassination
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
