The Family Channel (Fri, Nov. 27, 8 P.M. ET)
B
In a nicely played, light romantic comedy, SCTV alum Eugene Levy and Linda Kash star as a divorced couple who run a swimwear company together. Then they discover that due to a clerical error, they're still married—news that alarms her but delights him. Things putter along smoothly with funny bits about divorce lawyers and psychoanalysis until a subplot about a corporate takeover (attempted by Dynasty's John James) gums up the works. But Levy's understated performance and directing touch are both well suited to this affable bit of whimsy.
TBS (Sun., Nov. 29, 8 P.M. ET)
B-
As a prelude to a James Bond movie marathon taking place over the next 007 nights, the channel has excavated the very first dramatization involving Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent. This is an early, all-live episode from CBS's drama series of the '50s Climax.
The first man to play Bond was American Barry Nelson, who had starred opposite Joan Caulfield on the early TV sitcom MY Favorite Husband. His portrayal takes some getting used to—and it's not just the accent or the modified Johnny Unitas buzz cut. This 1954 Bond drinks scotch and water, not martinis. And everyone refers to him (sacrilege!) as Jimmy.
His mission: to best a ruthless Soviet agent (Peter Lorre), who is gambling in a European casino with pilfered Communist Party funds, at the game of baccarat. Along the way, Bond must rescue a beautiful double agent (Linda Christian). This three-act adaptation is clumsy and overwrought (golden age of television, my foot), but as an artifact it's worth savoring.
CHS (Sun., Nor. 29. 9 P.M. FT)
B
A group of returning World War II veterans encounter corruption in their small Texas town and decide to unseat the greedy mayor (G.W. Bailey) and his brutal sheriff (John M. Jackson). But the man they look to to champion their cause, their commanding officer in Europe (Brad Johnson), is being pressured by his ambitious wife (Patricia Clarkson) and his country club lather (Josef Sommer) to align himself with the status quo.
The story is overly earnest and predictable, until a hokey climax in which the citizens arm themselves and storm city hall. But this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation has burnished production values and a good cast, including Kathleen Quinlan, Tom Size-more, Lisa Blount and David Labiosa.
ABC (Sun., Nov. 29, 9 P.M. ET)
C
In this heavy-handed docudrama, Bonnie Bedelia stars as Dr. Morgan, a Washington, D.C., plastic surgeon who in 1987 went to jail for 25 months: She refused to reveal the whereabouts of her daughter, despite a court order guaranteeing the visitation rights of her former husband (Terence Knox), whom she accused of sexually molesting the child (PEOPLE, March 12, 1990). The girl was eventually found in New Zealand with her maternal grandparents (Rip Torn and Patricia Neal). Morgan was released from prison by an Act of Congress in 1989. The allegations of sexual abuse have never been proved in court.
This is such an inherently poignant story of justice untempered by mercy that the relentlessly one-sided fashion in which it is presented amounts to overkill. Bedelia, who gives an affecting performance as the embattled mother, is surrounded by a warm, supportive circle of friends, family and admirers. The father and his family (Knox, Harold Bergman and Grayce Spence), on the other hand, are nauseatingly creepy.
The real villain is the intransigent judge (Al Wiggins), who continually rules against Morgan and eventually orders her jailed. But the legal intricacies of the case are hard to follow, and the script labors to present happy little moments to make Morgan seem personable. The most disturbing scenes depict an episode in which the severely disturbed daughter hacks away at her doll. The movie grinds along to an unsatisfying, maudlin ending as Morgan is reunited with her daughter in New Zealand, where the two currently reside.
NBC (Sun., Nov. 29, 9 P.M. ET)
B
In the first of a projected series of movies based on author Wambaugh's law-enforcement experiences, L.A. Law's John Spencer stars as a good cop who goes into a long, boozy tailspin alter accidentally killing another officer.
As a police procedural about a series of barrio slayings, the film is terse and believable. But when it ventures onto personal and psychological ground, the credibility evaporates, for instance. Spencer's wife tells him as she leaves him, "I'm not willing to live with your ghosts anymore. The bed's just not big enough for all of us."
Still, Spencer, who in a short time has established himself as one of TV's most substantial character actors, gives a striking portrait of a charming, functional alcoholic trying to hold his life together with palsied hands. Eddie Velez, Dan Lauria and Rachel Ticotin costar.
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!
