Syndicated (Check local listings)
B-
In publishing they call them airport novels—those silly, trashy books that will amuse you just until your plane lands. This is the TV equivalent—fun if viewed with an appropriate sense of kitsch. This two-part, four-hour film is based on a best-seller by Sidney Sheldon and stars the mistress of miniseries, Jane Seymour, as a glamorous amnesiac taken in by nuns.
Her memory holds some deep secret about a ruthless shipping magnate (Omar Sharif). Soon certain men want to make love to her to find that secret. Others want to bury the secret and her along with it. There are murders, exotic locales and opportunities for Seymour to bat her eyes and look anguished. Not socially redeeming, but this isn't PBS. It's just a way to enjoy an airport novel without paying airfare.
ABC (Wed., 10 P.M. ET)
C+
Television needs another show about lawyers the way Donald Trump needs a new girlfriend. Nonetheless, L.A. Law co-creator Steven Bochco has come up with this series starring Mariel Hemingway and Peter Onorati as a team of divorce attorneys. It has all the vintage Bochco touches—serious themes, jaded heroes, oddball second bananas.
In the opening episode, Hemingway's partner (Alan Rosenberg) suffers a nervous breakdown, and she hires rival Onorati to fill in for him. A superior series like L.A. Law would spend as much time analyzing these characters as it would dealing with their cases, but Civil Wars instead just goes from office to courtroom and back without offering much insight into Hemingway's or Onorati's personalities. Over time, maybe that will happen, but right now the jury is still out on the show's chances.
ABC (Thurs., Nov. 21, 8 P.M. ET)
B+
With Bob Newhart, you expect monkey business, but not like this. The comedian makes a rare dramatic appearance in this TV movie as a vaudevillian who has spent 25 years trying to hit it big with his partner, an aging chimp named Archie. Comedian, down to his last few dollars, and simian arrive in Las Vegas for one last shot at the big time.
You can see where the story is heading all the way (particularly a lame subplot with Linda Gray as Newhart's old flame). Still it's nice to see a telefilm that isn't about incest or murder. It's a sweet story made better by a charming, low-key performance by the ever-reliable Newhart.
CBS (Sun., Nov. 24, 9 P.M. ET)
B
Since last year's tribute to Sullivan pulled in viewers for CBS, the network is back with this sequel, hosted by Burt Reynolds. There aren't any surprises here, just clip after clip of guests, including Jack Benny, Elvis Presley and the guy who balanced on a stack of chairs. These snippets are interspersed with interviews with former guests—Phyllis Diller and David Crosby among them—and Reynolds pops in every now and then with trivia bits. It's a diverting piece of nostalgia, a chance to reminisce or see how goofy shag haircuts and bell-bottoms looked.
ABC (Sun., Nov. 24, 9 P.M. ET)
C-
There is one moment worth watching in this otherwise routine docudrama. Tony Danza, playing a killer on the run named Gus Farace, sits in an apartment watching a segment about himself on America's Most Wanted and calls the show's hotline to try to determine how much the cops know about his whereabouts. Too bad this moment comes toward the end of this uninspired show.
Based on a true story, Dead and Alive tells how small-time hood Farace inspired a massive manhunt involving both the mob and the police when he gunned down a federal drug agent.
Every Italian-American is a mafioso and every cop is a long-suffering tough guy. Danza makes a good heavy, but mostly his character is given very little to do, leaving Dead and Alive DOA
NBC (Sun., Nov. 24, 9 P.M. ET)
B+
The plot of this telefilm may seem like a tabloid story, but there is an element of restraint that puts it a cut above most of its docudrama peers. Steven (Wings) Weber stars as a loving husband and father who wants to adopt his new wife's son. She refuses, but when she suddenly dies, he begins the adoption with the help of his mother (Katherine Helmond). Along the way he discovers more than he bargained for about his wife and her child.
There is just enough mystery here to keep the story moving, and the writing minimizes the sensationalism and schmaltz. Weber does a fine, understated job of playing a man who watches the home life he has struggled to build collapse around him. Just as important, the story stays true to itself instead of copping out with the requisite happy ending.
CBS (Mon., Nov. 25, 9:30 P.M. ET)
B
What you get out of this special depends entirely on what you want from it. If all you're looking for is the chance to review the best bits from one of the most popular shows in television history, it works well. There are plenty of reminders that M*A*S*H was one of the first programs that was equal parts broad comedy and touching drama.
If, however, you want any real behind-the-scenes insight into what made M*A*S*H work, you won't get much here. For starters, the host is Shelley Long, which makes as much sense as having Alan Alda host a Cheers tribute. That quibble aside, the special features interviews with cast members and is a nice reminder of how the heart and intelligence of M*A*S*H made it more than just a TV program.
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!
