PBS (Wed., June 6, 8 P.M. ET)
A-
"What is the stuff of the world? Of earth and trees and water and air?" asks a child's voice. It's not a rhetorical question from 11-year-old narrator Heidi Brown. She ticks off the irreducible building blocks of matter: quarks and electrons. But this glorious season finale of Smithsonian World is after bigger game: explicating quantum mechanics, the unifying theory of particle physics that has been just as revolutionary and far-reaching as Einstein's theory of relativity.
In addition to Ms. Brown (who was probably hired because she is the daughter of Quantum Universe producer Sandra Wentworth Bradley as much as for her pleasant voice), the program employs a surprising mix of scientists (Nobel winners Sheldon Glashow and Burton Richter), academics (the charming Abner Shimony of Boston University) and artists (92-year-old photographer Berenice Abbott). Actor Roger Rees performs eloquent soliloquies from Tom Stoppard's play Hapgood, about a metaphysical Russian physicist. That eclectic approach encompasses science, nature, art, even philosophy, and makes the focus of this program as much cosmology as physics.
Along the way, it really does render the occluded, sometimes paradoxical principles of the quantum theory in a comprehensible fashion. But you must concentrate. (I know: You like to play with your Game Boy while watching TV, but you can't this time.) Then again, giving your undivided attention to a show this poetically written and artistically photographed is well worth the effort.
TBS (Thurs., June 7, 8:05 P.M. ET)
D
Michael York stars in a dingy French mini-series as Martin Gray, a real-life concentration camp survivor. The saga begins in '1970 in France, when he loses his wife and four children to a forest fire. Still blackened by smoke and ashes, he sits down to dictate his life story, beginning in 1939, when he was a teenager in occupied Warsaw (Jacques Penot plays the youth; York, in a double role, his father). It's on to his escape from Treblinka, his recapture and escape from a second concentration camp, Sabro, his pursuit of riches in America, his marriage and thus, full circle.
TBS has taken the unusual tack of showing all four hours successively, perhaps anticipating that if they broke up something this dull, dreary, badly lit, poorly dubbed, clumsily acted, totally uninvolving (have I forgotten anything?—oh, yes) and interminable, no one would come back for more.
NBC (Sat., June 9, 9:30 P.M. ET)
C
Harold Gould is a New York City Jewish deli owner. The childless widower has no one to pass his business on to and is considering chucking it all to retire to Florida, until he reluctantly hires the two warring sons (Bobby Hosea and Tommy Ford) of his black housekeeper (Esther Rolle).
It's a nice cast, but this canned clash of Yiddish and black cultures makes for an unappetizing stew—gefilte fish with collard greens. The best part, as it is on NBC's soap Generations, is the montage of photographs that flash by during the opening credits.
The show is currently scheduled to move to 9 P.M. on Wednesdays for a limited run after this preview.
Showtime (Sun., June 10, 8 P.M. ET)
A-
Whew, turn on the air conditioner. The wallpaper is starting to blister from all the steamy thrillers on the TV.
In this case a beautiful woman (Nicollette Sheridan) in the Hollywood Hills shoots her husband, claiming self-defense. One of the investigating homicide detectives (Harry Hamlin) is immediately smitten with the widow. His infatuation creates mounting conflict with his partner (Robert Davi), who takes a more jaundiced view of her culpability. As the plot thickens, Davi's skepticism seems abundantly justified.
The dialogue isn't much, but the storyline, set design and camera work are all first rate. Sheridan, who was left standing at the altar in the season finale of Knots Landing, gets her honeymoon in a torrid affair with Hamlin, all black leather and two-day stubble. Recently a tabloid breathlessly reported that the making of this movie contributed to the breakup of Hamlin's marriage to Laura Johnson. Even considering the source, that's almost believable judging by the combustible chemistry on display. Sheridan is the sexiest small-screen siren since Linda Kozlowski in Favorite Son. Hamlin, who also starred in that NBC mini, gives another workmanlike performance here, and the flinty Davi is, as always, excellent.
Disney (Sun., June 10, 9 P.M. ET)
B+
In a substantial appreciation of not-so-simple Simon, the only livin' boy in New York City drives around his old neighborhood in Queens, makes wry and serious observations about his career, with Art Garfunkel and solo, and about the influences on his songwriting. His ruminations are better than the concert footage. While Simon is a practiced performer, he's still self-conscious after all these years.
PBS (Tues., June l2, 9 P.M. ET)
B-
Frontline takes its cameras to the town of Shakopee, Minn., to examine a pervasive community issue: frustration with the public school system.
We hear from three dedicated but disillusioned teachers: Judi Tomczik (high school English) and Sharon Boyden and Barry Kirchmeier (both 5th grade). Among their concerns is growing polarization. In recent years, they have seen a wider gap growing between students who are high achievers and those with serious problems in reading and other subjects. They also note that the unraveling of the nuclear family (divorce, two-income homes, etc.) means teachers are increasingly called upon to provide nurture and counsel to their classroom charges, in addition to teaching them. Another problem is posed by the increasing number of teenagers moving into the work force. It means that high schoolers have less time and energy to devote to their studies.
Meanwhile, the Shakopee community, upset over tax increases for school funding, has turned bitter. As Tomczik (who by the end of this documentary decides to leave the teaching profession) points out, the public perception is that "teachers are overpaid, underworked complainers." A referendum has been passed to limit spending. After dispiriting negotiations, a compromise is reached, but special programs are slashed and faculty salaries all but frozen.
The program has no solution to the dilemma. It's a flat, dispassionate presentation of an alarming problem.
>The gripping final episode of The Fugitive from 1967 airs on A&E Friday (June 8,4 P.M.). In a deserted amusement park, Dr. Kimble (David Janssen) has his showdown with the one-armed man (Bill Raisch) who murdered Kimble's wife. Also of note, on Saturday's Mister Ed (Nickelodeon, June 9, 6:30 P.M.), a noisy new neighbor moves in next to Wilbur (Alan Young). It turns out to be Zsa Zsa Gabor, playing (who else?) herself. She has been cast in a Western (there's a concept for you) but is afraid of horses until Wilbur introduces her to our favorite palavering palomino. Happy trails, Zsa Zsa. Jack Albertson and Barry Kroeger are special guests.
>Last year, ABC's announcement of the first annual International Rock Awards was met with a deafening yawn. Who needs another music awards show, right? Especially one that has the presumption to hand out statuettes of Elvis. Well, it turned out to be a pretty bodacious evening. In fact, with unusual graphics, exciting on-hand talent and rapid pace, the program was bested only by MTV's annual awards shindig. This year's IRA (Wed., June 6, 9:30 P.M. ET) is shaping up to be fun too. Sam Kinison and Gary Busey host; David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Melissa Etheridge and others perform. The Rolling Stones are seen on a remote from their European tour.
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!
