VH1 (Mon., Aug. 11, 10 p.m. ET)
Grade for both: B
Asked which Elvis Presley they preferred to see on a stamp, Americans in 1992 overwhelmingly picked the young rock-and-roll rebel over the older Las Vegas legend. Six days before the 20th anniversary of Presley's death, Showtime premieres an irreverent TV movie—inspired by an actual 1970 event—that features the postal reject: a pro-establishment icon satiated with success at 35. Bored in the comfortable isolation of Grace-land and frustrated by his sense of pop-cultural irrelevance in the Age of Aquarius, Elvis (impersonated with a touch of sympathy by Rick Peters) flies to Washington to seek an official role in the war on drugs—his own pill-popping notwithstanding. His quest leads to an Oval Office audience with a similarly isolated, similarly frustrated Richard Nixon (Bob Gunton, in an extremely broad but funny caricature). Dick Cavett's arch narration and other mock-documentary devices grow a bit tiresome during the long buildup, as does the film's habit of underlining the jokes. But the Oval Office meeting is worth the wait, as the King and the President find themselves in political, astrological and, yes, musical harmony.
Elvis from the Waist Up should win his fans' stamp of approval. The one-hour documentary, narrated by U2's Bono, focuses on Presley's TV appearances of 1956-57. The title refers to the last of his three shots on The Ed Sullivan Show, when the host reportedly ordered the camera operator to aim north of Elvis's notorious pelvis. But in addition to his work on Sullivan's "really big shew," VHl offers clips of Presley's earlier, less storied performances on the variety programs of Steve Allen, Milton Berle and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. It's a kick to watch his confidence and star power grow so dramatically in only a year.
PBS (Mon., Aug. 11, 8 p.m. ET)
B
This hour with the Boston Pops Orchestra and its laureate conductor, John Williams, is devoted to movie music in the grand style, including Williams's Oscar-winning scores for Star Wars, E.T. and Schindler's List. Violinist Itzhak Perlman plays gorgeously in selections from Schindler's List, Far and Away (also scored by Williams) and Cinema Paradiso (music by Ennio Morricone). Grover Washington Jr. contributes sterling alto-sax solos in a suite from Franz Waxman's score for A Place in the Sun—although viewers might appreciate the music more if host Gene Shalit took a moment to describe the 1951 film. Speaking of Shalit, why must he interview Williams in a fancy restaurant, where the anecdotes compete with closeups of coffee cups?
Lifetime (Mon., Aug. 11, 9 p.m. ET)
B
I've got to be the stupidest person in the world," says Dorothy Hajdys (Bonnie Bedelia) in this TV movie based on the true story of a 1992 murder. She does seem awfully slow to realize that her sailor son, Allen Schindler (Paul Popowich), was a homosexual, that his death resulted from a gay-bashing by shipmates and that the image-conscious Navy is covering up the nature of the crime. But Dorothy's awakening is moving, and her anger is powerful, perhaps all the more so for being overdue. Bedelia's emotionally honest performance avoids one-note righteousness, and the film resists the temptation to transform a reflexively homophobic, working-class mother into a smoothly sloganeering spokesperson for gay rights. She is who she is—but she's learning.
CBS (Wed., Aug. 13, 9 p.m. ET)
C+
This feel-good newsmagazine, first seen in January, is in the middle of a five-show summer run (it's on again Aug. 27 and Sept. 3). The folksy approach hasn't changed, but the program now offers viewers a chance to scout three reporters who will be regulars on the upcoming Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel. Alison Stewart has an Aug. 13 story on a young woman who goes from living on the street to winning a Smith College scholarship. As is her style, Stewart conveys the impression that she's not only observing the subject but palling around with her. Bernard Goldberg takes a friendly but mildly skeptical look at two brothers developing a revolutionary car engine. And Peter Van Sant gets so chummy with a learning-disabled couple that he feels free to tease them about their sex life. We trust Mr. Gumbel will straighten him out.
>Trey Parker and Matt Stone
KIDS BEHAVING BADLY
COMEDY CENTRAL PRESIDENT DOUG Herzog fancies it his network's answer to Seinfeld. George Clooney can't wait for its premiere. And Trey Parker, 27, (who co-created it with fellow filmmaker Matt Stone) promises, "It's going to really piss people off." Welcome to South Park, an animated half-hour series (premiering Aug. 13 on Comedy Central at 10 p.m.) about four foul-mouthed third graders whose misadventures include thwarting the assassination of Kathie Lee Gifford. Think Beavis and Butt-head meet The Smurfs. "We take something wholesome and make it demented," says Stone, 26.
Way demented. South Park, in fact, is a spin-off of The Spirit of Christmas, an animated short the duo created in 1995 about some very profane kids who watch Santa Claus and Jesus Christ fight over who best represents Christmas. Spirit, originally commissioned by a Fox exec to send out as a video Christmas card, became a sensation among showbiz insiders. "These [guys] are like the Care Bears on acid," says George Clooney, who dubbed 100 copies of Spirit for friends.
A copy made it to Herzog and, delighted by the edgy humor, he asked the two former University of Colorado film students to develop a pilot, then a series. Next up: a movie deal. The pair are mulling offers from four major studios. As for South Park, "Every episode of the show will have a moral," says Stone. "But we'll try to screw that up too."
- Contributors:
- Craig Tomashoff.
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!
