May 18 is a red-letter night for those who still miss the stone-faced sultan of TV variety whose Sunday program aired on CBS from 1948 to 1971. At 9 p.m., UPN has a special called The Virtual Ed Sullivan Show (not available in time for us to preview), which uses computer imagery to make the departed host appear to introduce contemporary talent. At 10, CBS offers A Really Big Show as part of the network's golden-anniversary celebration. In addition to some true time-capsule moments from the Sullivan show itself—Ed heaping praise on the Beatles for their model behavior, Ed playing the hipster in a 1955 chat with Marlon Brando ("a cat with a bongo beat")—the special includes vintage clips of Sullivan looking supremely stiff while being interviewed by Edward R. Murrow and Hy Gardner. It's easy to see why comedians like John Byner and Will Jordan (both seen here) had a ball mimicking Sullivan. Only one act bombs in A Really Big Show: your hosts, the Smothers Brothers, stuck with a bad script. Citing Sullivan's something-for-everyone policy, Dick says that watching the variety hour was "like having a giant remote control." Not exactly. Kids who tuned in for the rock band had to wait till the acrobats got out of the way.
Bottom Line: A fun look back
PBS (Thurs., May 21 and 28, 9 p.m. ET)
Are you tired of supposedly smart, smooth TV private eyes who make amateur mistakes whenever it's necessary to serve the plot? Meet Cordelia Gray (Helen Baxendale from Friends), novice P.I. and heroine of this, her second miniseries of the spring on PBS's Mystery! In the first, Cordelia (created by novelist P.D. James) was vaulted by circumstance from trainee to owner of a London detective agency. Here, Cordelia is hired by a hotel owner (Gemma Jones) to gather evidence that the woman's husband (Leigh Lawson) is fooling around with the female help. Going undercover as a staff member, the protagonist proves to be a bad liar and a poor judge of character (she may be falling for the philanderer), but her inexperience makes her missteps believable. And Baxendale's performance makes the shy Cordelia highly sympathetic.
Bottom Line: Worth investigating
ABC (Sun., May 17, 7 p.m. ET)
Show of the week
Like the school-integration story Ruby Bridges, seen on The Wonderful World of Disney in January, this fact-based Disney movie about World "War II Denmark aims to turn a heavy historical subject into drama that will hold adults while instructing children. Its success is due largely to the performances of Sam Waterston and Mia Farrow as Dr. Karl Koster and his wife, Doris, Danes who risked all to save Jews hunted by the occupying German forces. Though the film enhances its appeal to the whole family by playing up the roles of the Kosters' son (Justin Whalin) and daughter (Nicola Mycroft), its main focus is on the parents. Waterston is ideally cast as a modest man of integrity, and Farrow (doing her first TV acting in more than 20 years) makes a convincing transition from reluctance to firm resolution. Older viewers will note some wartime clichés, but younger ones will receive a valuable lesson in conscience and courage.
Bottom Line: A compelling historical drama
ABC (Sun.-Mon., May 17-18, 9 p.m. ET)
Something's out there in the deep, something bent on devouring seafarer and landlubber alike. One man, one scientifically enlightened man, appreciates the danger. But do the people believe him? No way, sailor. This is another fish (or mammal) story from Peter Benchley, author of Jaws and Beast. It's a mini-series adapted from his 1994 novel White Shark, and it's filled with all those familiar fright scenes that make you afraid to go back in the water. But once the plot hooks you, you'll probably hang in—until you grow frustrated by the stalling tactics so typical of two-hour dramas forced to fill four hours of prime sweeps-month time.
Craig T. Nelson (Coach) stars as a researcher using an abandoned Navy lab in the Caribbean. Nelson discovers that the Navy boys developed a terrifying hybrid—part shark, part heaven-knows-what—as a potential secret weapon during the Vietnam War. Well, the thing's still around, and it's eating people. The local constable (Blu Mankuma) rejects Nelson's warnings, while a sinister admiral (Colm Feore) wants to kill the creature just so he can bury the truth. At least Nelson's ex-wife (Kim Cattrall), a fellow scientist, is on his side—when she's not shooting barbs his way. Part 1 draws the battle lines reasonably well, but Part 2 contains too much dilatory foolishness, including a voodoo ceremony, a little romance between Nelson's son (Matthew Carey) and a pretty island teen (Megalyn Echikunwoke), and considerable howling and gibbering by "Werewolf" (Giancarlo Esposito), an ex-Navy officer driven haywire by his guilty knowledge of the hybrid experiment.
Bottom Line: Don't take the bait
WB (Sundays, 7 p.m. ET)
This could have been a decent romantic comedy if it hadn't been in an all-fired hurry to become a routine family comedy. Last month's pilot began with college professor Kelly Novak (Shelley Long) accidentally falling into the arms of widower fireman Doug Kelly (Robert Hays). Next thing we knew, she was meeting his four kids, accepting his proposal and suddenly realizing that his last name and her first name were, humorously enough, the same. In only the third episode (May 10), they tie the knot. We don't ask for years-long sexual tension (a la Long and Ted Danson on Cheers), but it's too bad two attractive characters in their 40s weren't given time to build an adult relationship before Kelly Kelly turned into a Full House.
Bottom Line: Unsurprising family comedy
>Sunday, May 17 TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL CBS (9 p.m. ET) A two-hour episode, the season finale, touches the hot issue of human rights in China.
Monday, May 18 MURPHY BROWN CBS (9 p.m. ET) Bette Midler and Julia Roberts top a long guest list as the sitcom closes its 10-year run.
Tuesday, May 19 MAD ABOUT YOU NBC (8 p.m. ET) Back-to-back original episodes, the second being the season ender with guest Ellen DeGeneres.
Wednesday, May 20 SONNY & ME: CHER REMEMBERS CBS (8 p.m. ET) Intimate reminiscences, plus clips from their 1970s variety show.
Thursday, May 21 WHERE IT'S AT ABC (9 p.m. ET) Hip title, huh? Two-hour special on youth culture, tied to Rolling Stone magazine's 30th anniversary.
Friday, May 22 THE HORSE WHISPERER Lifetime (7 p.m. ET) Sorry, just one of those behind-the-scenes specials. You'll have to pay to see the Robert Redford movie.
Saturday, May 23 DIRTY LITTLE SECRET USA (10 p.m. ET) TV movie in which Tracey Gold kidnaps her own son. Hey, it's complicated.
>Catherine Hicks
Serial Mom
During a recent stroll through her Beverly Hills neighborhood, 7th Heaven's Catherine Hicks was approached by a starstruck fan. "Excuse me," said the man, "my name is Ron Howard, and I just wanted to let you know that every Monday night I sit down with my family to watch your show." Since being cast as Annie Camden, a stay-at-home minister's wife with five kids, on the WB series in 1996, Hicks, 46, has seen her flock of reverential admirers multiply. This season, Heaven's popularity has soared with its ratings climbing 65 percent over last year.
But Hicks, whose previous credits include the title role in the TV movie Marilyn: The Untold Story and the horror flick Child's Play, was unsure about playing such a traditional woman in the age of Ally McBeal. "My first question was, 'Isn't this a little corny?' " she says. Hicks took the part, however, because it resonated with her own life as a married mom (she has a daughter, Catie, 6, with her husband, special-effects expert Kevin Yagher). "It's weird that I started out as a sex symbol [Marilyn Monroe] and now I'm Donna Reed," says Hicks. "But at least this is a family show that adults can watch and not have to apologize for." Which, to some, will seem like a small miracle in itself.
- 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!
