Show of the week
ABC publicity has made much of this four-hour miniseries' production values—10,000 extras, 7,000 horses, 1,500 pieces of jewelry, etc. But all that really counts is the hot number at the center of the drama: Does the latest incarnation of the legendary Egyptian queen project the sex appeal to knock Julius Caesar's sandals off and melt Mark Antony's armor? Yes, indeed. Chilean-born Leonor Vareia (The Man in the Iron Mask) has the exotic allure to make this Cleopatra the plausible conqueror of a virile, commanding Caesar (Timothy Dalton). As for Antony (Billy Zane), he seems immature enough to succumb to any siren. Like most costume epics, this one has its risible moments (mad with desire, Antony knocks over a bust of Caesar before seizing the great man's place in Cleopatra's bed), but it's a good deal livelier than the gargantuan 1963 version, in which Elizabeth Taylor may well have worn 1,500 pieces of jewelry in a single scene.
Bottom Line: Like Cleo's barge, it's too big to miss
Showtime (Sat, May 29, 8 p.m. ET)
It seems Inherit the Wind hasn't evolved much in 39 years. Aside from the cast and the color photography, this adequate but uninspired TV movie is largely a copy of the 1960 feature film, which in turn was adapted from a 1955 play that fictionalized the 1925 trial of a high school science instructor for violating a Tennessee law against teaching evolution. Jack Lemmon is competent as the crusading defense lawyer modeled on Clarence Darrow, but he lacks the persuasive power Spencer Tracy brought to the role. George C. Scott, defense counsel in the 1996 Broadway revival, doesn't fit here as the ever-orating prosecutor based on William Jennings Bryan (Fredric March's part on the big screen). Scott's angry rasp is wrong for this windbag. But unlike the miscast Gene Kelly of 1960, Beau Bridges has the bite to play the cynical H.L. Mencken-like journalist covering the case.
Bottom Line: Acceptable effort, but not a higher species of drama
CBS (Sun., May 23, 9 p.m. ET)
There's talk of forgiving and moving on in the last stages of this TV movie. But its director, Michael Landon Jr., seems more intent on making sure the world knows that his famous father (who died of cancer in 1991) was a hypocrite. No matter how well-founded the son's grievances, his film memoir feels vindictive as well as heavy-handed.
Though his shows (Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven) preach family values, TV star Michael Landon (an unconvincing John Schneider) walks out on his second family and starts a third. "I don't deserve this," complains discarded wife No. 2 (Cheryl Ladd). "No, honey, but I deserve this," says Landon, explaining his switch to a younger, more exciting woman. Disillusioned, his son Mike (played in adolescence by Trevor O'Brien and as a young man by Joel Berti) spends years as a self-pitying, substance-abusing screwup. The story ends on a note of reconciliation, but the dominant chord is one of resentment.
Bottom Line: Honesty is fine, but this smacks of getting even with Dad
>Sunday, May 23 THE JESSE VENTURA STORY NBC (9 p.m. ET) A pro wrestler becomes governor of Minnesota. Unbelievably, this TV movie is based on fact.
Monday, May 24 MAD ABOUT YOU NBC (9 p.m. ET) Alas, no more madness. Helen Hunt directs the hour-long series finale.
Tuesday, May 25 HOME IMPROVEMENT ABC (8 p.m. ET) Speaking of swan songs, Tim Allen takes 90 minutes to hang up his tool kit after eight seasons.
Wednesday, May 26 MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT CBS (9 p.m. ET) Melrose Place ends its FOX run Monday at 8, but series star Jack Wagner consoles himself by emceeing this beauty bash.
Thursday, May 27 BIOGRAPHY: ETHEL MERMAN A&E (8 p.m. ET) This Broadway legend had a voice that could shatter chandeliers.
Friday, May 28 DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY USA (9 p.m. ET) Jason Scott Lee (no relation) plays the lead in a martial-artsy 1993 biopic.
Saturday, May 29 HOPE FLOATS HBO (9 p.m. ET) This 1998 romance pairs buoyant Sandra Bullock with Harry Connick Jr.
>Jack Wagner
When the Melrose Place cast got word of the show's demise, they didn't overreact. "We're not going to kill ourselves over this," promises Jack Wagner, who has played the scheming-but-sexy Dr. Peter Burns for five of Melrose's seven sudsy seasons. Cancellation "is the way of this business. We've all been through it before."
And after all that bedhopping, blackmailing and back-stabbing, Wagner, 39, could use the rest. "The whole show is kind of crazy," he laughs. "When I was chief of staff at the hospital, I was 34. I was like, shouldn't I be 64? And didn't I just try to kill Heather [Locklear], and now she's my wife?"
Wagner, who first started making soap-opera fans swoon back in 1983 as General Hospital hunk Frisco, calls Melrose's end "in a way, a sigh of relief. In soap operas, you're constantly struggling to find new spins on the same theme. The last year has been difficult."
After Melrose's May 24 series finale, the avid golfer is looking forward to the links (he has a zero handicap) and spending time at home in L.A. with wife Kristina and their two sons. As for acting post-Melrose, Wagner, who has no work lined up, jokes, "I'm going to let my career go down the drain!"
- Contributors:
- Ulrica Wihlborg.
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!
