Good golly, this TV biopic is lively. But Little Richard stimulates our curiosity about the flamboyant rock and roller without really satisfying it.
Director Robert Townsend, who covered the highs and lows of the music industry in The Five Heartbeats and Jackie's Back, gets things off to an arresting start. Little Richard (Leon, star of last season's miniseries The Temptations) drives a 1957 concert crowd wild with "Long Tall Sally" until he's suddenly transfixed by a fireball crossing the night sky—a divine signal, he believes, to quit show business. But the rest of the film, despite Leon's verve and some exciting performance scenes (with original Little Richard vocals), fails to provide a full picture of the man it calls "the architect of rock 'n' roll." I was left wondering about the true depth of his religious commitment and wishing (heaven help me) for more than a couple of peeks at his cross-dressing and voyeurism. What's the story on those quirks? As one of the executive producers, Little Richard seems to have chosen titillation over revelation.
Bottom Line: Good beat but doesn't bare all
PBS (Sun., Feb. 20, 9 p.m. ET)
Show of the week
Debunking a legend can be a nasty business, but this "World War I drama on ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre corrects the record with respect and compassion.
In 1915 a company of volunteers from the English royal estate at Sandringham—servants, grooms, gardeners and the like—took part in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in Turkey. They marched bravely into heavy fire and disappeared into a mist, never to be seen again. The mythmaking process turned a mystery into a miracle, but the soldiers' true fate (only recently discovered) was a matter of grim reality.
David Jason gives an exceptional performance as Capt. Frank Beck, the estate manager and company commander who loses his illusions about the glory of war and the wisdom of higher authority but retains a familial devotion to the men in his charge. On the home front, Maggie Smith is perfect as the gracious, subtly assertive Queen Mother.
Bottom Line: Moving account of war's cost
CBS (Sun., Feb. 20, 9 p.m. ET)
What should you expect when a 1968 feature film is redone as a 2000 TV movie scheduled in CBS's post-Touched by an Angel slot? Increased sentiment, of course.
Flowers for Algernon comes from the Daniel Keyes novel that was the basis for Charly, which featured Cliff Robertson's Oscar-winning portrayal of a mentally challenged man who turns genius temporarily through a scientific experiment. (Algernon is a lab mouse he befriends.) Charlie Gordon is a dream part for an actor eager to display range, and Matthew Modine handles it capably enough. The new film sheds more light on Charlie's emotional life by showing us the mother (Bonnie Bedelia) who abandoned him long ago. But where Charly came to a quietly stunning conclusion, this version turns on the waterworks. Charlie's sweet teacher {The Practice's Kelli Williams) weeps so profusely that he has to hand her two hankies.
Bottom Line: Competent but soppy remake
Syndicated (check local listings)
Syndicated (check local listings)
These two new half-hour series from the people who gave you Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys are airing together under the promotional banner Back 2 Back Action. Back 2 Back Nonsense is closer to it.
The title character in Cleopatra 2525, played by Jennifer Sky, is a stripper who went into a coma during cosmetic breast surgery in 2001 and wakes up in the middle of a 26th-century war. Two beautiful, heavily armed women (Gina Torres and Victoria Pratt) allow her to tag along with them, though she emits ear-piercing screams at any sign of trouble. There are some jokes, but they're hard to hear amid the constant firing of high-tech weapons.
The lighter Jack of All Trades tries with intermittent success to cross the old Wild Wild West with a Mel Brooks romp. Jack (Bruce Campbell), a cocky secret agent swashbuckling for President Thomas Jefferson, hears a French villain's "Sacrebleu!" and says "Gesundheit!" Such silliness never hurt anyone.
Bottom Line: Halfway entertaining
>Sunday, Feb. 20 JUNGLE 2 JUNGLE ABC (7 p.m. ET) Tim Allen leaps the cultural chasm between Manhattan and the Amazon in this 1997 comedy.
Monday, Feb. 21 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CBS (9 p.m. ET) Well, if it isn't ol' Pee-wee. Paul Reubens guest-stars as the owner of a comic-book store.
Tuesday, Feb. 22 DILBERT UPN (9:30 p.m. ET) Listen up, Kramer. That's Jerry Seinfeld doing the voice of a supercomputer.
Wednesday, Feb. 23 GRAMMY AWARDS CBS (8 p.m. ET) Rosie O'Donnell plays host in Los Angeles, and an all-star tribute to Elton John tops the agenda.
Thursday, Feb. 24 STARK RAVING MAD NBC (9:30 p.m. ET) Try not to scream at the sight of horror director Wes Craven guest-starring as a reclusive author.
Friday, Feb. 25 THE HUGHLEYS ABC (9:30 p.m. ET) Shaking up the sitcom routine, the family does a musical parody of jack and the Beanstalk.
Saturday, Feb. 26 TRUMPET AWARDS TBS (8:05 p.m. ET) Dennis Haysbert and Lynn Whitfield emcee a tribute to black achievers.
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!
