TV automobile ads sure have changed since Dinah Shore urged viewers to "See the USA in your Chevrolet!" Ranging from sexy to surreal, these new Freudian minidramas are packed with passionate drivers and wanton roads, symbols of America's love affair with the car. But though advertising has long invited men to identify with powerful engines—and still does—today's auto-erotic dreams are often equal-opportunity fantasies. Well, almost. Mercedes men wake up from their reverie to find model Christy Turlington, while Mercedes women wake to find Michael Richards (Seinfeld's Kramer).
Other spots build on the notion that cars are really big toys for men. Plymouths bounce on a trampoline as a GI Joe-like action figure roars up to a doll's house in his Nissan Z convertible and wins the Barbie look-alike away from her brokenhearted preppy beau. But women get to play now too. "They call us sisters," says a strong female voice (Roberta Flack's) for the Mercury Mountaineer. "We don't want boys' toys. We want toys of our own."
Then there's the windup to the modern-day romance between a woman and her mechanic. "Ned, I won't be seeing you anymore," she says. "It's not you," she explains. "I got a Mirage." Wounded, he asks, "What's your sister driving now?" Forget it, Ned. She's probably the one in the Infiniti.
NBC (Sun.-Mon., Nov. 10-11, 9 p.m. ET)
C
Richard Dean Anderson is a 747 pilot with nerves of steel in this ponderous, two-part adaptation of the bestselling 1995 thriller by John J. Nance. Anderson keeps his cool when a passenger aboard his airliner dies of a possible doomsday virus and terrified travelers, over-zealous White House officials and Arab terrorists create a lot of turbulence. Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place), in way over her head as a brilliant CIA virologist who also reads Arabic (and speaks, she says, "passable Russian") saves the day. Or so it seems. White-knuckle fliers won't like part two, when Flight 66 takes some nasty dives, but overall it's a sedate four hours, thanks to stilted dialogue, stock characters and a plot so tangled they have to say everything twice.
PBS (Sun.-Wed., Nov. 10-13, 9 p.m. ET)
A
life through vintage film and photos, interviews with leading historians, letters, poems and diaries. The series stands out for its grasp of the Great War's social impact and for its use of 43 distinguished actors, including Louis Gossett Jr., Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren, as the voices of major historical witnesses. Timed to debut on Veterans Day, this is television at its best.
CBS (Fri, Nov. 15, 9 p.m. ET)
B
Some things never change, and Dallas is one of them. In this TV movie, prodigal brother J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) is back after a five-year absence, a little bit grayer but just as greedy and determined to take over Ewing Oil. He's still scheming to cheat longtime rival Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy), ex-wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray, looking terrific) and even adoring son John Ross Jr. (Omri Katz). As J.R.'s new girlfriend, Tracy Scoggins gets to wear the best lingerie. If you liked it before, you'll like it again.
>Garry Shandling
HEY, NOW! LARRY SANDERS IS BACK
Let Letterman and Leno slug it out for ratings supremacy on TV's late shift. The real champ, in the opinion of many cable TV viewers, is The Larry Sanders Show, HBO's Emmy-winning sitcom about the behind-the-scenes lunacy at a fictitious talk show. Gearing up for Sanders' fifth-season debut (Wed., Nov. 13), producer-star Garry Shandling gives correspondent Craig Tomashoff a sneak preview.
What is different about the show this season?
Larry will have a new [guest] booker, played by Mary Lynn Rajskub. Janeane Garofalo, who has been playing our booker, will be in at least two episodes. Larry will thank her for her work, saying, "I couldn't do interviews without the questions you give me to ask the guests, because I just don't have any curiosity about them."
Who are some of the celebrity guests you've lined up?
We just finished an episode where Elvis Costello sells Hank [Garry's announcer, played by Jeffrey Tambor] a car that explodes. And Larry thinks David Duchovny has a crush on him, and he's feeling a little awkward about it.
Are there guests you haven't been able to book?
I am hoping that when the Pope feels better, he'll come on. But his people are being pretty difficult. It seems they have problems with our wardrobe. He can't wear anything too white.
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