Sure, you may claim to be a serious student of sensational homicides, but the acid test comes May 25: Will you forgo the second hour of the Lost or American Idol season finales so you can catch all of this adequate but undistinguished adaptation of Amber Frey's book Witness?
Only the media-deprived can be unaware that massage therapist Frey is the ex-lover of Scott Peterson, the smooth-talking fertilizer salesman who was convicted last year of murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn child. Frey, initially fooled into thinking Peterson was unattached, wound up helping police and prosecutors build a case against him. Given the saturation coverage of this story, the inevitable TV movie needed actors who looked the part. Not a problem: Janel Moloney (The West Wing) is the spitting image of Amber, and little-known Nathan Anderson's similarity to Scott is too close for comfort. What's more, their performances are believable. Moloney wins sympathy as a single mom trying to forget past romantic setbacks, and Anderson is just right as a compulsive liar who seems to have himself at least half-convinced.
Unfortunately, the film sheds too little light on Amber's life apart from her relationship with Scott. When tabloids get ahold of nude photos of Amber, we see her as a victim of the vile press but receive skimpy information on how the pictures came to be taken. After her role in the Peterson case makes her a public figure, Amber becomes pregnant by a friend whose character is barely sketched in. Without a fuller portrait of the heroine, this amounts to a competent rehash of a thoroughly reported story. If you don't watch the whole thing, you'll live.
HBO (Sat.-Sun., May 28-29, 9 p.m. ET)
DRAMA
Paul Newman, character actor? Never mind that the guy is the sexiest 80-year-old alive. After buying the rights to Richard Russo's 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of dashed dreams and enduring friendships in a dying New England mill town, Newman cast himself in a supporting role as a deadbeat dad turned town drunk. Yet even obscured by ugly whiskers and surrounded by a top-notch ensemble-including wife Joanne Woodward, Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Aidan Quinn and Philip Seymour Hoffman—Cool Hand Paul still steals every scene he's in. Harris (The Hours) plays Newman's son Miles Roby, the affable, empathetic manager of a local diner, the Empire Grill. You might say Miles suffers from terminal decency. He's too nice a guy to stand up to Empire Falls' evil matriarch (Woodward), much less the preening neighbor (Law & Order's Dennis Farina) who stole his wife (Hunt). How Roby gets out of his midlife rut is at the heart of this affecting two-part drama, which is marred by a violent climax that seems forced and derivative. The performances all ring true, but none are as memorable as Newman's own.
ABC (Tues., May 24, 9 p.m. ET)
BIOPIC
"I don't like firing people," Donald Trump (Justin Louis from Lifetime's Missing) says in this cheeky but unsatisfying TV movie. Get the irony from the star of The Apprentice? In case you missed it, the line is repeated seven minutes later.
Louis, a veteran of several failed series (Hidden Hills, The Fighting Fitzgeralds), doesn't bear much resemblance to the real estate tycoon and reality TV luminary. Gradually, though, I came to accept his characterization of a relentless self-promoter to whom boasting is as natural as breathing. Katheryn Winnick is sexy and feisty as Trump's ex-wife Ivana, and it's fun to watch them wage war through the media. But after we see the mogul shed a tear over press reports of his massive debt, the filmmakers basically skip the '90s, omitting the details of what he later calls the "single greatest corporate comeback in U.S. history." If it was that great, tell us more.
MTV (Mon., May 23, 6:30 p.m. ET)
DOCUMENTARY
Parent/teen conflict isn't new, but College Dreams, the fourth installment in this occasional series, puts a fresh spin on it. At the center of the story is Sonia, a 19-year-old Mexican-American torn between going to school and cultural expectations that she take care of her family. More snapshot than deep study, it leaves some questions unanswered—like how Sonia feels when her boyfriend explains her dad's chauvinism by saying, "The man will bring home the money...the woman takes care of everything [else]." But by weaving in her own experiences as the daughter of Korean immigrants, correspondent SuChin Pak makes the story feel both personal and universal.
Desperate Housewives (ABC, May 22, 9 p.m. ET) Bring on the Welcome Wagon. New neighbor Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) moves to Wisteria Lane in the season finale.
Nick & Jessica's Tour of Duty (ABC, May 23, 9 p.m. ET) The singin' young marrieds entertain the troops overseas, with guest stars Willie Nelson and Brian McKnight.
American Idol (FOX, May 25, 8 p.m. ET) There are no losers in this competition, as Paula Abdul will probably remind us, but you've got to find out who takes the crown in the two-hour season finale.
Lost (ABC, May 25, 8 p.m. ET) In the two-hour season-ender, the folks on the raft encounter the unexpected while the other castaways try to blow the hatch open.
Bearing Witness (A&E, May 26, 9 p. m. ET) A documentary looks at women reporters facing danger in Iraq and other trouble spots.
Get up-to-the-minute celebrity news and photos on your cellphone, iPhone or Blackberry at www.people.com!
