COMEDY
Was Randy Quaid too morose for you in The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire? Well, to heck with the middle-aged angst of that defunct CBS series. Now NBC turns Quaid loose in a TV movie that gives him yet another opportunity to play dumbbell Eddie from National Lampoon's Vacation, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Vegas Vacation. The character's stupidity knows no bounds, but the laughs are as scarce as pre-Christmas parking spaces at the mall.
After Eddie receives notice that he'll be laid off from his job as a test subject at a nuclear research facility, his chimpanzee labmate bites him on the bum and the boss (Fred Willard) offers him a free South Seas vacation to ease the pain and forestall a lawsuit. Joining Eddie on the tropical getaway are his loyal wife, Catherine (Miriam Flynn); relatively intelligent son Clark (Jake Thomas), known to the family as Third; lovelorn cousin Audrey (Dana Barron); cantankerous uncle Nick (Ed Asner, seen in a better light as Elf's Santa); and flatulent dog Snots. Of the human supporting players, Asner has the most demeaning role, a dirty old man dedicated to the sexual harassment of the pretty tour guide (Sung Hi Lee).
The idyll turns into Gilligan's Island when the vacationers have themselves a little shipwreck for Christmas. Though the slapstick grows more and more labored (picture Quaid in too-tight shorts, hunting wild boar with a sharp stick), Asner does get one good chance to spread holiday anti-cheer. "We're all alive and we're all together—that's worth celebrating," Catherine says. Nick gives her a withering look and growls, "You're pretty damn easy to please." Too bad he then asks the tour guide for a full-body massage.
PBS (Wed., Dec. 17, 8 p.m. ET)
DOCUMENTARY
Hope it doesn't spoil your holiday season to hear that the man who gave us A Christmas Carol and a string of other classics was secretive, complicated and capable of insensitivity. This multilayered three-hour profile reveals a Charles Dickens who built a bedroom wall between himself and the wife he'd grown sick of.
Except for writer-narrator Peter Ackroyd, a novelist and Dickens biographer, this unconventional documentary dispenses with the usual on-camera experts. Instead we have a talented cast of actors—including Anton Lesser as Dickens, Miriam Margolyes as his abandoned wife, Catherine, and Natasha Little as his mistress Ellen Ternan—speaking to an unseen interviewer. The characters come alive, and their emotional wounds seem fresh. But you may grow uneasy with Ackroyd's intense interest in Dickens's extramarital activities. It's as if he were a gumshoe hired by Mrs. D. to get the goods.
NBC (Sun., Dec. 14, 9 p.m. ET)
COMEDY-DRAMA
The most important gifts are from the heart.... Giving is its own reward." Any TV movie that contains these thoughts is not without worth, but Secret Santa certainly takes its sweet time sending the holiday messages.
A cynical Indianapolis reporter (Jennie Garth, from What I Like About You) goes to humble Hamden, Ind., to uncover the identity of an anonymous benefactor who makes Christmases bright for locals in need. Garth's prime suspect is the richest man in town (Steven Eckholdt), but you swear it'll be spring before she meets the guy. Partially compensating for the poky pace is the presence of Leave It to Beaver's Barbara Billingsley as a nice old lady who befriends Garth.
MISSION OF MERCY
Primetime (ABC, Dec. 17, 10 p.m. ET) Oprah Winfrey travels to South Africa and talks to Diane Sawyer about a campaign to assist thousands of that country's children orphaned as a result of the AIDS epidemic.
HUMBUG IN WHOVILLE
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (WB, Dec. 18, 8 p.m. ET)
He's badder than Bad Santa—well, almost. Boris Karloff is the voice of the Yule spoiler in this 1966 animated classic based on Dr. Seuss's children's book.
SHINY HAPPY HOLIDAY
Boston Public (FOX, Dec. 19, 9 p.m. ET) The rock giants of R.E.M. are booked for a school fund-raiser at Christmas-time. Unlikely, you say? Well, Whitney Houston warbled at the prom last spring.
GIFT OF FAMILY
A Home for the Holidays (CBS, Dec. 23, 8 p.m. ET) Sheryl Crow, No Doubt and Mary J. Blige perform on the fifth annual special, which mixes music with inspiring stories of adoption.
- Contributors:
- Terry Kelleher.
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!
