Picks and Pans Review: The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid

UPDATED 11/16/1981 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 11/16/1981 at 01:00 AM EST

NBC (7-8 p.m. ET)

In certainly the first TV movie ever spun off from a Coke commercial, Pittsburgh Steeler "Mean Joe" Greene limps off the field and meets 9-year-old Henry Thomas, who offers him a soft drink. (The boy in the original Clio-winning ad has outgrown the part.) Greene tosses around dialogue as handily as offensive linemen in the surprisingly touching film.