HBO (Wed., Dec. 31, 11 p.m. ET)
B+
"I could no longer remain silent," Barbra Streisand says at the start of her first full-length concert in 20 years. I hoped she was referring to singing. Unfortunately she was also referring to talking. "By my silence, I was giving consent to the madness of nations," Streisand tells 500 of her closest friends—Sally Field, Bruce Willis, Jack Nicholson and Jane Fonda among them. They paid $5,000 per couple to come to Streisand's Malibu backyard to hear her platitudinize on the good causes the show benefits and, finally, to hear her sing. "I've spent a few sleepless nights," Barbra admits, "wondering what I could possibly do that would be worth $5,000." Well, I'm not sure her show is worth all that. But for us uninvited guests, paying to watch on cable, Streisand's sweet renditions of Over the Rainbow, Somewhere, Evergreen, Guilty (with Barry Gibb) and America the Beautiful (with her 500 pals) are a bargain at a hundredth the price.
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