NBC (Mon., Jan. 24, 9 p.m. ET)
C
Rick Schroder plays a blue-collar guy who loses his perfect wife (Megan Gallivan) without warning to a brain aneurysm just weeks before their daughter's sixth birthday. Suddenly this easygoing sort faces all the responsibilities of a single parent. There's also a little class conflict going on here because Schroder's well-to-do mother-in-law (Linda Gray), who never liked him much anyway, now wants to take away the child and give her all the things her father can't.
As this type of melodrama demands, Schroder must be sorely tried so that he can gain wisdom and undergo the requisite elevation of spirit. Of course, all ends well in this video vale of tears, which costars Khandi Alexander and Lawrence Pressman. But the film is so intent on grabbing for the heartstrings that it neglects some other essentials, such as fully drawn characters and an involving story. More care might have been devoted to continuity as well: a little boy is introduced as Ralph in one scene and addressed as Chris in the next.
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