NBC (Mon., Nov. 26, 9 P.M. ET)
B+
A mother (Rue McClanahan) lavishes all her love and her pride on her oldest child, a Hollywood screenwriter (Michele Greene), and has only disapproval and discouragement left for the two kids still at home (Ty Miller and Samantha Mathis). After Greene withers and dies from a brain tumor, McClanahan becomes obsessed with her memory, and the problems with her surviving children become more pronounced.
Sounds pretty grim, n'est-ce pas? Actually, when the film avoids mawkishness—which is most of the time—it's a touching, realistic drama that is nicely written (by William Schwartz), directed (by Larry Shaw) and acted (by all hands). The relationships between family members have an emotional depth and honesty that is rare for television.
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