CBS (Tues., Jan. 21, 9 p.m. ET)
C-
In this tear-drenched TV movie, inspired by true stories, John Ritter overplays Ed Chandler, a car salesman callously fired for taking time off to be with his adolescent daughter Missy (Anna Chlumsky), who suffers from a rare form of cancer. With his joblessness dragging on and his wife (Tess Harper) coming unglued, Ed, for reasons never adequately explained in the movie, gets to recount his tale of woe before a congressional panel considering the Family and Medical Leave Act. After Bill Clinton signs the act into law, the Make-a-Wish Foundation arranges for the dying Missy to visit the White House. The drama tries to build suspense over whether she'll meet the President—but, hey, we saw his name in the opening credits.
Clinton makes the most of his cameo, smiling warmly and resisting the impulse to say he feels Missy's pain. But we miss Bob Dole in the background, grousing that family leave is a burden on business.
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