According to NBC's promotional material for True Blue (8 p.m., Ch. 2), the new action/adventure series is about "the special cops that cops turn to."
What they don't add is, "When they need a good laugh."Supposedly based on the real-life exploits of New York City's elite Emergency Services Unit, "True Blue" is more "A-Team" than "Hill Street Blues," a show that places more emphasis on explosions and derring-do than on storytelling and character development. If this series is to be believed, contemporary police work requires officers who are part Superman, part Robocop and part MacGyver.
Think of it as "The Return of Supercop."
In the two-hour movie pilot that premiered on Sunday, we saw the ESU deal with:
- a guy threatening to jump off a skyscraper (with his wife behind him, egging him on);
- a couple trapped in their car after it had been accidentally driven into the Hudson River;
- a child trapped on top of a broken-down elevator;
- and terrorists holding 13 children hostage on a school bus.
Then, after the first commercial break . . .
OK, so it's not quite that bad. But it'll feel like it tonight when we have about the same amount of action - a man threatening to jump off the Statue of Liberty (I guess we're going to have a Jumpster of the Week), a woman pinned in her car after a traffic accident, a gunman holding a store owner hostage and a whack-o with a machete hijacking a city bus - in half the time.
I realize that we are talking about a unit that specializes in this sort of thing in "the most dangerous city in the world" (again, I'm quoting NBC). This isn't "Dragnet" or "Adam 12," programs that attempted to show the reality of police work for most officers on the beat. But I do worry about the perpetuation of the macho cop image, especially when it comes at the expense of dramatic integrity in a prime time television series.
Yeah, I know. "Dramatic integrity" is a lot to ask of an action-oriented TV show. But it can be done - or had you forgotten "Magnum, P.I." or even NBC's current "Hunter"? That such delusions have yet to occur to the "True Blue" producers is evident in the fact that they allowed Tony Lo Bianco and Rich Hall (who played the two most interesting characters in the pilot) to get away without signing them up for the series. And who can blame Lo Bianco and Hall for bowing out of a show in which the real stars will be the stuntmen?
Still, that may sound good to you, in which case you'll want to take a look at "True Blue." But if you want a little substance with your police action, I'd suggest you catch tonight's Hill Street Blues rerun at 9:30 on WGN instead.
-ALSO ON TV TONIGHT: Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls play the Indiana Pacers in NBA Basketball (6 p.m., TNT); Billy Graham (7 p.m., Ch. 2) sermonizes on The Game of Life (7 p.m., Ch. 2); Children in Exile (7 p.m., Ch. 5) is a syndicated fund-raiser for the American Leprosy Missions; Full House (7 p.m., Ch. 4) deals with the California earthquake; Mikhail Baryshnikov is featured in The Nutcracker (8 p.m., Ch. 7); Jaclyn Smith and Art Carney star in The Night They Saved Christmas (8 p.m., Ch. 13); and 20/20 (9 p.m., Ch. 4) reports on mercy killing.
-OOPS. You know how we've been telling you that the acclaimed Alastair Sim version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" won't be seen on local television this season? Well, KTVX (Ch. 4) does have it, and they will be showing it a couple of times - this Sunday at noon and Saturday, Dec. 23 at 11:05 p.m.
The thing that threw us off - and may well throw you off if you're not careful - is KTVX is calling it Scrooge. That's appropriate, because that's what it was called when it was originally released in England in 1951 even though it has always been known as "A Christmas Carol" in America. But that's not the reason KTVX is using that title. They want to call it something different this year because they're showing the colorized version (steady, Hicks) and they want to make it clear that it's not the same old black-and-white edition they showed last year.
But the title change probably adds to the confusion surrounding the piece, since there are already two versions of the story - the Albert Finney musical and an early film starring Seymour Hicks - called "Scrooge."
Still, it's nice to know that Sim's wonderfully crafted Scrooge will be available to local televiewers this season. It just ain't Christmas until you've been "Bah! Humbug!"-ed by the best.
-OOPS II: You'll notice that TV Week has KUED showing a movie called "Standing Tall" on Saturday night. That's not true. The local PBS affiliate will be pledge driving with John Wayne: Standing Tall (Saturday at 8 p.m., Ch. 7), an affectionate tribute to the movie legend featuring film clips and interviews. Sorry about the confusion. Again.
-WEEKEND SPORTS: It's a big day for sports Saturday, with College Basketball coverage that includes UNLV-Oklahoma (noon, Ch. 2), Duke-Michigan (noon, Ch. 4), North Carolina-Iowa (2 p.m., Ch. 4) and, on taped-delay, BYU's second game in The Cougar Classic (10:30 p.m., Ch. 11). Also on Saturday, College Football coverage includes Army-Navy (12:30 p.m., Ch. 5), Air Force-Hawaii (5:30 p.m., ESPN).
On Sunday, NFL Football fans can watch Kansas City-Green Bay (11 a.m., Ch. 2), Dallas-Philadelphia (11 a.m., Ch. 5), New York-Denver (2 p.m., Ch. 5) and Miami-New England (6 p.m., ESPN).
(BU) WEEKEND SPECIALS:KUTV has the Hollywood Christmas Parade (Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Ch. 2), and KUED will present a holiday music special featuring Peter, Paul and Mary (Sunday at 8 p.m., Ch. 7).
(BU) WEEKEND MOVIES: There are some real four-star classics on TV this weekend, including Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney in Boys Town (Saturday at 1 p.m., Ch. 13), Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary's (Saturday at 6:05 p.m., TBS), Cary Grant in Gunga Din (Saturday at 6:30 p.m., TNT), Oliver! (Sunday at 2:40 p.m., Ch. 7) and two of the best Christmas movies ever - Miracle on 34th Street (Sunday at 11 a.m., Ch. 13) and Alastair Sim as Scrooge (Sunday at noon, Ch. 4).
On Sunday evening, "The Magical World of Disney" presents the conclusion of A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story (Sunday at 6 p.m., Ch. 2). George Peppard goes back to the 1940s to star as a hard-boiled cop in a moody Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders (Sunday at 8 p.m., Ch. 2). Eddie Murphy is a wisecracking (what else?) social worker who goes to Tibet in search of The Golden Child (Sunday at 8 p.m., Ch. 4). And Kevin Dobson plays an investigative reporter looking into the disappearance of a TV anchorwoman in Money, Power, Murder (Sunday at 8 p.m., Ch. 5).