Poor Wendy Phillips. After the last three years, she's well on her way to being the kiss of death to television series.
First there was the wonderful "A Year in the Life," which NBC unceremoniously dumped after a single season. (Phillips played the divorced daughter who moved back home with her father, played by Richard Kiley.)Then there was the ill-fated "Robert Guillaume Show," which lasted half a season on ABC. She played the secretary/girlfriend of the former "Benson" star.
This past season, Phillips joined the cast of "Falcon Crest," finally managing to kill that night time soap opera off after nine seasons on the air.
And now, she's done in a series even before it got started. Sunday night's NBC movie, "Appearances," is a pilot that never made it to the weekly schedule.
Actually, none of this is fair. Phillips is a fine actress who's done quite well in all of the above shows. (She certainly can't be blamed for the demise of "Falcon Crest," which was seriously ill when she arrived.)
She does a fine job in "Appearances," which marks her second TV pairing with her real-life husband, Scott Paulin. He played her husband - who became her ex-husband - in "A Year in the Life."
On Sunday, they play Ben and Marie Danzig, a couple trying to get on with their lives three years after the death of a son. He died in a car driven by Ben's father, and Marie has never been able to forgive her father-in-law.
Both Phillips and Paulin said their real-life relationship enhanced their on-screen relationship.
"Acting together brings us closer," Paulin said. "Also, being with someone close gives you permission to let loose for the camera. Everyone married more than five minutes has a wealth to draw on for every emotion."
And Phillips adds, "Scott knows which buttons to push. He's a dangerous actor who goes for broke and doesn't tiptoe around. We trust each other as artists and are very comfortable working together."
The two are very good in "Appearances," but unfortunately the show has some problems. It doesn't spend enough time concentrating on the problems of this Ohio family - particularly on the difficulties between Marie and her father-in-law (Ernest Borgnine).
Instead, it spends too much time on a strange subplot - the long-time accountant at the family building and supply company attempts suicide, leading Ben to suspect embezzlement. It's a device to bring his retired father back into the business - and into conflict with Marie - but instead of ending there it takes some bizarre and sometimes silly turns.
But, all in all, it's not bad. And the competition is showing reruns Sunday night.