Sometimes, economics get in the way of good television in a rather unexpected way.
It's not uncommon for the high cost of production to make the end results less than they might have been had extra money been available.But, in the case of "Stephen King's The Tommyknockers," it becomes apparent as the two-part, four-hour movie drags on that this production would have been better off with less.
"The Tommyknockers' " biggest problem is that it's just too long. This would have been a much better movie if it had been cut by at least a quarter - and perhaps as much as a half.
Of course, ABC was looking for a big, two-part event for ratings purposes, so "The Tommyknockers" was destined to be this long whether it needed to be or not.
Based on King's book, this story is set in a small town in Maine, where writer Bobbi Anderson (Marg Helgenberger of "China Beach") stumbles across something strange buried in the woods. When she starts digging it up, it glows green - and so does she.
Soon, the whole town is under the influence of this strange force - everyone but her boyfriend, alcoholic poet Jim "Gard" Gardener (Jimmy Smits of "L.A. Law"), who seems to immune because of the metal plate in his head!
In addition to its ponderous length, the other big problem with "The Tommyknockers" is its surprisingly unsympathetic cast of characters. Not only is the relationship between Bobbi and Gard dull and lifeless, but the audience has no chance to identify with the lesser characters before the strange goings-on begin.
And for a King miniseries, "The Tommyknockers" is surprisingly un-scary.
"The Tommyknockers" has its moments, but it's actually rather predictable, even if you haven't read the book.
Unlike ABC's last King two-parter, "IT," "The Tommyknockers" does have a good ending. Hey, anything would be better than that dumb spider at the end of "IT."
But it's a long, looong wait to get to that ending.
LACK SHOWS HE'S THE BOSS: The new president of NBC News, Andrew Lack, is shaking things up in his division.
The biggest changes are coming in the network's upcoming prime-time news magazine. Before Lack arrived, it was titled "NBC Prime Story," it was going to tackle a single story every week, it had three anchors - Faith Daniels, Mike Schneider and Fred Francis - and it was set to debut on June 23.
Now, the title is out (a new one has yet to be announced), the one-story format is out in favor of a traditional, multi-story format, the three anchors are out, and the debut won't come until late summer.
Not only that, but Lack has taken executive producer Steve Friedman off the project.
(There are rumors that Friedman's removal comes because of his nasty attitude toward Lack's former employer, CBS News, when Friedman was e.p. of "NBC Nightly News." Both parties deny that.)
Lack has installed Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric as co-anchors of the news magazine, in addition to their respective duties on "Nightly News" and "Today." Paul Greenberg, "Prime Story's" other e.p, will stay "in the top senior editorial role." He'll be joined by network whiz kid Jeff Zucker, 27, who's been running "Today."
And Friedman, who was in charge of "Today" from 1979-87, will return there.
The three jettisoned anchors may or may not remain with the show, but the network says "all will have other key roles within NBC News, including possible anchor responsibilities to be announced in the near future."
LONG-RUNNING ROLES: According to CBS, Saturday's "Gunsmoke" movie marks the 650th time James Arness has played Matt Dillon - 233 half-hour episodes, 413 one-hour episodes and four made-for-TV movies. That's a record for a actor in a TV role.
And the record-holding actress is Michele Lee, whose appearance as Karen in Thursday's finale of "Knots Landing" will be her 344th - covering every episode in the show's 14-year history.