NBC's "Gulliver's Travels" is a rather spectacular television achievement in many ways.
Certainly, the special effects in this four-hour miniseries (Sunday and Monday, 8 p.m., Ch. 5) are nothing short of fantastic. And it captures the spirit - and some of the essence - of Jonathan Swift's classic satirical novel.And at the center of all those effect is Ted Danson, who plays the title character through big and little, smart and savage.
Danson's performance is good, and perhaps his greatest achievement is his ability to act at all under all the technology it took to create all those special effects.
And he told TV critics that he noticed a decided difference between being big and being small.
"Big, you feel very noblesse oblige. You're gracious to all the other actors," he said. "Small, you get a little grumpy, a little ar-rogant."
And "Gulliver's Travels" was like nothing Danson had done before.
"It was hilarious," he said. "The first three weeks I was never in front of the camera. I was off camera the entire time doing kind of `Gulliver: The Lounge Act' with my microphone. And they'd either put a huge speaker way up 60 feet high, of a little teeny speaker some place for people to relate to."
And not actually acting opposite stars like Peter O'Toole, who plays the king of Lilliput, was actually somewhat of "a relief."
"I was behind the camera in my track clothes about to go shopping in Lisbon with Mary (Steenburgen) while he stayed the rest of the day," Danson said. "He's so awe-inspiring that I just kept saying, `Don't worry, Ted. It's alright. He's only 6 inches tall."
Much of Danson's work came in front of a blue screen, doing scenes that would be electronically added to the work of other actors.
"All of the blue screen is really hard because the party's over. All your friends have gone home," he said. "And you're sitting on a soundstage with people being very technical, saying `No, no, no - look over here, look over there.' It's difficult. But then when you see it put together, it's so remarkable to see that results that it's worth it."
All the considerable NBC hype aside, however, "Gulliver" is not without its flaws. And its greatest flaw is in its structure.
The miniseries includes all four of the Gulliver's voyages, as created by Swift. Gulliver travels to Lilliput, where he's a giant; to Brobdingnag, where's he's tiny; to the flying island Laputa, where he's a veritable genius; and to the land of the Houyhnhnms, where he is a bestial man in the midst of civilized horses.
But the producers of this version of "Gulliver's Travels" have added a fifth storyline that Swift never imagined - one in which Gulliver has returned to England only to find his wife (Danson's real-life wife, Steenburgen) being pursued by another man - who manages to lock Gulliver up as a lunatic.
And this plot that has the title character defending his sanity is used to frame the rest of the story - with time shifts so abrupt and sudden that, particularly in the movie's first half hour, viewers may be rather confused.
Producer Duncan Kenworthy actually went so far as to tell TV critics that Swift's novel "doesn't conform to what we would consider a standard dramatic structure. And people have tried in various ways to provide one. This is the first time I think anyone has come up with a solution."
But it's a solution that doesn't quite work.
Even Danson himself admitted the narrative device wasn't perfect.
"You never know quite where you are, and you're interested. It is so stimulating that you want to discover. And I think by then you will be hooked," Danson insisted. "But it does take a second to understand the concept of the story the way we're filming it."
Actually, it doesn't take that much understanding. But it does take a while to get over the annoyance factor.
Still, as time goes by the device becomes more smooth - or, certainly, less jarring. And this is the sort of big-time event that's fit for the entire family. (Although the younger ones certainly aren't going to get the satire.)
"Gulliver's Travels" isn't perfect. But it certainly is worth watching.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Danson and Steenburgen are co-stars off camera as well as on. They got married four months ago, after the completion of "Gulliver's Travels."
So what was it like working together?
"Well, there's that early morning rush to see who can reach the mirror the quickest," Steenburgen joked.
"Hands down, me," Danson claimed.
"Our mutual love of hair-care products," Steenburgen continued. "No, he's fun. He's really fun. And I met him at a time in my life when I wanted a great friend and I found one, on and off the screen. . . . He takes the work very seriously and himself not at all seriously. And that's my kind of guy."
Of course, she couldn't resist throwing in that "most of the time you're laughing at him, not really with him."
Rumor has it that Danson and Steenburgen will be working together again soon on NBC - co-starring in a sitcom. But both insist that while that is a possibility, those reports are premature.
"We're exploring," Danson said. "I think both of us desire to not be away on location and raise four teenagers at the same time. I think we also like the idea of working together very much. So it's an exploration. It's very early. So I'd hate to be definitive about anything yet."
Steenburgen, for her part, said "It isn't anything" - at least not yet.
"It may never happen, or it might," she said. "We're also exploring other film ideas, and other films with other people, and all kinds of things."
WHERE'S THE ACCENT? One jarring aspect of "Gulliver's Travels" is that Danson plays an Englishman desperate to return to England - complete with his Ameri-can accent.
The actor and the miniseries' producers say they didn't want Danson to attempt an English accent, and all were rather defensive about the decision - both in fact and in jest.
"Why are we talking about mine?" Danson joked. "How about Peter O'Toole's Lillipution accent. It stunk!"
The producers and director went through various contortions to explain their decision, including a statement by director Charles Sturridge that, "In 1726 . . . it's quite possible that an American accent is closer to the way they spoke."
Which would make sense - except for the fact that if Danson's accent is correct, then the accent of all the British actors surrounding him must be in error.
Actually, Danson's American accent is no worse - perhaps even better - than Steenburgen's attempt at a British accent, which seemed to fade in and out.