Last week, the latest incarnation of "The Wonderful World of Disney" got off to a rousing start with the TV debut of the theatrical film "Toy Story."
This week (Sunday, 6 p.m., Ch. 4), the revived anthology series continues to delight with its first made-for-TV movie - "Toothless."Hey, they've got Kirstie Alley starring as a wacky tooth fairy. What more do you need?
Alley is charming, bright and funny as Katherine Lewis, a dentist whose personal life is nonexistent. She's good at her job, but her people skills are downright rotten.
But life takes a sudden turn for Katherine. It ends. She's killed in a traffic mishap and finds herself in a purgatory-esque limbo land that looks like a 1950s trailer park.
She's there, we learn, because no dentists go straight to heaven. Some go straight in the other direction, but - because of the pain they inflict in their earthly lives - all dentists have to do some penance first.
(You've got to love that, don't you?)
Katherine's community service assignment - overseen by a tough purgatory cop (Lynn Redgrave) - is to take over as the tooth fairy. She's not exactly a natural. Her flying needs a lot of work - but not as much work as her empathy.
If Katherine doesn't shape up, she'll be taking a ride on the Hellivator.
Eventually, she befriends a young boy, melting the ice that has enclosed her heart. It's the lost-tooth equivalent of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," with Katherine cast as Scrooge.
There is, of course, the requisite happy ending. And it's all in good fun.
Along the way, there are many funny moments. While the kids won't get all the jokes, the ones the parents are laughing at aren't by any means offensive. As a matter of fact, this is a great TV movie for families to watch together.
And Alley is wonderful, bringing her goofy charm to a role that appeared to be almost as much fun for her as it is for us.
If "The Wonderful World of Disney" keeps turning out TV movies like this, it could well become a habit.
"DS9" RETURNS: Over the past couple of months, the question I've been asked most frequently is, "When is the season premiere of `Deep Space Nine?' "
Well, the waiting is just about over. The series begins its sixth season on Saturday at 6 p.m. on Ch. 13.
There are those out there who believe that "DS9" is the best "Star Trek" series of them all. That's debatable, but there's no question that "DS9" is a much-improved show.
And the fact that so many people seem so anxious to see how last June's cliffhanger is resolved speaks to just how good that episode was.
When last we saw Capt. Sisko and his crew, the war with the Dominion had begun. And the Federation has abandoned Deep Space Nine to the Cardassian/Dominion alliance.
When Saturday's season premiere begins, it's three months later. And the war has not been going well for the Federation.
The main storyline finds Sisko (Avery Brooks) leading a mission deep into enemy territory in a captured Jem'Hadar ship. But, back on the stations, tensions are rising between the Cardassians and their Dominion allies.
Don't expect a quick resolution to this storyline. The producers assure us that the good guys won't retake the station for several episodes.
And don't expect a major character to die. The producers assure us that's a false rumor.
Do expect "Deep Space Nine" to remain a top-flight series - one that certainly rivals the best of any of the others.
MAILMAN ON NBC: NBC has scheduled the episode of "The Tony Danza Show" that features NBA MVP Karl Malone for Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. (That's Ch. 5 locally.)
In the episode, Danza's character, Tony DiMeo, guest hosts a radio call-in show, and Malone is the guest. According to NBC, "When Tony mistakenly mikes his daughter Tina's phoned plea for a nose ring and fields a flurry of calls on the subject, Malone tosses basketball aside to lead listeners in a discussion of the teenager's piercing request."
THERE, NOT HERE: The syndicators of the forthcoming "Roseanne" talk show have been working so hard they've even sold the show overseas. The former sitcom star's daytime program will be seen on not one but two channels in Great Britain - a cable outlet and a broadcast channel.
What makes this sort of interesting is that the Utah native's show has yet to find a home here. None of the local stations have shown any interest in "Roseanne."
Not that this is by any means criticism, of course. You'd have to at least question any local programmer who'd pick up the show.
CORRECTION: There were two errors in last Friday's TV column that need to be addressed.
First, I misspelled the last name of KSL radio's Amanda Dickson.
Second, I incorrectly attributed the "Shame on you, Scott Pierce" comment to Dickson, when it was made by her partner, Grant Nielsen. Dickson simply agreed with him.
Shame on me.