From the magnificent to the irrelevant, from history to mystery, from pop stars to pop culture, if you can’t find something worth watching this season on cable you aren’t trying very hard. Movies, live concerts, documentaries and the occasional mini-series all are on tap.
The most extravagant and possibly the most valuable cable offering starts Sunday at 7 p.m. and continues into April of next year: CNN’s “Cold War,” an in-depth examination of the events that dominated the second half of the 20th Century and shaped the trajectory of our lives.
The epic series, the result of a brainstorm by CNN founder Ted Turner, represents an unprecedented commitment of network resources. The 24-hour documentary series will air weekly at 7 p.m. Sundays in 24 installments divided into two volumes. Volume I begins with “Comrades,” a setup episode covering pre-Cold War events, and ends Dec. 13 with “MAD,” a detailed look at the evolution of U.S. policy from mass retaliation against the Soviets to Mutual Assured Destruction.
The series resumes Jan. 3 with a recap of Volume I. Volume II really begins the following week with “Make Love, Not War,” which addresses the sweeping changes in U.S. society during the ’60s. The last episode, appropriately titled “Conclusions,” airs Apr. 4.
Narrated by Kenneth Branagh (documentaries sound so much more authoritative when the accent is British), “Cold War” was produced by award-winning filmmaker Sir Jeremy Isaacs with Turner Original Productions, the nonfiction production arm of Turner Broadcasting System.
“Cold War” would have been even longer if Turner had his way. Seeing the documentary as a chronicle of the world’s last 50 years, Turner initially suggested 40 hours. But Isaacs, who took 26 hours to tell the story of “The World at War” in his groundbreaking television documentary in 1974, didn’t want to tempt fate by trying to break his own endurance record.
“Cold War” isn’t the only cable option Sunday.
A&E offers a two-hour movie about Papa. Narrated by granddaughter Mariel Hemingway, “Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling With Life” was made with the cooperation of the Hemingway family. Those interviewed include sons Jack and Gregory, close friends and Gregorio Fuentes, the model for “The Old Man and the Sea.” If it’s half as good as the “Ozzie and Harriett” piece that aired in the summer, it will be worth setting the VCR.
Also Sunday, Showtime at 5 p.m. is looking at history in a different way with two dramatic accounts of the Holocaust: “The Island on Bird Street,” based on the real-life experiences of a Jewish boy in war-torn Poland; And at 7 p.m. “Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Families” with Daryl Hannah and Tim Matheson as a circus couple who hide Jews under the big top. The latter is the final installment of a series by executive producers Barbra Streisand and Cis Corman that portrays true stories of Christians who put themselves in danger to help rescue Jews from the Holocaust.
TNT
While CNN is busy stretching cable to the nth degree, sister network TNT is putting the finishing touches on a project at the other end of the spectrum: “CHiPS ’99,” a movie about the reunion of — you guessed it — Ponch and Jon, those wild and crazy motorcycle cops who first hit the roads in 1977.
Why? The better question is why not? This is cable, the land of something for everyone and there are bound to be plenty of everyones full of nostalgia for the ’70s. Then there are those who might tune in just to see who has aged better, the motorcycles or former heartthrob Eric Estrada.
Luckily, TNT is putting much more than “CHiPS” on the table. There might not be anything on the list that can match the success of last season’s Emmy-winning “George Wallace,” but several upcoming movies look entertaining.
First up is “Legalese” (7 p.m. Oct. 4), the story of a high-powered legal eagle and a pie-in-the-sky rookie coping with a high-profile murder case. The cast has more drawing power than the from-the-headlines plot: James Garner as the celebrity lawyer, Gina Gersohn as the actress charged with murdered and Kathleen Turner as the tabloid reporter who pushes them all into the media spotlight.
TNT winds up the year with two disparate efforts: “Houdini,” billed as the “true amazing story” of the escape artist who paid for his artistry with his life, and “Hard Time,” the first in what TNT plans to be a trilogy of police thrillers starring and directed by Burt Reynolds. Again, TNT’s knack for casting knowns and not-so-knowns adds to the mix. Paul Sorvino, Rhea Perlman and George Segal join Johnathon Schaech, who plays the title role in “Houdini” while Charles Durning, Mia Sara, Robert Loggia and Billy Dee Williams help out newly hot Reynolds as he portrays veteran ex-cop/ex-con Logan McQueen.
AMC
American Movie Classics celebrates Halloween with “Monsterfest,” an Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 festival of 25 classic horror films and a one-hour special called “Hollywood Ghost Stories.” The special tells tales of Hollywood hauntings.
Sister network Romance Classics adds monthly world and U.S. premieres to its stable of well-worn mini-series and movies. November’s installment is “Falling for a Dancer,” a mini-series set in Ireland about a woman who falls in love with an actor, becomes pregnant and is forced to marry a man she doesn’t love. In December, Gina Gershon shows up again, this time in “Prague Duet” as an American in Prague who meets a Czech dissident author and mixes romance with scandal.
A&E
A&E has many strengths and two of its upcoming events show the network’s breadth. The sometimes astonishing “Live By Request” specials return with “Starring Phil Collins” at 8 p.m. Oct 1.
Then it’s “Italians in America,” a two-hour documentary (8 p.m. Oct. 11) from the producers of “Irish in America.” Narrated by Joe Campanella, the show chronicles the history of Italians and America starting with explorers Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci but later focusing on the influx of Italian emigres from 1880-1924.
Sister network The History Channel continues its relentless march with the four-part “Hitler’s Henchmen II,” the successor to last year’s look at Hitler’s notorious inner circle. The subjects are Josef Mengele, the doctor of death; Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Nazi death camps; Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister; and Baldur von Schirach, founder of the Hitler youth corps. The series starts at 8 p.m. Oct. 19 and spans successive nights at the same time.
Another four-part mini-series, “Haunted History” on the “History Alive” series, will look at spooky legends, ghost stories and odd tales in four American regions: New England, New Orleans, Charleston and San Francisco. The one-hour episodes air nightly at 8 p.m. Oct. 26-29 and again as a marathon from 7 to 11 p.m. on Halloween.
For those who don’t want to invest the time in CNN’s full-length series, The History Channel provides the Cliff Notes version of the Cold War: “Inside the Cold War with Sir David Frost,” a two-hour review including excerpts of Frost interviews with central figures (7 p.m. Oct. 3).
“Coming Home: The Veteran Experience in America” examines 200 years of American vets returning from war. The show mixes letters, diaries and interviews (8 p.m. Nov. 8).
HBO
HBO continues to produce a mix of intriguing original films and specials. “Shot Through the Heart” stars Vincent Perez and Linus Roache in an HBO Pictures original inspired by a true story about life in war-torn Sarajevo (Oct. 4).
Directed by Spike Lee, “John Leguizamo: Freak” features the Latino comedian/actor as he plays more than 20 characters in the 90-minute cable debut of his autobiographical one-man Broadway show (9 p.m. Oct. 10).
It’s Janet Jackson live at Madison Square Garden in “Janet: The Velvet Rope” Oct. 11.
The real “Walter Winchell” — not that Internet wannabe — is played by Stanley Tucci in HBO Pictures’ original about the famed gossip columnist. Christopher Plummer and Glenne Headley also star (Nov. 21).
One of last year’s hits, the Emmy-winning miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” will be reprised on HBO Signature. If you have multiplex HBO and missed this the first time around, take advantage of the rare opportunity to see the story of Apollo. Two parts will air back to back on Monday nights beginning at 8 p.m. to midnight Oct. 5 and running through Nov. 9. Each part is one hour.
SHOWTIME
Showtime continues its recent record of strong programming. Proving the slogan of its image campaign — “No Limits” — Showtime offers “In Thru the Out Door,” billed as the first ever openly gay and lesbian sketch comedy TV show (9 p.m. Oct. 11).
The late, great E. G. Marshall reprises his 1960s role in “The Defenders Taking the First,” another installment in a series of movies based on the original. Beau Bridges and Martha Plimpton also star (7 p.m. Oct. 25).
Bud Greenspan takes aim at the Olympics again with a feature documentary about the Nagano Winter games. No title yet. November.
And Showtime tries to recapture film noir elegance with “Naked City: Justice With a Bullet” and “Naked City: A Killer Christmas,” two movies based on the film noir classic and starring the often excellent Scott Glenn and Courtney B. Vance as NYPD officers. The latter was directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
LIFETIME
“Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story” — Ann-Margaret plays the incomparable Pamela Harriman, heroine of a real-life story few romance novelists could top, in a two-hour original movie (8 p.m. Oct. 12).
“A Chance of Snow” — A soon-to-be-divorced couple played by Jo Beth Williams and Michael Ontkean (best known in my household as the hockey player who does a striptease in “Slapshot”) are stranded at an airport on Christmas Eve. Fellow travelers, including veteran character actors Barbara Barrie and Charles Durning, show them the error of their ways. Sounds hokey but the casting alone should make it worth a visit. Airing in December.
Lifetime continues its commitment to the fight against breast cancer with several specials slated in October. A 90-minute documentary hosted by Peggy Fleming, “2 Chicks, 2 Bikes, 1 Cause,” tells of the 5,000 mile, 18-state bike journey taken by Porter Gale and Donna Murphy to educate other young women about early detection and prevention (9 p.m. Oct. 4).
Later in the month Fleming also hosts a five-part series about life after breast cancer surgery on “New Attitudes” (10 p.m. Oct. 19-23).
Two installments of Lifetime’s “Intimate Portraits” take viewers inside the lives of two prominent women who faced breast cancer. Dyan Cannon narrates “Intimate Portrait: Olivia Newton-John” (9 p.m. Oct. 17), the tale of the singer’s victory over breast cancer and the impact the disease had on her life.
“Intimate Portrait: Sydney Seward” debuts at 10 p.m. Oct. 25. Seward, a broadcast journalist, went public with her illness, even appearing on-camera sans wig. The episode looks at the effect her story had on cancer patients, their families and others who drew strength from her courage.
Lifetime merges the breast cancer campaign with an interest in women’s sports by partnering with the LPGA for the “LPGA Tournament of Champions for Breast Cancer Awareness” from Oct. 8 to 11. Taped highlights begin at 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 and 9. Live telecasts air from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 10 and from 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 11.
