The first major battle of the November sweeps period starts Sunday, with three of the so-called “Big Four” networks each pulling out a major television event.
How do they rate? That’s as easy as A-B-C (the alphabet, not the network):
ABC’s “Wonderful World of Disney” remakes the stage hit “Annie” as a two-hour movie starting at 6 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7. And we’ll admit up front we’re not fans of musicals. (“The Phantom of the Opera” and the movie version of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” are exceptions.)
But “Annie” has great production design and swell performances by Kathy Bates as New York orphanage ruler Miss Hannigan (P.C. alert: Hannigan seems a little watered down and comes off more annoying than abusive); Victor Garber as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks and Audra McDonald as Warbucks’ faithful assistant Grace Farrell.
Even 12-year-old Alicia Morton as the plucky Annie grows on you. Kids will like her, and adults who like watching TV with their little ones shouldn’t squirm too much.
Grade: B
CBS uses a romance to frame the early days of rock with “Shake, Rattle & Roll” (8 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2), a two-part mini-series that concludes Wednesday at the same time.
The story starts in 1955 with a couple (Bonnie Somerville, Brad Hawkins) who seem to say “Let’s get together and put on a show!” The production shakes small-town Swanson, Mo., as their music isn’t of the Bing Crosby/Pat Boone variety, but guitar- and piano-fueled rock inspired by Little Richard (Billy Porter in a cameo).
We follow the pair as they share ups and downs with the career of their band the HartAches, all the while bumping into such real-life pioneers as Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran, Jackie Wilson and even the “King” himself.
The history is fascinating; the love story isn’t.
Grade: B minus
NBC again hooks up with Hallmark Entertainment (“The Odyssey,” “Merlin”) for a special-effects festival with “The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns,” a bright, carefree piece of work with not much going on.
The two-part mini-series (8 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday on WMAQ-Ch. 5) has an affable Randy Quaid as a New York businessman in Ireland in the middle of a conflict between a bunch of little people and their nemesis, a race of tiny, wing-flapping fairies.
While the overall look of “Leprechauns” is a delight, the storyline meanders. Part one features leprechauns drinking, “riverdancing” and squaring off with the fairies. By the end of Sunday’s installment, you might not care enough to pay a visit to Monday’s more interesting conclusion.
Grade: C
SUNDAY
Fox doesn’t trot out a mini-series or movie for the start of sweeps. Instead, it offers the long-awaited seventh season premiere of “The X-Files” (8 p.m., WFLD-Ch. 32).
The show continues its May cliffhanger, where Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is in a hospital mental ward, thanks to an alien artifact that makes him hear white noise and other peoples’ thoughts.
But the episode, the second of a three-parter that finishes Nov. 14, also might be the beginning of the end for “The X-Files.” Both Duchovny and creator-producer Chris Carter are at the end of their contracts, and even though Anderson is signed for an eighth season, she’s already on record as saying she’s done with the show after this year.
– PBS is also in the sweeps ratings game with “Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony” at 8 p.m. on WTTW-Ch. 11. This special, co-produced by superdocumentarian Ken Burns (“The Civil War”), looks at the two women instrumental in the early struggle for women’s rights.
– Six Medal of Honor recipients are saluted in a new TNT special airing at 7 p.m.
– N Sync performs on CBS’ “Touched by an Angel” (7 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2).
– A brand-new “Scarlet Pimpernel” movie, with Richard E. Grant as the scourge of the French government in the late 1790s, hits A&E at 7 p.m.
– ABC’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” returns for a few weeks on WLS-Ch. 7, starting at 8 p.m.
– Lifetime’s got Kristi Yamaguchi on ice at 9 p.m. — a concert featuring her and other female gold medalists skating to musical performances by Sarah Brightman, Taylor Dayne and more.
MONDAY
“Screen Gems Network,” the syndicated package of rejuvenated classic sitcoms airing weekdays at 9 a.m. on WPWR-Ch. 50, does a week of stars before they were stars, with George Clooney, Farrah Fawcett, Richard Dreyfuss and others when they appeared in comedies like “The Facts of Life,” “The Flying Nun” and “Gidget,” respectively.
– “Hollywood Squares” (6 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2) starts a two-week contest to give away a million bucks. Check the toll-free number airing on the show, and qualify by answering the question: “Who was our secret square today?” The winner will be announced Nov. 29.
– R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe plays critic on the Independent Film Channel each night through Nov. 14 (7 p.m.), offering opinions on various indie films and their soundtracks, like “Trainspotting,” “Woodstock,” “Tommy” and others.
– A&E’s “Investigative Reports” has a weeklong examination of practices that seem to mesmerize people (the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, the Heaven’s Gate cult in California), starting Monday with polygamy (8 p.m.)
– Director Gregory Nava (“Selena”) helms Showtime’s final installment of “The 20th Century,” which showcases mores in our society. This one is on immigration (9 p.m.).
TUESDAY
Despite NBC’s meddling (moving it to different time spots until audience could no longer find it), “3rd Rock from the Sun” has managed to make it to its 100th episode: “Dial M for Dick,” a sendup of murder-mystery parties (7:30 p.m., WMAQ-Ch. 5).
– A four-part series on the invisible world of microbes begins on WTTW: “Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth” (11 p.m.), which is set to run Tuesdays through Nov. 30.
WEDNESDAY
“Life Beyond Earth,” a PBS documentary on the cosmos, breaks things up into two hours: “Are We Alone?” which explores the origins and evolution of terrestrial life, and “Is Anybody Listening?” which speculates whether there is, well, life beyond Earth (8 p.m., WTTW-Ch. 11).
– ABC is so high on the ratings of Norm Macdonald’s silly sitcom “Norm,” the network is trying it out after “The Drew Carey Show” at 8:30 p.m. (WLS-Ch. 7) for a few weeks during sweeps.
– Bravo launches a new sketch comedy series featuring Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips, the team known for some mysterious reason as “Smack the Pony” (9 p.m.)
THURSDAY
Missives from World War II vets give a different sense of what the conflict was like in “Dear Home: Letters From WWII,” a History Channel presentation hosted by Harry Smith of the network’s sister channel A&E. (7 p.m.)
– “The Untitled Jay Lacopo Film Project,” an irreverent look at independent filmmaking that has been running on the Sundance Channel in bits and pieces since September, will be presented as an hourlong special at 7 p.m.
– Supermodel Elle Macpherson makes the first of several appearances on NBC’s “Friends” as a new roommate for Joey (Matt LeBlanc) at 7 p.m. on WMAQ-Ch. 5.
– The Discovery Channel’s “Real History” profiles Harrison Ford at 9 p.m.
FRIDAY
Cartoon Network debuts two animated series: “Mike, Lu & Og,” the adventures of a sophisticated New York girl exchange-student on an island populated by natives (7 p.m.); and “Courage the Cowardly Dog,” a canine who defends — against his nature — elderly owners from paranormal forces on a farm outside the small town of Nowhere (8 p.m.).
– The WB airs two episodes of “The Jamie Foxx Show” starting at 7 p.m. on WGN-Ch. 9.
SATURDAY
Top alternative sports stars compete in in-line skating, skateboarding and other events, while several music stars perform, at the “1999 MTV Sports & Music Festival” (12:30 p.m.).
– A 450-mile bicycle ride for AIDS is the focal point of “The Unknown Cyclist,” a Starz! original movie starring Lea Thompson and Vincent Spano (7 p.m.).
– Danny Bonaduce is special consultant for ABC’s “Come On Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story” (8 p.m., WLS-Ch. 7).
– Talented adult humorist Robert Schimmel stars in his first HBO comedy special at 9 p.m.
