It takes the death of one of our country’s most magnetic leaders to kick-start a new CBS mini-series on the life of his equally influential better half.
Most of “Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis”‘ first two hours on Sunday, at 8 p.m. on WBBM-Ch. 2, feels more like a documentary than the sweeping, soapy piece you might expect, considering the subject matter. Some archival footage mixed with black-and-white re-creations adds to that feel.
The movie, based on Donald Spoto’s best seller, is detached in laying out the courtship of brash politician John F. Kennedy (Tim Matheson) and photojournalist/socialite Jacqueline Bouvier (Joanne Whalley) in the 1950s.
Part two, Wednesday at the same time, continues that bloodless tone in looking at how Jackie influenced the White House after Kennedy’s election, how her sense of style developed, and how she struggled to maintain a normal home for her two children.
But “Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis” gets more emotional and heartfelt after Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. It not only shows how the country was rocked by the loss (the assassination is never re-created in lurid, “JFK”-ish detail), it shows how Jackie, despite her frustrations with Kennedy, was especially shattered.
Touching is how the shellshocked widow remained for several hours in the bloodied pink outfit she wore when her husband was shot, because she wants the world to see “what they’ve done to Jack.”
That emotional infusion remains as Jackie forges on with her life, deepens her bond with brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy (well-played by Andrew McCarthy), is swept up, and eventually swept out, by Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis (Philip Baker Hall), and lives her last days before cancer took her in 1994.
Whalley slowly grows into the role of Jackie, not doing an impersonation so much as a sketching of the real person — although she nails the sideways glance Kennedy Onassis often effectuated.
Most of the other actors are fine, but Matheson — who gets a promotion from his recurring role as the vice president on NBC’s “The West Wing” — never truly clicks as JFK.
Sunday
WPWR-Ch. 50’s award-winning kids series “Up ‘N Running” starts its fourth season at 7:30 a.m., with Erica Hubbard joined by new co-host Ryan Pfeiffer.
The reunion they’ve been screaming for (yeah, right) is finally here: “The Growing Pains Movie,” complete with the original cast, including Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns and Kirk Cameron. The “Wonderful World of Disney” movie is at 6 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7.
Fox’s two-hour animation/live-action comedy block –“Futurama,” “King of the Hill,” “The Simpsons” (celebrating its 250th episode with legendary rock band The Who), and “Malcolm in the Middle” (the secret to youngest son Dewey’s disappearance is revealed) — all make their season debuts starting at 6 p.m. on WFLD-Ch. 32.
The pre-Election Day Showtime movie “The Last Debate” has four journalists changing the course of American history by influencing a presidential debate to favor the candidate they think should win. James Garner, Peter Gallagher and Audra McDonald star in the film (look for a special cameo by Tribune Washington bureau chief Jim Warren) at 7 p.m.
Like Sylvester Stallone’s “Cliffhanger,” Fox Family Channel’s “Final Ascent” concerns a mountaineer dealing with criminals who goof around on a peak. Heidi Noelle Lenhart tackles a band of thieves who take her hikers hostage. Antonio Sabato Jr. co-stars in the movie, which premieres at 7 p.m.
M.E. (Annie Potts) makes a discovery that threatens to tear her family apart, on a touching and powerful edition of “Any Day Now” at 8 p.m. on Lifetime.
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” mixes classic election-themed material with some new bits, including scheduled appearances by both presidential candidates, in a special set for 8 p.m. on WMAQ-Ch. 5.
The inspiring story of the young Jewish girl who becomes the Queen of Persia comes to life in “Esther,” a new Pax TV movie starring Louise Lombard at 8 p.m. on WCPX-Ch. 38.
Winners of the Police Service Awards, established more than 30 years ago by Parade magazine and the International Association of the Chiefs of Police, are profiled on Court TV at 9 p.m., hosted by one of television’s top cops — Jerry Orbach of NBC’s “Law & Order.”
Monday
NAACP president Kweisi Mfume makes a special appearance on UPN’s “Moesha” at 7 p.m. on WPWR-Ch. 50.
Dylan McDermott (“The Practice”) hosts a Lifetime special on children ravaged by domestic violence at 7 p.m.
The link between Tinseltown and the nation’s capital is the focus of a new Bravo documentary. Airing at 7 p.m., “Hollywood, D.C.” features actors/activists Martin Sheen and Lee Grant, politicos Michael Deaver, Frank Mankiewicz and others.
Sigourney Weaver offers special behind the-scenes-insights during Animal Planet’s broadcast of her award-winning film “Gorillas in the Mist” at 7 p.m. The film airs again Friday at 7 p.m., with a special half-hour update on the African mountain gorillas that serve as the focus of the fact-based film about anthropologist Dian Fossey.
Tuesday
Declan (Adrian Pasdar) meets a window washer whose attitude after a fantastic survival from a fall bears a striking resemblance to his own past experience, in a charming episode of Pax TV’s “Mysterious Ways” at 7 p.m. on WCPX-Ch. 38.
Not many people know there was sinister work behind the founders of the famed Chippendales dancer. The USA Network’s “Chippendales Murder” premieres at 8 p.m.
It’s the end of MTV’s “The Real World” in New Orleans with a special hourlong finale at 9 p.m. At 10 p.m. is a reunion with the cast.
New York activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is profiled on “BET Black Biographies” at 9 p.m.
Lots of coverage is expected for Election Day, but chances are none will be as funny as “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s” live edition at 9 p.m. on Comedy Central.
Wednesday
Oprah (no last name needed) makes a special appearance as herself on CBS’ “Bette” at 7 p.m. on WBBM-Ch. 2.
Caitlin’s (Heather Locklear) guest-host stint on “Live with Regis” backfires on ABC’s “Spin City” at 8:30 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7.
The first of a two-part, four-hour PBS documentary on France’s Napoleon Bonaparte premieres at 9 p.m. on WTTW-Ch. 11. Part two is Nov. 15. See story, page 8.
An all-new episode of Comedy Central’s “South Park” finds the boys making the improbable leap to the fourth grade at 9 p.m.
Thursday
WTTW-Ch. 11’s irreverent “Wild Chicago” celebrates 12 years on the air with a special at 8 p.m., with Will Clinger hosting music performances, novelty acts and selected guests.
Patrick Dempsey (“Scream 3”) guests as Will’s (Eric McCormack) new boyfriend on NBC’s “Will & Grace” at 8 p.m. on WMAQ-Ch. 5.
An injured Steve Sloan (Barry Van Dyke) claims to have seen a murder in his hospital room on CBS’ “Diagnosis Murder” at 9 p.m. on WBBM-Ch. 2.
Friday
A ghost haunts a movie theater — by bringing disaster films to life — in the Disney Channel’s “Phantom of the Megaplex” at 6 p.m.
WWF diva Terri Runnels guests on UPN’s “Freedom” at 7 p.m. on WPWR-Ch. 50.
The History Channel’s “Dear Home: Letters From WWI” illustrates the conflict from the missives of the men who fought it at 7 p.m.
WTTW-Ch. 11’s “CEO Exchange” is on how to reinvent the corporation for the 21st Century at 9 p.m.
ANDERSON’S EMERGENCE ENERGIZES `THE X-FILES’
“You know, Agent Scully, you’re starting to remind me a lot of Mulder yourself,” FBI agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick) tells the formerly skeptical investigator of the paranormal on Fox’s “The X-Files.”
Which is exactly how creator Chris Carter wants it, as he uses Scully’s reluctant acceptance of the unexplained in creating a new energy for the series, which has the first of a two-part, eighth-season premiere Sunday at 8 p.m. on WFLD-Ch. 32.
With David Duchovny scheduled to appear in only half of the season as intrepid true believer Fox Mulder, the focus now rests on Gillian Anderson’s very capable shoulders as Dana Scully, who admits to Doggett that she’s seen things that “I cannot explain (and) I have observed phenomena that I cannot deny.”
Patrick (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”) plays Doggett as a by-the-book, hard-nosed lawman charged with finding Mulder, who last season was abducted by aliens. But Doggett will come to also investigate X-Files with Scully, which should make the antagonism between the two even more interesting.
On Sunday’s appealing episode, Scully pines for her lost partner while bumping heads with Doggett and anyone who gets in her way while looking for him; Mulder might — or might not — be suffering some nasty alien experimentation; and his disappearance becomes tied to a past X-File.
Oh, and Scully is still pregnant, as she revealed last season. No, we don’t find out who the father is.
