THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 1, 1995 TAG: 9503300032
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines
PATTY DUKE, WHO was a TV star at the age of 16 more than three decades ago but hasn't had much work lately, returns to the weekly grind Saturday night at 8 on NBC in ``Amazing Grace.'' She plays a divorced mother of two and a former pill popper who becomes an ordained minister well into middle age.
Her character, Hannah Miller, switches from nursing to preaching.
``Because I love stained glass,'' Hannah tells the church elders who hire her as an interim pastor.
``And you don't get blood on your shoes when you save souls.''
The one-liners aside, Hannah is serious about asking others to unload their burdens on her. In the pilot, she puts herself in the middle of a custody battle. The plot is as thin as a communion wafer.
No way ``Amazing Grace'' will catch on with the masses in its present form, and it's already be worked and re-worked by the network.
Preaching doesn't pay much, so Hannah stays on at the hospital as the chaplain. Lots of opportunities for people to cross her path.
Since ``The Patty Duke Show,'' in which she played two parts - remember the perky Patty Lane? - Duke has worked in several series, including ``Hail to the Chief'' 10 years ago. When talking to TV writers in Los Angeles not long ago, Duke admitted she isn't crazy about doing a weekly series but, frankly, jobs are scarce, even for Oscar and Emmy winners.
``Before Don Ohlmeyer of NBC invited me to do a series, I couldn't get a job for almost two years. Could not get a job!''
NBC made life easier for Duke by arranging to shoot the first six episodes of ``Amazing Grace'' near Duke's six-acre farm in Idaho. Yes, she actually sings ``Amazing Grace,'' and on key, too.
Her character turns to preaching after a near-death experience on the operating table. She believes she was rescued by angels.
While Duke's character consults the Bible and speaks directly to God - ``It's hard to be wise,'' Hannah says to Him or Her - the producers never identify Hannah's religion. She's a generic preacher.
``A minister with the universal idea of the Almighty,'' says co-star Joe Spano. Burt Reynolds plays an evangelist named Josiah Carey in the April 8 episode. Angels visit a wealthy parishoner and tell her to give money to Josiah instead of donating to the new church hall in Hannah's parish.
Fire and brimstone galore!
Speaking of angels. . . The Learning Channel on Sunday at 10 p.m. (and repeating at 1 a.m.) starts a two-part series about the celestial beings that keep popping up in Hannah Miller's life and the lives of countless others. ``Angel Stories'' in Part 1 brings on people who say they've been visited and helped by angels in time of need. A nationwide poll reveals that eight in 10 Americans believe in angels. And lately in Los Angeles, the images of angels have been courtroom chic in the O.J. Simpson trial.
Where are the angels when we really need them as in times of war and famine? That, too, is taken up in ``Angel Stories.''
Here are two other TV events that your humble columnist recommends:
``Height of Courage: The Norman Vaughan Story.'' - On Sunday at 9 p.m., TBS on the excellent ``National Geographic Explorer'' series tells the story of 89-year-old Norman Vaughan and how he climbed to the summit of a 10,302-foot mountain in Antarctica. It took him eight days. Not bad for a dude in his 80s with an artificial knee joint. ``All of us have more inside us than we believe possible,'' he said.
``Eyewitness'' - The 13-part series begins on PBS and WHRO on Monday at 8:30 p.m. with wonderful portraits of cats and horses. Can a cheetah outrun a swift sports car? Yes, indeed. But only for a little while. ``Eyewitness'' looks spectacular - a sweep of innovative graphics and live-action images played against a field of white. The producers call it a ``visual stream.''
Take flight on a winged horse. Feel what it's like to be the prey of a hungry lion. Learn lots about your pet tabby. Don't miss ``Eyewitness.''
As usual, PBS has a week of programming that is way more interesting than anything on the commercial networks. Are you listening, Mr. Speaker of the House Man? Prime example: On Tuesday at 8, WHRO begins ``Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain. A Documentary about Race, Slavery and the New Nation.'' TJ is hot, what with this two-hour documentary about to air and Hollywood preparing to put his life up on the silver screen. Texas-born Sissy Spacek, who is now a Virginian, contributes to the two hours as well as Edward Herrmann and Danny Glover. Channel 15 will repeat the series April 9 at 3 p.m.
Also on PBS in the days to come is episode No. 1 in the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries on ``Mystery!'' with Patrick Malahide playing the chief inspector in ``Death at the Bar'' Thursday at 9 p.m. Is playing darts bad for your health? It is in this series from the BBC. The PBS ``Discovering Women'' series continues Wednesday at 9 p.m. with ``Secrets Underground'' and ``Earth Explorer.'' Archeologist Patty Jo Watson takes us cave exploring. ``Frontline'' on PBS devotes two hours to the memory and how it works or doesn't work in ``Divided Memories'' starting Tuesday night at 10. The issue of repressed memory as it it relates to sexual abuse is dealt with by ``Frontline.'' It's been a hot topic on TV talk shows and network newsmagazines.
Elsewhere in TV land, Fox on Sunday at 7 p.m. bathes in the spotlight of the NCAA basketball championships on rival CBS by airing ``Hardwood Dreams,'' which is a documentary about five members of a high school basketball team in Los Angeles who aspire to professional basketball. CBS shows the men's NCAA championship game Monday night at 8:30 with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer at the microphones. . . That slightly gross and totally irresistible series on The Learning Channel, ``The Operation,'' returns Saturday at 10 p.m. with a kidney transplant. Doctors take a healthy kidney from one twin to save the life of the other. . . It's hour after hour of Monty Python on Comedy Central Sunday starting at noon. ``The Python-athon'' runs until 7 p.m.
Joan Rivers gives her opinion of the chic and horrible fashions that were on display at the 67th Academy Awards Saturday night at 8 on E! Entertainment Television. The Oscars' fashion review is a 30-minute special. . . . Maybe you've been asking yourself, ``What ever happened to Kathleen Turner?'' At one time, she was the hottest of the movie queens. Well, lately she's been on Broadway and involved in a TV film, ``Friends at Last,'' which airs on CBS Sunday night at 9. Turner plays Fanny Conlon who has to survive a divorce and the depression that follows. Best friend Celia (Faith Prince) helps Fanny put the pieces of her life back together. . . . Bet you never knew there was a Cowboy Hall of Fame. There sure is, and Wednesday night at 8, The Nashville Network salutes the shrine in Oklahoma City, Okla., with a special, ``Cowboy Jubilee: Celebrating the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.''
With all those personal computers now in American homes after last December's Christmas buying spree, television is knocking itself out with stories about cyberspace and the Internet. Here's the latest: ``CyberSpace'' premieres Wednesday night at 8 on The Discovery Channel. The producers selected Blacksburg as a totally plugged in, cyber-happy community where almost everybody uses such words as ``hypertext,'' ``newbie'' and ``boo.''. . been abducted by space aliens. ``Close Enounters of the Fifth Kind'' was not produced by the National Enquirer. It only sounds that way. . . . Bad guys' week on A&E: The cable channel's ``Biography'' series sheds light on Bonnie and Clyde (Monday) and John Dillinger (Tuesday). The shows begin at 8 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Patty Duke stars as a divorced mother if two who becomes an ordained
minister on Saturday night at 8 in NBC's "Amazing Grace." Burt
Reynolds guests in the April 8 episode.
Kate Rose recalls memories of sexual abuse with her therapist, Doug
Sawin, in ``Frontline,'' airing Tuesday at 10 on PBS.
Michelle Pfeiffer narrates the PBS series ``Discovering Women,''
which continues Wednesday at 9.
by CNB