THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605030095
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
AFTER 127 episodes and six seasons on NBC, ``Sisters'' ends its run with a two-hour special Saturday night at 9 as Alex prepares to pack off to Tennessee with Big Al, Georgie's manuscript has the family in a dither, Teddy frets about the health of her unborn child and, I'm sorry to report, Mom has a stroke.
Now who will tend her roses?
NBC saved the finale of the saga of the sexy sisters from Winnetka for the May sweeps, which in the days to come include two appearances by Brian Dennehy.
Dennehy and Robert Urich have something in common. The actors never met a TV script they didn't like. These two work harder than David Letterman's cue card guy.
Dennehy plays a Joe Kennedy-esque character in ``A Season in Purgatory,'' a four-hour miniseries about lust, loot and lying which CBS starts Sunday night at 9. ``When you get caught with your pants down, you pull 'em up and start lyin' about it,'' Dennehy as Gerald Bradley tells one of his brood.
CBS has adapted Dominick Dunne's novel for TV with Patrick Dempsey playing a writer who lives a story that would make a best-seller. He helped his rich friend cover up the rape and murder of a young girl. It's schlock, but Dennehy is worth watching here as is Sherilyn Fenn, playing the spoiled rich girl-alcoholic so dear to a novelist's heart.
It's tough to do, but Dennehy gives the vulgar characters he plays an appealing side. Come May 12, Dennehy arrives in another May sweeps miniseries, ``Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk'' on ABC.
Anything else from Dennehy? Well, there are those Zantac 75 commercials, and in the months to come Dennehy will revive his crusty Jack Reed persona for the fifth time in a TV movie.
As for the hard-working Urich, he's coasted of late, appearing only in The Family Channel's ``Captains Courageous'' in April, the current ``Lazarus Man'' on TNT Saturdays at 9 p.m. and re-runs of ``Vega$'' on fX. Slacker.
``Sisters'' will be missed by many because it's become a nighttime soap opera that's a comfortable fit, like old slippers. It's about four generations of Reed women handling all the misfortune that life can muster while uttering such dialogue as, ``Honey, what is it? Something's wrong. I know it.''
The sisters have been played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember, Julianne Phillips and lately the half-sister, Sheila Kelley.
Other programming of note in the week to come:
This is must-see TV on PBS: Helen Mirren returns to the role of Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison in the latest in the crackerjack ``Prime Suspect'' series Sunday night at 9 on ``Masterpiece Theater.'' Word is that this is Mirren's next-to-the-last ``Prime Suspect.'' I wish it could go on forever. In Sunday's ``Scent of Darkness'' episode, a link is established to the very first ``Prime Suspect.''
American Movie Classics is bringing back ``Remember WENN,'' a nostalgic half-hour series about radio's golden age, starting Saturday at 9 p.m. The series focusing on life at an understaffed Pittsburgh radio station in the 1940s will begin nine new episodes on June 1 and 13 more in the fall.
Columbo himself, Peter Falk, will show up on camera starting Tuesday at 9 p.m. on A&E for ``Columbo's Favorite Columbos.'' A&E says Falk picked the four episodes he liked best and will do a little reminiscing here. First up: Columbo matches wits with a homicidal vinophile played by Donald Pleasence.
After the rough winter and erratic spring weather we've had, does anyone need to be reminded of how nasty Ma Nature can be? If you can handle more bad weather, catch ``Savage Skies'' on PBS Monday at 8 p.m. with Al Roker narrating the special about nature in the raw. It's a four-part series ending Tuesday at 8 on WHRO. (On Wednesday night at 8, The Learning Channel also turns weather conscious with ``Wonders of Weather: Signs in the Sky.'')
There's a new cable channel in service - Nick at Nite's TV Land - but it's not yet available in this market. To help convince you that you should call and bug your cable operator to carry TV Land, the Nick folks have a sneak preview arranged Saturday at 10 p.m. on Nick at Nite. It's a parade of re-runs including ``Gunsmoke,'' ``Hill Street Blues,'' ``The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour'' and ``The Addams Family.''
Also from A&E: ``Dangerous Seas: Inside the U.S. Coast Guard.'' The three-hour special is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. starting with a cruise aboard the cutter Farallon. You want rescues at sea? A&E delivers. This should play big here and in North Carolina, where the Coast Guard has a large presence.
And finally, if you don't know all you want to know about Kathie Lee Gifford from listening to her prattle on with Regis every morning at 9 on WVEC, Lifetime on Sunday offers up ``Intimate Portrait: Kathie Lee Gifford'' at 10 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo of cast
by CNB