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This soapy but highly watchable television "sequel" to Gone with the Wind, the most popular Hollywood movie ever made, has nothing to do with memories of a vanished antebellum South. But it does end up in Ireland, where the determined Scarlett O'Hara Butler (played with frosty passion by Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) turns hard times into an opportunity by buying the ancestral home of her family. Before that happens, however, Scarlett fights to win back the estranged Rhett Butler (manfully portrayed by Timothy Dalton), often seen in the company of other women, struggles for control over the homestead Tara, and gets caught in yet another compromising position with poor Ashley Wilkes (Stephen Collins). The troubles never stop (Scarlett's Ireland adventures land her in a heap of trouble from which only Rhett can save her), but this TV miniseries wisely keeps the focus on these captivating characters, their entangled histories, and the collective destiny that refuses to part them. The show also looks good: the location scenes in Ireland are particularly handsome, and there is something unaccountably satisfying about seeing Scarlett and Rhett walking through peaceful green hills. Enjoy. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (94)

The ending is horrible! What happened????
First off. . . the so called sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND will never measure up to the first. Kinda like to many Jason & Freddy movies! As a big time fan of GWTW I jumped on the band wagon. . . bought the book. . . waited for the movie. Let's just say the book is actually great! Different but great. The movie . . . well I will try to be nice. Joanne Whalley-Kilmer as Scarlett? What a joke! They should have got Delta Burke for that role! Timothy Dalton was an ok Rhett Butler better than the Scarlett. If they had stayed with the way the book was written instead of changing the ending it would have been much better. Where does Hollywood come up with some of their stuff? The ending in the book is so much better than what they showed! It was a crock of you know what!

When it took place in Savannah,GA and Ireland that was really nice. Gave you a so-called new take on that time frame instead of the poor south at that time.

Jean Smart played Sally Brewster's role wonderful. Gave the charater the spunk she needed!

Starts well, then falls apart
I enjoyed the first part of this film, Timothy Dalton is, of course, devestatingly gorgeous as Rhett Butler, the woman playing Scarlett is a bit insispid but who cares, so long as I could drool over Dalton I was happy. The part where they get shipwrecked on an island together, aaaaah! If only! I found it quite interesting to meet Scarlett's posh relations on her mother's side, and I was glad that Suellen had finally got herself a husband, she wanted one os much, poor soul. The killing off of Mammy is of course a big mistake, but the author clearly doesn't know how to portray black characters convincingly, which is I suppose why the film suddenly shifts to Ireland, where Scarlett goes to discover her roots. From here on it's downhill all the way. Pure melodrama, and Sean Bean is so blatantly wicked he might as well wear a hat with 'villain' written on it. If only Margaret Mitchell had written a sequel herself! Naturally I want Scarlett to get Rhett back, who doesn't, but the way it happens in this film is just too silly for words. I persevered to the end because, of course, Timothy is still there, and still devastating, but honestly! It just gets sillier and sillier.

Horable!! Don't waist your time!!
In gone with the wind, Scarlett was a little bit of a brat, but she at least had some morals!!! I this movie, Scarlett (who you remember loved Ashley until Melanie died) has become hated around Atlanta because of the fact that she chased after Ashley so long. To save her dignity, Scarlett runs to Rhett's mothers house, where she stays for a time (much to Rhett's dismay). When a turn of events gets Scarlett kicked out of Mrs. Butler's home, she eventually ends up in Ireland with a baby that Rhett has no idea exists.

In Gone With the Wind, Scarlett married many men for their money, but she was not going around sleeping with men out of wedlock, which turned out to be a very bad idea!
Also, the boathouse scene was such a corny idea!!!

This is defiantly NOT a good sequel to gone with the wind.
The woman who played Scarlett couldn't even begin to compare with Vivien Leigh. Maybe someday they will remake this movie and actually take the time to choose good actors and write a decent story line!!!

Horable!!!! Don't waist your time!!!
In gone with the wind, Scarlett was a little bit of a brat, but she at least had some morals!!! I this movie, Scarlett (who you remember loved Ashley until Melanie died) has become hated around Atlanta because of the fact that she chased after Ashley so long. To save her dignity, Scarlett runs to Rhett's mothers house, where she stays for a time (much to Rhett's dismay). When a turn of events gets Scarlett kicked out of Mrs. Butler's home, she eventually ends up in Ireland with a baby that Rhett has no idea exists.

In Gone With the Wind, Scarlett married many men for their money, but she was not going around sleeping with men out of wedlock, which turned out to be a very bad idea!
Also, the boathouse scene was such a corny idea!!!

This is defiantly NOT a good sequel to gone with the wind.
Joanne Whalley (who played Scarlett) couldn't even begin to compare with Vivien Leigh. Maybe someday they will remake this movie and actually take the time to choose good actors and write a decent story line!!!

Gone With the Wind This Ain't
I love GWTW, personnally I think that it is one of the BEST movies of all time-- this is not up to par. I have read GWTW by Mitchell and I read Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley and I must say that the original is by far better.

Now the Scarlett Miniseries was suppose to be the sequel to the GWTW movie not the book otherwise it would confuse those who've seen the original but didn't read the book, like Scarlett's other children by her first two husbands, I digress. However, the screenwriter or even the director of this movie thought it important to put Suellen having a family, after all in the first movie you expect her to be an old maid!

Joanne Whalley as Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a like unbelieveable and I do agree with the other reviewers that said Terri Garber(Ashton of North and South) might have been a better choice, albeit type-casting. Timothy Dalton as Rhett Butler is a good choice, I actually liked him as Rhett and seemed a better notice that in the sequel Rhett has a Southern accent. Which from my understanding Clark Gable refused to play the part with the accent.

My overall opinion of this movie is blah at best, if you really must see it I recommend finding it at your local video rental store. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Erich Segal seems to be obsessed with beautiful young women inflictedwith cancer. He first used this formula in his tearjerking book Love Story (later made into a 1970 film starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal). It appears again in Only Love, based on Segal's novel of the same name.

Rob Morrow is Matthew Heller, a neurosurgeon who had his heart broken by a stunning Italian doctor, Silvia Rinaldi (Mathilda May). Marisa Tomei is Evie,his best friend from college, who salves his broken heart and endures the ups and downs of her own marriage. Matthew and Evie eventually find each other, only to have their relationship thrown into turmoil when Silvia reenters their lives, this time as Matthew's patient stricken by cancer.Mathilda May shines as Silvia, who defies her father to become a doctor and then finds herself forced to give up her one true love. Marisa Tomei is as cute and perky as ever, and her fans will enjoy this film. However, the plot wears thin and feels rather predictable. Yet, even though you know where this movie is heading, it still has its weepy moments. If you've seen Love Story too many times and are looking for some new fare, this might be an appropriate film for you. Otherwise, stick with Segal's earlier flick; it's far more satisfying. --Jenny Brown ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Wonderful and diferent love story
I saw this movie other day, here in Brazil,and I loved it. The story is wonderful and shows how love can be unexpected. We can't know who loved more... .The story between Sylvia and Mathew shows that for the true love there are no frontiers. I loved Marisa Tomei also but I would prefer he had finished with his only true love,Sylvia. You should do this great movie in a DVD version also, because of the beautiful images. I wait for a DVD version, including here in Brazil. Congratulations for the americans for this beautiful story!!

Powerful love story
Maybe it was because I watched this movie before I ever saw Love Story, but this movie is much more powerful than Love Story-or any other love story for that matter. This is my favorite movie of all time. The plot of forbidden love is not original, but the Rob Morrow and Marissa Tomei's performances more than make up for it. This movie makes you laugh, it makes you cry, and most importantly it makes you love. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a true fan of love stories.

Great music
This was a good movie with a nice story. It would have been nice if it was a little cleaner content-wise. The music was great, they should have a soundtrack for it.

LOVED THIS MOVIE
This is a great movie. I watched it twice and told most of my friends and family about it. They are coming over to have a party to watch Only Love and Mother. If you are a Rob Morrow fan, you will appreciate the actors ability in both movies. You will be glad you have this movie in your collection to watch again and again.

For those who love tear-jeaking love stories this is for you
"Only Love" is the best made-for-tv movie I've ever seen. It is the kind of movie that moves you and touches your heart. If you like tear-jearking love stories this is for you. This movie is not only a love story, but a lesson in life. You'll love this movie! ... Read more

Reviews (27)

child of glass
I REALLY LOVED this movie as a child! I hope Disney re-releases it soon! It's one of the few movies that I can clearly remember from my childhood, even though it's been years since I saw it. Disney just doen't make them like that anymore!

"DISNEY", PLEASE RELEASE "Child of Glass"
I watched Child of Glass about 2 years ago. I was fortunate to find it at an OLD movie store. So, I rented it and fell in love with it again. My sister-in-law, whom had never saw it, watched it with me and she has been asking me to find it ever since. The old movie store went out of business, so I can't rent it again. Please re-release this movie on VHS or DVD so I can buy it and watch it again and again. I loved it, and miss it.

Child of Glass
Our screenwriter instructor asked us to make a list of 10 of our favorite films of all time then select 3 of those. When I finished Child of Glass was number one on my list. I can't even explain why I like this movie so well, perhaps because I was raised in a haunted house and the house next door was also haunted by the ghost of a dead school teacher.

Others have explained what this movie is about. They've also explained how difficult it is to find. I have discovered the same things. I would love to have this movie on DVD. I'm not likely to pay $40 for it though. I watch for it to come on TV again but so far have seen no clues as to when or if it will ever appear on TV or a movie channel again.

I'm the author of "The Adventures of Megan Martin" MeganMartin.com which is being adapted to screenplay format now. If someone learns when Child of Glass is going to show or were it can be bought on DVD at a reasonable price please contact me.

Thank you.
...Bryon

"FINALY FOUND!" How I would love to get it on DVD.
As a young boy I happened across Child Of Glass playing on TV. I imediately fell in love with the film, but haveing missed the beginning and unfortunately never catching it playing again, I didn't know the name of it. In fact I didn't even know it was a Disney film. However the film left such an impression on me that years later I would occasionaly question video stores about it giveing a brief synopsis. People sometimes would fondly recall the film but not it's name or where I could find it. With the internet I would on occasion briefly search for it with no success, till recently. I am pleased to know that others were impressed with the film as I was. However I am disapointed to find that it is no longer in print. How I would love to get it on DVD. Child Of Glass may not be a blockbuster film but it is clean entertainment for the family and an experience I would like to enjoy again and share with my children.

Child Of Glass Is Grand
I had always loved this movie as a child. I remember watching so intently when ever it was on. I loved Alexander and Blossom. I really loved the Plantation House.

I had been looking for this movie for years. I had heard that it had been released in 1986 on VHS and BETA but I couldn't find one. This year a very dear friend gave me a copy of this that he had converted to dVD. And it included a cover art that was a minature version of the origional. Even though it is a fake. I treasure this DVD. So much.

This movie begins showing The Ainsworth family traveling to their new plantaion house. WHen they arive the Kids are pretty shocked at how run down the house is. Well they work on it. And you meet the Drunk Caretaker who has Murder On His Mind. One night Alexander sees a Blue Light from the hay loft of the barn. He goes out there and sees the ghost of Inez. She tells him what help she needs from him. Well Alexanders decides to help him. I don't remember the exact riddle. But it was about the 2 should touch. Well it goes on. And Alexander falls into the well. And he is found. His parents send his little friend Blossom down. And she finds the China Doll. They rescue Alexander and they go into the Cemetery into the Chapel of Inezs Family and place the doll on top of her tomb. Well the gost of Inez apperas and grabs the doll than dies and evaporates into the Tomb. THan the doll appears and falls onto the floor. The head shatters and in side the head is the long lost treasure. WHich consists of millions of dollars worth of diamonds.

Great Movie. Fun for the whole family. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Film's Heavy-Handedness Loses Graces of Stage Versions
A viewer unfamiliar with the original stage production won't realize how much was lost in transitioning this story to the (small) screen, but playgoers will be intensely disappointed with the script revisions to Tom Griffin's original story, which equally emphasized the joys as well as the sorrows of these four men. This film version is a surprisingly humorless tale, made unnecessarily darker by the screenwriters' need to snow-shovel "substance" and "meaning" into every scene. In the play, for example, the visit by next door neighbor, Mrs. Warren, is played strictly for laughs, but in the film the humor of the situation is de-emphasized in favor of stressing, as it does ad nausium, both the barriers "the boys" face and the mounting pressures placed on their caregiver, Jack.

In fact, all we see in this telling are barriers: Arnold's inability to keep from being exploited, Barry's inability to keep from being abused by his father, Norman's and Sheila's inability to express affection for each other, Lucian's inability to express himself at all. It's telling that the only positive outcome in the film is that Jack's marriage is repaired in the last reel which, in typical Hollywood "happy ending" style, was grafted onto the story. In the original, Jack was divorced at curtain's rise and his not-so-subtle bitterness at this was an added facet to his increasing burn-out, not a full-blown sub-plot.

That the producers of the film chose to focus more on Jack's marriage than on "The Boys" betrays the discomfort they had with the humorous aspects of the material. This impression is amplified by the way Barry is portrayed. There's a far greater emphasis on Barry in the film, and the film Barry is a far more menacing character than the stage version. It's not enough to have Barry's dad drag him out to a driving range to traumatize him (a sequence far longer than in the stage version), but we have yet another Barry-centered "crisis" near the end of the film as well.

The producers unceasingly emphasis the darker aspects of the story, and both the characters and the story itself suffer as a result. In the stage production, Arnold's run-in with the corner grocer comes and is dealt with in the first part of the first act. The point that he is exploited, as many mentally disabled are, is made through Arnold's soliloquizing his troubles with a bully named Melvin. What is completely lost in the film is that Arnold is completely oblivious to the fact that he is being exploited (a point that perhaps network executives might not want made on commercial television).

To their credit, the screenwriters did try to replicate the two most effective stage effects of the original productions, the "dance scene" and Lucian's speech. Irritatingly, they undercut the meaning of both sequences with the cheap cinematic effect of showing us Jack's face in close-up before both of them, so we get the message, "this is how Jack sees them," rather than "this is how they really are!" Given that the screenwriters were more interested in showing "the boys" as problems rather than people, it's not surprising that they were allowed to shine only in Jack's eyes, not in theirs, or ours.

That's not to say there aren't any redeeming qualities to the film production. The relationship between Arnold and Mrs. Fremus, which begs the question, "which of these two people is saner?" is a nice addition. But here, again, what's emphasized is the negative aspect of the relationship (Arnold is again exploited, this time for the cost of a magazine subscription). Always, it's the negative aspects of their lives that we're forced to see, again and again.

Most heartbreaking was the portrayals of Norman and Sheila. Both Nathan Lane and Mare Winningham are both truly gifted actors, but to say I was disappointed by their interpretations would be a gross understatement. Mr. Lane chooses to play Norman as a caricature, offering us little more than a Lou Costello impersonation. And Ms. Winningham plays Sheila as sullen and aloof, in complete contradiction to the lines she was given. The most joyful and uplifting scene in the entire show, the scene where Norman gives Sheila her keys (can the analogy be any less obvious?!?) is played in the film as yet another excuse to show how incomplete and imperfect their lives are. In the play, we see how much Norman and Sheila make each other happy. Their love for each other sustains them as does any other two people deeply in love. But in the film, all we see is what they're not.

And that's the chief difference between the stage and film versions of "The Boys Next Door." In the play, we see the problems, yes, and the limitations, but we're also allowed to laugh with them and share their joys. In the film version, all we get are the sorrows. In the stage production, we get to spend two hours with people we get to know and love and will truly miss when it's time to go. In the film version, we're told a sad story about sad people who we end up feeling sorry for.

I felt sorry for film Norman, but I fell in love with stage Norman. The film is okay for what it is, but you'll only get the chance to really fall in love with "The Boys Next Door" if you experience it on the stage. For it's there, and only there, that they truly do shine.

Nathan Lane At His Best
This movie shows the versatility of Nathan Lane as an actor. He is tremendous in this role; both funny and touching. Michael Jetter is also wonderful. In fact, all of the actors did a great job providing insight into the life of some remarkable people. Worth purchasing for the storyline-a must see if you are a Nathan Lane fan, as I am.

Beautiful, simply beautiful.
Perfectly cast and well-acted. This a very touching movie without being sappy.

Excellent Potrayal of the Plight of Disability Services
This movie was incredibly accurate. Not only in relation to the limits of Holywood distortions, but it was true to the experiences, values, and attitudes of those involved. It captured the current crisis in Direct Support Services so well. It gave a face to the sad truth of what our nation values and does not value; and our nation clearly does not value its disabled brothers and sisters. The only problem is that hardly anyone will ever see this film, I wish it was on PBS or CBS, etc.

Excellent!
I loved this movie----Nathan Lane really is great in this! A MUST SEE! ... Read more

Amazon.com

It's time to face one of the great questions of the television age: Is"The Trouble with Tribbles" really as good as everyone thinks it is? You bet.While the story might be a little slower than many of us remember, the episodeis deservedly beloved for writer David Gerrold's witty, mildly acerbic script,and the way the cast took to heightened comic possibilities against networkresistance. (Heavens! Comedy on a science fiction show?) Stanley Adams isdelightful as the huckster Cyrano Jones, who gives a trilling furball called atribble to Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), who brings it aboard the Enterpriseand watches it reproduce... and reproduce... and reproduce. Soon, hundreds oftribbles are in every part of the ship, making Captain Kirk (William Shatner),already grouchy about guarding a mere grain shipment from Klingons, evengrouchier. There's no question that Gerrold made a major contribution toTrek culture with this show, setting a tone that Star Trek hasvisited again and again, including the feature film Star Trek IV: The VoyageHome and sundry episodes of The Next Generation, Deep SpaceNine, and Voyager. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The episode where Star Trek becomes a situation comedy!
"The Trouble With Tribbles" might not be the best Star Trek episode, but it is certainly the funniest. The Enterprise rushes to Deep Space Station K-7 only to find a pretentious bureaucrat named Nilz Baris who wants Kirk to protect tons of quadrotriticale, a hybrid grain that will be used to colonize Sherman's planet. Kirk is ticked off that Baris misused the Priority 1 Distress Call and only allots two guards to watch the "wheat". Meanwhile the rest of the ship gets shore leave and Uhura meets Cyrano Jones, a trader of curious items, including the amazing Tribble, the creature that is apparently born pregnant (one of Bones' best all-time diagnoses). While the little beasties threaten to overwhelm the ship, Kirk has to deal with some unhappy Klingons, reprimand Scotty for defending the ship's honor in a bar room brawl with the Klingons, and try to protect all that wheat, er, quadrotriticale. Watching a clearly peeved Kirk deal with all these headaches is a hoot, as is the classic moment when he has to endure a shower of Tribbles. Plus there is the sight of Spock petting a Tribble and Scotty ending the episode with the all-time greatest pun in Star Trek history. They must have had a total blast doing this one.

David Gerrold, who wrote this episode, also wrote one of the more interesting Star Trek non-fiction books detailing how he came to write the episode and how his script came to be filmed. An excellent behind-the-scenes book for aspiring Star Trek writers. If you love this episode, then you owe it to yourself to also check out not only Gerrold's book but the Deep Space 9 episode "Trials and Tribbulations," where Sisko, Worf, O'Brien and Bashir go back in time and re-live the original Star Trek episode to preserve the time-line. That episode is worth it just for the double-take everybody does when they see how different Worf looks like from the "original" Klingons. That episode was definitely my type of homage. Oh, and the "sequel" on "Star Trek: The Animated Series" was that the best episode of that short-lived cartoon series as well.

"No Tribble at All"
Even people who barely know what Star Trek is have seen or heard of this episode. "Tribble" has become a household word. This episode is hilariously funny, expecially if you know the characters. It is generally regarded as the funniest episode in the series. Although it is not my favorite, I love this episode, and highly recommend it. The Enterprise answers a distress call and travels to a space station, where the crew dicovers that there is no emergency. The space station has just recieved a shipment of a new, highly dvanced grain, and the powers-that-be want it guarded. Kirk is, needless to say, very annoyed. Add to that a Klingon ship requesting "shore-leave rights," and a trader selling cute little balls of fluff called Tribbles. Humans instictively like them, but Klingons do not. Once one Tribble is brought on board the Enterprise, it begins mulitplying so rapidly that it becomes a source of concern to Kirk and Spock. There is no better combination for a funny episode.

The Funniest episode of TOS.
William Shatner and the rest of the Star Trek cast get to laugh and have a good time in this light-hearted adventure when the Enterprise is assigned the task of protecting a space station full of grain for delivery to a developing planet under dispute between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and they encounter a trader (Stanley Adams) who sells some of the crew a small animal called a "Tribble" which then reproduces into hundreds of "hungry little Tribbles" who hate Klingons, like both humans and Vulcans, and proceed to eat the grain. Which then exposes a Klingon plot to destroy the grain shipment. Lots of laughs abound in this episode including Jim being buried alive by a hundreds of tribbles that fall out of a hatch. Was followed by a sequal in the Star Trek animated series called "More Tribbles, More Troubles."Written by David Gerrold. Directed by Joseph Pevney. Music Composed and Conducted by Jerry Fielding.

Stanley Adams (Cerano) wrote an episode as well
The episode with those furry little creatures was the apex of humor on Star Trek. By this point in the show's run, characters were well enough developed for the actors and brain trust to feel comfortable stepping out a bit. And they certainly step out in this one. Thanks to writer Gerrold, the episode actually has a fairly solid dramatic foundation that includes Klingon intrigue, and threats to both the food supply and the Enterprise itself. One could be forgiven for not realizing this though, since the tribbles
completely steal the show. Actually the enterprise crew (and Adams as Cerano)for the most part prove quite adept in the comedic roles, and the officious Schallert is a perfect straight man under the circumstances. A Starfleet official is even correct in his desire to reign in Kirk, for once!

Tidbits: The fight scene was supposedly pinched en masse from a prior film. Recognize the Klingon? He was Trelane from The Squire of Gothos, played by William Campbell.

One Of The Finest Hours Of The Original Series
"The Trouble With Tribbles" is my personal favorite among the nearly 80 hours of the original "Star Trek" series. It is unquestionably the funniest, with David Gerrold's deft, wittty prose creating hilarious scenes and dialogue as precious as any I've seen on Jackie Gleason's "The Honeymooners". James Doohan's Scotty steals many of the scenes he's in, though highest honors for hilarity deservedly go to Stanley Adams as the trader Cyrano Jones responsible for the tribble infestation on the Federation space station. The fight between the Klingons and the Enterprise crew is certainly among the finest examples of "Star Trek" humor I've seen. Fans of slapstick comedy will not want to miss this terrific "Star Trek" episode.

This was David Gerrold's first professional sale as a writer and remains one of his finest episodes of science fiction television (However, his best probably is the Babylon 5 episode "Believers".). ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Legacy for Our Youth
As an African American parent and teacher, this movie is a MUST for our children. Each generation is further removed from the real-life experiences of segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, and the deceased generation of slavery. The word "nigger" is now used thoughtlessly as a joke. Our children don't realize the significance the word had and still has for some generations. Too many believe they can refuse or fight their way out of an unwanted situation. Theirs is a different reality. ROOTS can bring them in touch with the past of those who have died in a struggle to maintain dignity for our people. This legacy is alive in the movie ROOTS. Share the legacy with our children---see the movie with a young person.

Kunte Kinte
This a really DEEP! movie. It makes you laugh! and it makes you cry!

It takes you to Africa, then brings you back to slavery. It shows the will of Kunte Kinte and how it could not be broken during his enslavement.

This film is one of a kind you you don't know anything about slavery until you've seen ROOTS ... Read more

Reviews (11)

One of my favorites
This episode is a sterling example of how the Outer Limits TV series took sci-fi television to heights that have yet to be surpassed four decades later. Typical of this series, "The Man Who Was Never Born" manages to be frightening while at the same time literate, thoughtful and futuristic -- and yet humane in how the story portrays its characters.

Martin Landau is terrific as "Andro," the mutant human from the future who can influence present day people with hypnotic suggestion. Landau is such a class act; truly one of the best actors of these past forty years. His voice transmits his earnest and gentle character's conflict and confusion in dealing with his own emotions (e.g., love, duty to humanity) and the awesome choices that his situation presents.

I'd like to acknowledge the well-written comments from previous reviewers that spurred my interest in this episode. I must echo their praise and highly recommend this episode.

TV at its most distinguished.
This episode manages to be highly original with some highly unoriginal material--mainly, the "Beauty and the Beast" theme and the ancient sci-fi cliche of saving the future by traveling to the past. "The Outer Limits" had a genius for making the old seem new, and "The Man Who Was Never Born" may be the most distinguished example thereof. The new series, by contrast, achieves exactly the opposite by making newer themes seem old and stale through cliched presentations. Same name, very different series.

Martin Landau is superb as Andro, the sensitive and peace-loving human mutant from the future who hates the task he must carry out. Everyone is top-notch, in fact. The themes within themes make each viewing a new experience.

The masterful direction is by Leonard Horn, who went on to contribute in a major way to the original "Mission: Impossible" series, his finest achievement being that series' "Operation: Rogosh," now available on video.

Who said that sci-fi couldn't be romantic?
"The Architects of Fear" and "The Man Who Was Never Born" are the only episodes of the 60's anthology that underneath the otherworldly trappings was a love story.

Martin Landau ("Andro") stars as an Earthman from the future that travels back in time to prevent the birth of a man destined to destroy humanity as we know it. Along the way he falls for "Nicole" (Shirley Knight), the woman that would become the mother of Earth's destroyer. Both actors show why they have been a theatrical and television presence, respectively, for over four decades.

Accompanied by a lush Dominic Frontiere score and superb lighting, the episode is a feast for the ear and the eye.

Haunting
Easily one of OL's top five episodes. The effects are rancid, but the story is so well written, acted, and produced, you won't care. It's a study in the suspension of disbelief that will completely draw you in, and leave you with your jaw dropped - it has probably the most haunting ending of any entry in the entire series.

Martin Landau was the ideal choice to play Andro, who travels eighty-five years back in time to prevent a sterilizing and disfiguring biological warfare plague from devastating humanity. Overshooting his mark, he inconveniently falls in love with the woman he must kill (Shirley Knight) in order to achieve his objective. How he resolves the dilemma constitutes the most lyrically poetic of all OL stories, and one not to be missed.

In a nutshell, this one is pure magic. They don't make them like this, anymore.

My 2nd favorite Outer Limits episode
One thing I liked a lot about Outer Limit was the viewer could never be sure where the story was taking him. Unlike series TV where you might lose a Star Trek private but NEVER a regular, with Outer Limits there were NO REGULARS, so they could tell the tale anyway they wished. They do so here in a great form, as the story keeps twisting in ways one may not expect. This is a very thoughtful episode with many touching moments. And who does not want to root for the beast to win the gal? ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The wonderful Dutch people
After watching this movie, I felt a lot more better about the german occupation in Europe. I thought almost all of europe were against the poor jewish people, but now with The Attic, you learn more about Anne and the hiding, and what went on outside the walls. Miep Gies is very loyal to her country in Holland, but when some of her best friends, who are in misfortune just because they are jewish in the german occupation, she knows must do something to stop her friends from being harmed. While they are in hiding above the office she works for, which happens to be owned by Mr. Frank, one of the men that is hiding, Miep becomes closer to Mr. Franks daughter Anne, and encourages her to do something she just might give up on, keeping a diary. Outside the walls of the Secret Annex, the Dutch people are protesting against the germans and their degration towards the jewish people, but end up getting bad consicouenses just for doing what's right. Miep and the other 4 helpers to the hiding occupants hope the war will be over soon because things are getting worse. This is a much more accurate version of Anne Frank information. The diary of Anne Frank was hardly accurate at all. The annex wasn't even right. In this movie, you get to find out more of Anne and the others that's more accurate then you ever did before. Lisa Jacobs was great as Anne Frank, and Mary Steenburgen was beautiful as Miep, and very good. I hope it comes out on DVD soon.

Courage and love in the midst of oppression
Mary Steenburgen gives a deeply sympathetic and loving portrayal of Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank and her family during the German occupation of Holland.

The subdued color until the final bright scene, the music, the low key acting with only one dramatic outburst in the film, all give the feeling of great oppression. The horror of being occupied by foreign power in your own country is constantly portrayed. Juxtaposed to this oppression is the strength, courage, and love of one woman.

Anne Frank herself isn't portrayed as the beautiful child we've seen in other versions. She is rather plain and quiet, but there are scenes when she does blossom out as one mature for her years with her own sense of strength and courage.

We don't, of course, see the whole story of the Franks, because the focus here is on the woman, Miep Gies. The movie is based on a book by the woman, a book I hope to read in time.

This is not exactly an entertaining movie, nor is it a morbid or dreary experience. It does portray not only the plight of the Jews, but also the plight of the Dutch people. And it is good that we emphasize with the people of that time. Present generations don't realize that it could have happened here. If a few battles had gone another way, if Hitler had paid more attention to Rommel, our history could have been drastically and unimagineably changed. And so it is good for us to watch what a captive nation is like.

No, this isn't entertainment in its strictest sense, but it does have an uplifting feeling at the end and is quite worth the watching, to make an understatement.

A Very Moving Telling of the Tragic Event
This movie focuses a lot on Meep, played very well by Mary Steenburgen. It tells the story of the Franks from before they move into hiding to their capture and deportation. While it does not cover as broad a time span as the recent tv movie about Anne Frank, it does give a pretty accurate portrayal of the lives of those involved in the hiding of some Jews in a hidden annex.

A gripping story of courage & the horror of war!
The actors in "The Attic" provide viewers with an engrossing look at the horrors of the Holocaust as it applied to the families in the Secret Annexe as well as the bravery of the Dutch people who served in the Underground. Portions of the story were filmed on location at what is now known as the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. As a teacher, I used the film as a follow up to the study of "The Diary of Anne Frank". My students were curious about the people who helped the people in the Secret Annexe. By the end of this film many of the students had tears in their eyes even though they knew what the ending would be. They found it easy to relate to the characters and the shock and grief at what befell the occupants of the hiding place. Since the story is told from Miep's point of view, we are given a fresh perspective of the Franks, the Van Daans, and Dr. Dussel. Miep had a special friendship with Anne Frank and her memories of the time Anne and her family spent in hiding let us see more of the personalities of the group. If you were not previously convinced about the horror of war (and the persecution of the Jewish people), you definitely will be after viewing this film. ... Read more

Description

As a stand-up comedian, a comedy album recording artist and the star of six television series, Bob Newhart has been bringing his unique and subtle brand of deadpan humor to American audiences for four decades.Most agree, however, that he did his greates ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Needs Complete Season DVD Boxsets!
The Bob Newhart Show is one of my favorite classic shows and I remember watching this show when I was a kid and I also watched reruns on Nick at Nite and TV Land but they are always either changing the schedule or not showing it at all for long periods of time. I really want this show to be released in complete season DVD boxsets and can't believe they haven't done it already. The tape is fine and has good episodes but they would be better on DVD.

includes Episode 81 : Who is Mr. X?
includes epsiode 81 : Who is Mr. X? Bob accepts a seemingly innocent invitation to appear as the guest on a TV discussion program. He winds up in the jaws of a dilemma when the show host turns out to have the disposition of a shark.

Bob Newhart never tires out!!
Once again,Bob shows that his character lives on forever. Makes you want to have a friend like him in real life. All the episodes are great. I have seen them all too.The ceiling hits Bob is very good. Jerry,Howard and Carol, are excellent support for Bob. Not to mention his patient like Mr. Carlin. It would be nice to have a peeper series. Bobs old school friend. That would be awesome. I would buy that in a minute. Tom Poston is brillant in that too. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This smart, funny episode finds the Enterprise visiting the planet Iotia, where the starship Horizon accidentally left behind Earth materials a century before. During that time, as Captain Kirk (William Shatner) discovers, the Iotians have made much of one of those items, a book called Chicago Mobs of the Twenties. The planet's population has divided into rival gangs who dress, speak, and do violence like the spiritual descendants of Al Capone, plunging Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) into a facsimile of Earth's colorful and dangerous past.

The episode is played for comedy: Kirk and Spock keep getting kidnapped by the warring hoods, each of whom wants the Federation team to use their technology to defeat the other side. The big payoff, however, is a summit meeting of bosses, where Kirk employs plenty of gangster-movie jargon to get matters settled. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Except on Tuesday
This gangster episode, and Tribbles, were the two Trek comedies that really worked. While I wouldn't exactly call the humor here subtle, it is intertwined in a fairly traditional action plot. We are able to enjoy Kirk and Spock's thuggishness for its own sake while simultaneously staying focused on the plot, for the simple reason that their behavior is called for by the story, rather than being a gimmick. The idea of a highly impressionable alien race who's cultural evolution could depend so thoroughly on a random event (the leaving behind of the book) is an interesting one as well. This episode is also helped by strong guest acting, most notably from Tayback.

The funniest of the original series
This is without question the funniest episode of the original Star Trek series. There is no funnier deadpan scene anywhere in television than the one where Kirk is "explaining" the fizzbin card game and asks Spock what the odds are against getting a royal fizzbin. His deadpan, yet truthful answer is, "I have never computed them." I laughed out loud the first time I saw that and still smile when I see it, even though I have seen it over fifty times.
The main premise is that a Federation vessel visited a planet before the Prime Directive was imposed and members of the crew interacted with the planet's inhabitants and contaminated them. Therefore, the primary task of the Enterprise is to repair the damage. The earlier Federation vessel left a book that described the Chicago gangs of the prohibition era and the inhabitants have modeled their entire culture after the book. Their clothing, buildings, speech and social structure are all modeled from the gangster movie cliches.
After many trials and errors, including Kirk trying to drive a car, there is a climactic scene where Kirk takes charge and unifies the government under one of the gang bosses. His pacing on a pool table while brandishing a machine gun and speaking one gangland cliché after another is one of the best scenes in the entire original series. His solution, where the Federation is described as an interplanetary gang, is funny and original. I have always wondered what the reaction of Star Fleet command was to his report of how he solved the contamination problem.
Funny, and essentially a spoof of a movie genre, this is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever, original series and beyond.

"A Piece of the Action," the 2nd funniest Star Trek episode
"A Piece of the Action" has the Enterprise visiting Sigma Iotia II, where a hundred years early the USS Horizon visited. Apparently this was before the Prime Directive, because one of the Horizon crew left behind a book: "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties." Now, once you get past the fact that (a) someone was toting a book into Deep Space and (b) it happened to be that particular book, you can really enjoy this one. Bela Oxymy wants the Federation to supply his gangsters with weapons so he can take over the planet, taking down Krako and the other bosses. My favorite part is when Kirk makes up a very complicated card game to play with the gangsters holding him hostage and Spock has to admit having never calculated the odds on the rarest of possible hands. Then there is also the bit where they try to drive an automobile. In the end, Kirk decides if you cannot fight them, join them. "A Piece of the Action" may well be the second funniest Star Trek episode, after "The Trouble With Tribbles," of course.

Excellence
In my opinion, A Piece Of The Action is in the top 3 episode category along with Mirror Mirror and the Corbomite Manuever. The whole episode is very deep and never uneventful. The action never stops. It employs humor in the form of "slang talk" which people like Spock and McCoy dont understand. I cant explain it all here, but I will tell you it is a very good episode.

One of the funniest and best Star Trek episodes
"A Piece of The Action" is one of my five favorite episodes of Star Trek. In "A Piece of The Action," Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy beam down to a planet whose landscape is similar to that of earth. The boss of a bunch of gangsters demands that the trio from the Enterprise make a deal with him which would help him ward off some of his enemies. To put it short, the Enterprise crew has been tricked. There must be a way for Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy to escape the planet alive, but they have a little bit of fun first.

"A Piece of The Action" is a great episode of the original series of Star Trek. It is well written and some parts of it are hilarious, especially the part when Captain Kirk drives a car for the first time. It's also amusing the way that Kirk talks in slang and has to repeat himself for the others to understand him.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both give one of their best performances to make this one of the unforgettable episodes of Star Trek. I recommend "A Piece of The Action" to anybody. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Not so Good as Beaches
The movie that followed Bette Midler's highly successful BEACHES, this doesn't work as well mainly because it is not as good as the original and it was set in the 60s when it could have easily worked in the time period the movie was filmed. Bette plays a mother who can't give the best to her daughter and slowly pushes her away which causes her daughter to go to her father to live. Bette doesn't seem to really fit this role as a more dramatic actress such as Susan Sarandon or Meryl Streep would have effectively fit this role. John Goodman and Trini Alvarado as well as Martha Mason and Stephen Collins all give good performances that very well keep the movie going. BUt the movie is too slow and too old-looking and there is only so much that anyone including Bette could do. See Bette's Beaches or FOR THE BOYS instead.

Bette Midler shines as Stella
STELLA stars Bette Midler. It's a touching movie about the bond between mother and daughter. After a fling with a doctor, she becomes pregnant, and refuses to accept any charity from him. As Jenny (her daughter) gets older, she allows her to have a relationship with her father. Stella and Jenny share special bond, and there is laughter and tears along the way. When Jenny becomes a teenager, and closer to her dad, Stella realizes she can't provide the life for Jenny that her father could, so she sends her off. I thought the ending of the movie was very sad, maybe not intended but I thought it was. Lots of laughs in between the tears.

a true heart-rending classic
This is an amazing movie that will keep you spellbound...seriously!!! If you have a heart, there is no way you won't be moved by this movie. It incorporates all the faces of Bette Midler as the protagonist; she is hilarious despite her loneliness, proud and yet humble, and selfish and yet so giving! Watch this movie!!! Trini Alvarado also gives a great performance!!!

OUR FAMILY'S FAVORITE!
This is one of our family's favorite movie. It's sad and funny and it just has always been there as a reminder of parent's love. Being two sisters we ove how the father always reminds his daughter that his shoulder to cry on is what she needs. Great acting! Highly recommended!

good actors, sad plot
This movie shows a mother's sacrificial love for her daughter, but overall I thought the movie was quite depressing. Although [bette midler] succeeds in raising her daughter alone, it seems to put her in a box as a loser who can't make it no matter what. I did like Stephen Collins in the movie (Midler's daughter's father) alot, and the acting was good. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"A Taste of Armageddon" is one of classic Trek's occasional, obvious metaphors for the absurdity of the then-cold war between East and West. Gene Lyons stars as a Federation ambassador named Fox, who boards the Enterprise to reach the planet Eminiar VII, where he hopes to negotiate a peace treaty with the inhabitants. Instead the crew of the Enterprise gets caught in the middle of an interplanetary war between Eminiar and neighboring planet Vendikar. The twist is that the war is being fought on computers, and compliant residents of those "destroyed" areas obediently report to disintegration chambers, where their "virtual" death is made literal. When the Enterprise is "hit" in one of these simulations, both the warlords of Eminiar VII and Ambassador Fox fully expect Capt. Kirk and crew to report to the disintegration center. The feisty Kirk has other plans, of course. And while the madness of this controlled Armageddon makes a suitably surreal satire of the arms race in the 1960s, the story also evoked the endless, daily reports of body counts during the Vietnam War, with no resolution in sight. Aside from its parable aspect, however, the episode gave Kirk one of his earliest and most compelling scenes of Kirkian preachiness in a bold monologue about peace, reportedly written and rewritten numerous times by series producer and indispensable creative hand Gene L. Coon. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Don't miss this one
This thoughtful episode concerns a planet that has sanitized war. The episode explores important themes such as 1) the sacrifice of the individual good for the societal, and 2) the drawbacks of all types of war. The latter issue in particular remains a timely one as science continues to pursue technologies that may (at times unwittingly lead to more efficient and sanitized killing. This is one episode where Kirk offers a convincing and fresh argument against a society's folly. Another plus of the episode is that it admits shades of gray rather than oversimplifying the issues. Add in a plot twist that brings the Enterprise and crew more directly into the action, and you've got a winning show. Strong guest acting, from Opatoshu, Babcock, and Lyons also boost this episode.

Tidbit: Barbara Babcock would reappear in Plato's Stepchildren during season three.

Just step into this booth for the war effort........
The old war by computer theme is played out here. Instead of fighting a war with weapons; this planet has it's citizens stepping in booths for execution. The machine decides who lives and who dies. Kirk of course ends it all with one of his talks with the Vedikarians. With one sweep of his phaser the natives have to fight the old fashioned way.... with futuristic weapons of mass destruction. The Federation again paves the way for peaceful resolutions to conflict. Only this war will last a few hundred years before they actually become citizens of the Federation.

Kirk proves there is no such thing as a clean war
One of the fun things about science fiction is that you can take things to their logical albeit extreme conclusions. That is what the Enterprise encounters on Eminiar VII in "A Taste of Armageddon," a planet that has been at war for five centuries but which fails to show the usual signs of destruction. This is because they have been fighting the war with computers; after such an attack Anan 7, leader of the High Council announces that half a million people were "killed," and now have to report to disintegration chambers. Unfortunately the Enterprise, which was warned not to approach the planet, has also been destroyed and Kirk's crew needs to beam down for disintegration. Of course, Kirk takes exception to this request and decides to remind these people of the true face of war. As far fetched as this idea might be, you have to remember the idea of the Neutron Bomb, which would kill the people but leave the buildings, a weapon that was ironically considered by some to be more "humane" than your traditional nuclear device. Kirk's efforts to restore sanity are hampered by the presence of Federation Ambassador Fox, who wants to stick to the traditional diplomatic approaches despite the fact nobody on the planet is impressed at all by such delicacies. "A Taste of Armageddon" is another, albeit minor example, of Captain Kirk versus the Super Computer plotline that was so prominent in Star Trek's first season.

Good Episode on the Nature of War
What if war were fought with computers and the casualties reported to disintegration chambers? This episode covers this question and does a pretty good job.

There is a fair amount of action and the suspense is well done. The conflict between Scotty and the none-too-bright diplomat is especially well handled. This is one of Scotty's best command assignments. He runs the Enterprise with intelligence and restraint.

Kirk's solution to the episode's problem is very suspect in light of the prime directive that he's supposed to be following, but over-all, this is a very good episode.

Human life vs war and Computer control.
Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and a landing party discover two worlds that wage war with computers and haul the people designated to die into energy chambers to die. When the Enterprise is declared a "war casuliy", Kirk, Spock, and the Federation use all their skills to destroy the computers and show them that real war ia a thing to be avoided at all costs. A strong statement on how human life is more important then being declared "dead" by numbers on a computer. A Star Trek must have for any fan of the original series.Teleplay by Robert Hammer and Gene L. Coon. Story by Robert Hammer. Directed by Joseph Pevney. Music Composed and Conducted by Alexander Courage. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

AWEFUL! See the original
The original with Walter Matthau and George Burns is so much better, it's not even funny. I like Allen and Falk, but this is an embarassment to them.

A touching vignette
To Woody Allen/Peter Falk/Neil Simon fans, this is must viewing. I think they both had a good time making this, and I sure enjoyed the viewing. Even if you don't like the film as much as other Woody films, the music, as always, is a pleasure. I would love an album of "Songs Woody Allen Movies are Made of." This film manages to get the story of two old ex-partners who reunite briefly to be touching, yet not sticky. Sarah Jessica Parker is excellent as the incredibly patient neice of Peter Falk, and Whoopi Goldberg really steals a scene here as Falk's nurse!

Tears and sunshine.
A competent remake of the 1975 version of Neil Simon's play about the love/hate relationship between two ex-vaudeville stars. The two leads are a delight to watch although not quite up to the standard of Walter Matthau and George Burns. Sarah Jessica Parker is fine in the role of the pushy niece who tries to get the stars together one more time but the real star of the film is the script. It's up there with other strong Neil Simon work such as "California Suite". In an age too familiar with relentlessly banal "comedy" scripts here is one with consistent bittersweet humour and warmth. A slim story that has been made to work beautifully. Recommended.

'Sunshine' on their shoulders
Don't watch this one if you haven't seen the original, because, though funny, Woody Allen and Peter Falk are no match for George Burns and Walther Matthau. Not that they didn't try, but they were both absurdly miscast since neither of them has done in real life the sort of comedy their characters do. And it shows: their supossedly hilarious TV sketch looks so forced, the child actor in it has to fake his laughs. They all do, actually. The entire thing feels forced and embarrassed.

Besides, Falk is shown much too old and meaner than the part requires and Allen looks like a fish out of water in every routine; he's a great comedian but no vaudeville sidekick, and one just can't buy these guys were ever partners, let alone successful ones.

Still, I hope they had much more fun doing this half-baked TV remake than I had watching it. Best of luck next time, both of them, for I'm really their fan! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Stevenson-Rogers M*A*S*H years end on a high note
These eight episodes represent the final third of Season 3 for "M*A*S*H" and a grim reminder of the wastefulness of war. There are also several episodes that start to take the character of Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) in some new directions:

(65) "The Consultant" (Writers: Larry Gelbart & Robert Klane) has Dr. Borelli (Robert Alda) showing up to operate on a soldier's leg in order to save it. However, being this close to the front again is too much for the visiting specialist to stand. Grade A-: The stunt of Alan Alda's father produces a solid episode that looks at the drinking on campus in a dramatic fashion.

(66) "House Arrest" (Writers: Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum; Aired: February 4, 1975) has Hawkeye decking Frank Burns (Larry Linville) during out of their stupid arguments and being held for court-martial. Grade B-: The idea of the entire camp (except for Hot Lips) supporting Hawkeye over Frank has some nice moments, but this show has a horrible moment when a visiting female colonel (Mary Wickes) is caught in a compromising position with Frank by Hot Lips. The colonel yells "rape" and Hawkeye quips "A movie and a rape all in one night." This was one of those offensive rape jokes during the early years on "M*A*S*H" and I am surprised no one objected before it got on the air.

(67) "Aid Station" (Writers: Larry Gelbart & Simon Munter; Aired: February 11, 1975) has Hawkeye, Hot Lips (Loretta Swit) and Klinger (Jamie Farr) sent to the front to provide help at a Battalion Aid Station. Grade A: Being under fire forges new respect for one another among this odd trio. Another key step in the transformation of Hot Lips into Margaret.

(68) "Love and Marriage" (Writer: Arthur Julian; Aired: February 18, 1975) has Trapper (Wayne Rogers) and Hawkeye helping in both directions as one soldier is trying to find his pregnant wife and another needing to be stopped from marrying a prostitute as part of a scam at Rosie's Bar. Grade C+: Realistic in terms of what relations were like between the American G.I.'s and the South Korean girls, but nothing special otherwise.

(69) "Big Mac" (Writer: Laurence Marks; February 25, 1975) has the camp getting all excitted preparing for a visit from General Douglas MacArthur himself. Grade B+: The key thing here is everyone responds in character, and the climax, which offers the ultimate Klinger outfit, is a hoot.

(70) "Payday" (Writers: John Regier & Gary Markowitz; Aired: March 4, 1975) starts with Hawkeye making the mistake of telling the army he had an extra $10 in his paycheck. The army sends him a check for $3,000, which the surgeon promptly gives to Father Mulcahy for the orphans. Then the army shows up and wants the $3,000 back. Grade B-: A nice little example of how military intelligence is an oxymoron.

(71) "White Gold" (Writers: Larry Gelbart & Simon Munter; Aired: March 11, 1975) has the doctors suspicious when their penicillin supplies start disappearing. Then Colonel Flagg (Edward Winter) shows up and everything becomes clear as mud. Grade B-: Flagg is always fun.

(72) "Abyssinia, Henry" (Writers: Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell; Aired: March 18, 1975) is the order of the day when Colonel Blake (McLean Stevenson) leaves the 4077th to go home. Grade A: Besides the stunning final scene in the O.R. in which the cast was given the script literally a minute before the scene was shot and where the raw emotion seen in the eyes of the cast is haunting, this episode had already reduced you to tears when Blake gives Radar a farewell hug.

The shock of Henry Blake's death and the sudden departure of Wayne Rogers from the cast, ended up being blessings in disguise for "M*A*S*H". No television show in history had as big a turnover in its cast and actually managed to get better as this series did in its fourth season. But once Frank Burns was replaced with Charles Emerson Winchester, "M*A*S*H" would become sublime. But looking back over the episodes from the first three seasons, this particular videotape is, on balance, the best of the bunch. Stevenson and Rogers went out with the show they were leaving as good as it had ever been. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Tylerland
This Hallmark Hall of Fame TVM is an adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by AnneTyler about a Baltimore married couple who travel to a friend's funeral. We're in road movie territory with James Garner and Joanne Woodward bickering along the way. The bickering is of the amusing variety because of the skill of both actors, the tone set by director John Erman and music by Broadway composer John Kander. Although Garner has a non-threatening manner, it's funny to see how Woodward as a dithery eccentric infuriates him. Woodward reminded me a little of Shirley Booth in Come Back Little Sheba, but without the dog. Garner says she "believes the people she loves are better than they are" which explains her romantic quest to rejoin her divorced son with his ditzy ex-wife, Kathyrn Erbe, in a performance as strong as Garner and Woodward. Woodward has an hysterical turn when she is called upon to sing Love is a Many Splendid Thing at the funeral, and gets a good line at Garner with "You and reality oughta go steady", which is also a little Blanche DeBois "I don't want realism. I want magic". In smaller roles are Joyce Van Patten as the funeral's widow, and Eileen Heckart who comes off a little better as a diner waitress (though Garner upstages her with his looks of disdain at Woodward's openness with her). Paul Winfield is also in a few scenes where he is the victim of Woodward's road rage. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"The Tholian Web" was conceived when writer Judy Burns went looking for a new angle on ghost stories. A physics student suggested she somehow use the theory of infinite dimensions, and out of that came Burns's script, which finds Captain Kirk (William Shatner) trapped between different kinds of space, floating in and out of view of the Enterprise crew. Adding to the dilemma are time constraints (Kirk's oxygen supply is running low), an effort by the arachnid-like Tholians to trap the Enterprise in a gigantic web, sub-space dementia affecting the crew, and rising hostilities between Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), the latter none too happy with the way the Vulcan is running the ship in Kirk's absence. Burns's original conception was to make Spock the spectral Starfleet officer locked in interspace, but the show is quite effective in the way various characters mourn the presumed death of their leader and figurehead. The Tholians don't make another appearance in Trek lore until The Next Generation, but this particular episode won the original series its first Emmy for special effects. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Spock and McCoy get to run the ship when Kirk disappears
"The Tholian Web" basically removes Kirk from the equation and gives us the Star Trek episode that most focuses on interactions between Spock and McCoy. The Enterprise has found the USS Defiant with all of its crew dead, apparently having killed themselves. But this area of space is unstable and before Kirk can be beamed back, he becomes trapped in a parallel universe/dimension. While Spock waits for the next opportunity to rescue the captain, the Tholians show up and demand an explanation. Spock explains, but the presence of the Tholian ship throws off his equations. When Kirk does not reappear the Tholains cripple the Enterprise and begin to spin a web of tractor field filaments. To make things even more interesting, the unstable space is beginning to after the sanity of the Enterprise crew. The best scenes of "The Tholian Web" are clearly between Spock and McCoy, who get to hear the taped message Kirk has left for them in the event of his death. Their interaction is at the heart of this episode, because the idea of taking several hours to make a giant web around a damaged starship is pretty far out there. I mean, come on, with all the energy they are expending they could surely finish the Enterprise off, or at least they could make a SMALLER web. But if you always enjoyed the bickering between Spock and McCoy, then this is a truly enjoyable episode.

The first third of Season Three was actually quite good
This episode, in which Kirk disappears and a web is built around the Enterprise, in many ways belongs in another season. It has a lot of action and a straightforward plot. However, it also has some signatures of the third season, such as the trippyness of a winking-out Kirk floating through space, as well as a subtle pitting of illusion vs. reality. Plus it's always nice to meet new aliens--the Tholians even have a visible ship

Tholians and the earliest U.S.S. Defiant.
The U.S.S. Enterprise arrives in an uncharted area of space to answer a distress call from the U.S.S. Defiant, NCC-1764. The starship is visible on their viewscreen, but sensors on board the U.S.S. Enterprise say it's not.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Chekov beam aboard and spread out to investigate. Everyone aboard is dead ... apparently killed in a bizarre mutiny, although there are no life readings aboard. McCoy, in the ship's sickbay, tells Kirk that he can find no clue as to why the crew died, but has taken readings to study. Then, as his hand passes through a body and exam table, McCoy realizes the U.S.S. Defiant is dissolving.

Quickly Kirk orders them beamed back to the U.S.S. Enterprise, but Scotty explains that due to the poor stability of the space around them, he can only beam three aboard. After the usual debate, Kirk stays behind while the others beam back. When Scotty tries to bring Kirk aboard, his image wavers, and disappears. Interphase, Spock calculates, will occur in a little over two hours. In the meantime, they must wait. If the captain is still alive, they should be able to retrieve him then.

Complications arise when Chekov goes crazy and attacks Spock on the bridge. Slowly, more members of the crew fall prey to the "illness," attacking their crewmates. McCoy and his staff work round the clock to find a cure. When the doctor suggests Spock "put some distance" between the Enterprise and the Defiant, Spock explains that any movement in the weakened space could disturb both ship's positions and jeopardize Kirk's rescue.

At a little over an hour before interphase, a Tholian ship appears, telling Spock that the U.S.S. Enterprise has violated Tholian space. The V