Okay, okay. I know I wrote months ago (wait…was it years?) that I would finish off my look at the NBC Best Sellers “series of mini-series” from the 1976-1977 season, with a review of The Rhinemann Exchange, based on the Robert Ludlum WWII espionage thriller, starring Lauren Hutton, John Huston, Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Vince Edwards, Jose Ferrer, Rene Auberjonois, Larry Hagman, Werner Klemperer, Trisha Noble, and that pedo. I’m also fairly certain that I told you people that I was experiencing actual physical discomfort in doing so, not so much because I would have to write about Stephen Collins (we’ll dissect him later), but because The Rhinemann Exchange is so cosmically dull, so existentially dead, that I honestly don’t know—I mean right now, sitting here—what the hell I’m going to say about it.
Continue reading ‘The Rhinemann Exchange’ (1977): Final ‘Best Sellers’ miniseries is a 4-hour dragTag Archives: miniseries
‘Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story’ (1987): Farrah portrays tragic socialite in opulent, soapy miniseries
No one revels in TV excess like myself…but this is just too, too much.
Continue reading ‘Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story’ (1987): Farrah portrays tragic socialite in opulent, soapy miniseries
‘What Makes Sammy Run?’ (1959): A fantastic, gutsy peek inside the Hollywood machine
“Tears are for losers. What kind of a sissy word is ‘fair?'”
Amen, Sammy…amen.
‘John Steinbeck’s East of Eden’ (1981): Epic miniseries is Jane Seymour’s finest hour
“I’ve done things that would turn your blood to spit.” Cathy Ames
I know, I know. Months ago, I promised to review all of the miniseries that were featured on NBC’s “miniseries series,” Best Sellers. And I did. I even bought a bootleg DVD of the one that’s impossible to find—that’s how committed I was to the project. I only had The Rhinemann Exchange to go. Well…I’ve watched it. I have the notes. But I’m telling you: it’s so goddamn boring I’m not sure I can face writing a review of it. We’ll see. I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s look at a different mini. Come on—give me a break, okay?
Continue reading ‘John Steinbeck’s East of Eden’ (1981): Epic miniseries is Jane Seymour’s finest hour
‘Once an Eagle’ (1976): NBC’s second ‘Best Sellers’ mini a sprawling epic across two world wars
Back when “the Big Three” were the only game in town, do you remember how exciting Septembers were, you vintage TV-crazed viewer? Sure you do. How exciting the prospect was for the upcoming slew of new TV shows, thoughtfully brought to you by your friendly networks, entirely free of charge? It was as if you had this whole new group of friends who were waiting to entertain you, and all you had to do was turn on the TV to see them, to welcome them into your home.
Continue reading ‘Once an Eagle’ (1976): NBC’s second ‘Best Sellers’ mini a sprawling epic across two world wars
‘Captains and the Kings’ (1976): Kennedyesque mini was the first of NBC’s ‘Best Sellers’ series
Hot creepers are they really trying to foist another Kennedy on us for the White House? As a VP replacement for Madame Word Salad? That family of bootlegging, pill-popping, ballot box-stuffing, movie star- shagging poon-hounds? Incrapitable!
Continue reading ‘Captains and the Kings’ (1976): Kennedyesque mini was the first of NBC’s ‘Best Sellers’ series
‘Oppenheimer’: Miniseries attempts even-handed take on ‘father of atomic bomb’ story
Hey. We’re not stupid, you know. We watch serious things, too, here at Drunk TV. It’s not all cowboys and cavemen and jiggle TV. We got education. So apparently big time director Christopher “I’m Beyond Criticism Because My Movies are Long and Look Important” Nolan is ready to release a long, important-looking movie about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb. Now, the staff here at Drunk TV never pass up an opportunity to ride a gravy train, so we thought we’d undercut ‘ol Nolan boy and release a review of a rival project. Not one for that laughable 1989 Roland Joffe Oppenheimer “epic” that starred Paul Newman’s trim little mustache, that creepy Noh mask guy, and Howling Mad Murdock. No, the old PBS miniseries, from 1980.
Continue reading ‘Oppenheimer’: Miniseries attempts even-handed take on ‘father of atomic bomb’ story
‘Frankenstein: The True Story’ (1973): Miniseries brings Mary Shelley’s classic monster to life
It’s Shock-tober, everyone! That’s right—time to take out a second mortgage to pay for your groceries this week. So, let’s lighten our loads by doing what I’ve been since I was in a playpen: escaping reality by obsessively watching TV. And what better way to block out the possibility of six more years of the Didy-in-Chief, than to watch one terrifying horror movie after another until one’s senses are completely numb.
Continue reading ‘Frankenstein: The True Story’ (1973): Miniseries brings Mary Shelley’s classic monster to life
‘Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II’ (1976): Rushed sequel series still entertains
A true television “event,” back when a show could catch fire with the huge, largely unified network TV audience and actually depress attendance at restaurants and movie theaters on broadcast nights (while stressing city sewer systems during commercial breaks), Rich Man, Poor Man, starring Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, Susan Blakely, and a host of familiar TV and movie star names, broke Nielsen records for the newly-minted “miniseries” genre.
Continue reading ‘Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II’ (1976): Rushed sequel series still entertains
‘Billionaire Boys Club’ (1987): True crime miniseries is a forgotten gem
Creepy, chilling true-crime miniseries.
Continue reading ‘Billionaire Boys Club’ (1987): True crime miniseries is a forgotten gem
‘Rich Man, Poor Man’ (1976): Racy event television from a lost era
Well…now that the seven angels have blasted their horns, rumbling them into a wild, dark winter, inventing entirely new, terrible beasts while we line up with our seven bowls to meekly beseech, “Please, sir, I’d like some more,” (Lionel Bart’s smash West End musical Oliver!, with book by John the Elder and Heinrich Heine), there doesn’t seem to be much more to do while we await our re-education camp assignments than to watch some vintage television, right?
Continue reading ‘Rich Man, Poor Man’ (1976): Racy event television from a lost era
‘Shogun’ (1980): NBC’s blockbuster miniseries premiered 40 years ago
Now, what’s a Drunk TV virtual Fall TV season..without some special event television (“We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming tonight because of the f*cking actor’s strike to bring you an NBC Movie Event!”)?
Continue reading ‘Shogun’ (1980): NBC’s blockbuster miniseries premiered 40 years ago
‘Lace’ (1984): Everything that was wrong with 80s television—and oh so right
“Incidentally…which one of you bitches is my mother?”
Continue reading ‘Lace’ (1984): Everything that was wrong with 80s television—and oh so right
‘Elvis: The Miniseries’ (2005): Slick production tiptoes around big questions
2022 marks the 45th anniversary of the death of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll: Elvis Presley.
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‘Scarlett’ (1994): Sequel miniseries to ‘Gone with the Wind’ a gussied-up Harlequin Romance novel
As God is my witness, it was better than I had any right to imagine….
Continue reading ‘Scarlett’ (1994): Sequel miniseries to ‘Gone with the Wind’ a gussied-up Harlequin Romance novel
‘The Key to Rebecca’ (1985): Intrigue, suspense & threesomes power indie spy miniseries
Not-bad-at-all mid-80s indie miniseries, based on the international bestseller.
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