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 entertainsTag Archives: miniseries
‘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. Continue reading ‘Elvis: The Miniseries’ (2005): Slick production tiptoes around big questions
‘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. Continue reading ‘The Key to Rebecca’ (1985): Intrigue, suspense & threesomes power indie spy miniseries
Drunk TV 