Whodunit? Who Cares?
NBC may be first in the network ratings, but that doesn’t keep it from churning out second-rate TV-movies with the worst of them.
“A Kiss So Deadly” at 9 is a rancid would-be thriller about a married man who seduces his daughter’s sexy roommate. When she tries to call off their brief sexual affair, he becomes violently enraged. What makes the movie more revolting is that while this is going on, another spurned lover (Tom Breznahan) is stalking the roommate (“Days of Our Lives” siren Charlotte Ross).
Apparently you’re to be intrigued by the parallels between handsome businessman Tom Deese (Charles Shaughnessy of CBS’ “The Nanny”) and the ratty-looking ex-boyfriend who’s watching her every move. Which man is responsible when the woman is found murdered?
Dedee Pfeiffer (“Cybill”) co-stars as Katherine Deese, who discovers what her sleazy father is up to just before her roommate is killed.
The malodorous tale is rendered nearly unwatchable by some truly terrible performances. Ross is so one-dimensional she looks like she walked out of a cheapo soft-porn cable flick. Shaughnessy’s effort to play a “normal” guy driven mad by lust never makes sense and hardly convinces.
Making things worse, the script never leaves the killer’s identity in doubt.
Highlights
“Baseball,” FOX at 4: The Cardinals and Braves meet in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, if necessary.
“Football,” ABC at 6: Two of the NFL’s finest the 49ers (4-1) and the Packers (5-1) - collide in Green Bay.
“Cosby,” CBS at 8: Hilton (Bill Cosby) takes a job at a high-class antique store, unaware that it’s a front for a house of prostitution that cops have targeted in a sting operation.
“Dangerous Minds,” ABC at 10: Louanne’s (Annie Potts) efforts to get a problem student (Vicellous Reon Shannon) readmitted are foiled when he picks a fight with another teacher. Also, a revelation about a major character. (Rescheduled from an earlier date.)
“Pearl,” CBS at 8:30: Pynchon (Malcolm McDowell) is visited by a professor (guest star Aubrey Morris) who made his life miserable as a student. Morris played McDowell’s social worker in the 1971 film “A Clockwork Orange.”
“Cybill,” CBS at 9:30: Just one line about this episode is enough to make fans chuckle: The police want to question Maryann (Christine Baranski) after Dr. Dick mysteriously disappears.
Cable Calls
“Art Garfunkel … Across America,” DIS at 9:30: The music special incorporates footage of an Ellis Island concert with observations collected during Garfunkel’s amazing walk from New York to Oregon.
Garfunkel as philosopher we could definitely live without. Musically, he is strong on several Simon and Garfunkel tunes, including “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Sounds of Silence” and “Mrs. Robinson.” He’s joined by his wife and young son on “The 59th Street Bridge Song” and by James Taylor for a new song, “Cryin’ in the Rain.”
“Midnight Madness,” ESPN2 at 9 and ESPN at 10: The rules are the rules. Official basketball practice begins Oct. 15, so teams take the court in a stroke-of-midnight tradition. The sports channels will have reports from schools around the nation.