‘Virtual Obsession’ Puts Cyber Twist In Tale
It’s been, what, 11 years since Glenn Close terrorized Michael Douglas in “Fatal Attraction.” and they keep remaking the movie.
However, ABC’s “Virtual Obsession” at 8 takes the familiar plot of placing a happily married man under the spell of a vengeful seductress and gives it a successful science-fiction spin.
Peter Gallagher plays a computer scientist whose beautiful young assistant (Bridgette Wilson) has developed a means of downloading the brains of lab animals into a supercomputer, one so advanced it can think for itself and generate its own holographic image.
They have their affair. His wife (Mimi Rogers) finds out. The seductress terrorizes her and her son.
Sound familiar? Yeah, but this time the spurned lover is dead. (Wait till you see what happens to the body!) But she’s living in the computer system that’s tied into every computer in town.
Wilson conveys a coolness that suggests that something’s not right beneath her lovely exterior. Gallagher is convincing as a smart man whose flesh is weak.
But I particularly enjoyed Rogers’ take on the betrayed wife.
Finally, ABC gives us a Thursday movie that’s a worthwhile alternative to the NBC lineup.
Highlights
“Promised Land,” CBS at 8: Richard Thomas (“The Waltons”) reprises his role as Joe, the brother of Russell (Gerald McRaney). Joe pays a visit while on furlough from prison, but getting home turns into an ordeal when he gets into a brawl with a fellow bus passenger.
“The World’s Funniest!” Fox at 8: The theme this time is kids and their unpredictable, often hilarious behavior. Who can resist?
“Seinfeld,” NBC at 9: Kramer (Michael Richards) retires (from what?) and moves to Florida to live next door to the Seinfelds. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) buys his dad (Barney Martin) an electronic organizer, but he refuses to learn how to use it. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) can’t figure out a new boyfriend’s ethnicity.
“Mystery!” KSPS at 8: The two-part “The Ice House” is an engrossing mystery about the investigation of a decomposed and unidentifiable corpse found on the property of a widow (Penny Downie) 10 years after her husband disappeared without a trace. Based on Minette Walter’s novel, it salts the trail with deceptive appearances, gossip and scandal.
“Diagnosis Murder,” CBS at 9: The script is laughably bad in this episode in which a talk-show host (Regis Philbin) shoots and kills his co-host (Kathie Lee Gifford) in what was supposed to have been a ratings stunt involving a gun loaded with blanks. You can entertain yourself throughout by noticing the holes in logic and behavior.
“48 Hours,” CBS at 10: An hourlong program looks at people who are literally dying to be thin. We’ve seen it all before - the girl with anorexia, the liposuctionist practicing without a license, the dieter risking lethal side effects of diet pills.
“ER,” NBC at 10: When victims of a hazardous-materials spill are brought to the emergency room, doctors soon realize that the lethal substance has come with them. It makes for an exciting hour as the ER must be evacuated and several staff members are overcome by fumes.
Meanwhile, Corday (Alex Kingston) struggles to save a worker trapped in the warehouse where the spill took place.