‘Terminal’ Strikes Nerve Of Distrust
“Robin Cook’s ‘Terminal,”’ NBC at 9, takes an intriguing issue and turns it into a routine suspense drama.
Cook’s novels, potboilers packed with insight into the world of medicine, lose a lot of substance when they’re adapted for television.
There’s a sameness - good young doctor uncovers sinister plot devised by evil older and more powerful forces in medicine - that make the tales pat and predictable.
That’s not to say they aren’t popular. Last season’s “Virus” was among the most-watched movies-of-the-week. That may be because they all play on our healthy distrust of the medical industry.
Doctors we may trust. But those who put power and profit before healing present a real menace.
In “Terminal,” a young medical researcher (Doug Savant of FOX’s “Melrose Place”) discovers that an apparent cure for cancer is being developed at a Seattle hospital. Nia Peeples plays a nurse - and the young doc’s former lover - who helps him link a pair of mysterious murders to a horrifying plot by the developers of the experimental drug.
Michael Ironside (“seqQuest 2032”), James Eckhouse (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) and Roy Thinnes (“The Invaders”) co-star.
The good young doctors prevail in Robin Cook’s world. We’d like to think that there’s a whistleblower on the inside who can save us from those things we know so little about.
In that regard, “Terminal” satisfies.
Highlights
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” NBC at 8: Joan Van Ark guest-stars in a two-part episode, playing the head of a modeling agency where Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) gets a big break.
“The American Experience,” KSPS at 8: Filmmaker Nancy Porter (“Amelia Earhart”) takes wing again with “The Wright Stuff,” a thorough history of Orville and Wilbur’s quest to conquer the skies.
“Turning Point,” ABC at 9: “Race for a Miracle: The Brad and Vicki Margus Story” is the inspiring story of a Florida couple’s effort to find a cure that would spare their sons from fatal ataxia telangiectasia, or A-T.
Remarkably, an Israeli geneticist they helped fund has found what may lead to a cure for A-T as well as a cure for breast cancer and other diseases.
“Partners,” FOX at 9:30: Jennifer Aniston (“Friends”) guest-stars as a certified public accountant that Bob (Jon Cryer) dates. All goes well until she tries to persuade him to shave his goatee.
A lot of young men will have a problem believing someone would let a little facial hair get in the way of this relationship.
Cable Calls
“The ESPY Awards,” ESPN at 5: The fans chose 10 of the 34 awards categories handed out at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. These fun awards include “Best Play” honors in several sports and the fun “Showstopper of the Year” award.
“Biography,” A&E at 5 and 9: The series celebrates Valentine’s Day with four first-run “Great Lovers” documentaries. Tonight it’s “Adam & Eve: Lost Innocence,” which treats the biblical couple as a fable that reflects a panorama of human experiences.
The week continues Tuesday with a profile of Rudolph Valentino. Wednesday it’s Betty Boop, and Thursday it’s Samson and Delilah.
“Last of the Czars,” DISC at 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. and Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 and 2 a.m.: Rarely will you see history more dramatically told than in this superb account of the life and times of Russia’s Czar Nicholas II.
Ralph Fiennes (“Schindler’s List”) provides the voice of the czar. Rare film footage and interviews with Russian citizens ranging from their 90s to 113 make the events leading up to the Communist Revolution come to life.
“The Journey of the African American Athlete,” HBO at 10: The trials and triumphs of black athletes are chronicled in an excellent two-part documentary that concludes a week from tonight at 10.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: Tim Allen (“Home Improvement”) and magician David Copperfield.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: Actor Ray Liotta and music group Gin Blossoms.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Actor James Earl Jones, Josie Bissett (“Melrose Place”) and musical guest The Amps. Repeat.