‘Next Door’ Rises Above Ordinary
Pamela Reed and Michael Ontkean star in “The Man Next Door,” ABC at 9, a TV movie that looks at a burning issue in communities around the country and does it without reverting to some of television’s worst habits.
Ontkean plays Ely Cooley, recently paroled from prison after serving seven years for rape. When the people in the small town where he takes a job in his brother’s hardware store find out about his past, they rise up in bitter protest.
Reed is superbly cast as a no-nonsense parole officer who finds herself caught between friends in her community and her responsibilities under the law. One of those enraged people is Cooley’s neighbor (Annette O’Toole), a woman still dealing with the emotional consequences of being raped.
Cooley, played by Ontkean as a bitter loner who, as we see in a therapy session, is incapable of remorse, tries to intimidate Reed when she makes it clear she’s going to watch his every move.
When a woman is raped and Cooley has no alibi, townspeople call for his head. If you’ve watched a lot of TV movies, you’d guess that Cooley, possibly with the help of either his neighbor or parole officer, would catch the rapist, clear his name and become the town’s hero.
A variation would be that Cooley would prove that he was sent to prison unjustly in the first place.
All I’ll say is that it doesn’t happen that way. Watch this one to restore your faith that all TV movies aren’t created equally mediocre.
Highlights
“Friends,” NBC at 8: The series pulls out all the stops for the wedding of Ross’ ex-wife (Jane Sibbett) and her lesbian partner (Jessica Hecht). Monica’s catering effort serves up a large order of laughs. Newt Gingrich’s lesbian sister, Candace, makes a cameo as a wedding guest. Marlo Thomas guest-stars as Rachel’s mother.
“America’s Funniest Home Video Guide to Parenting,” ABC at 8: An hour’s worth of “AFHV” highlights have three things in common: Parents, kids and mishaps. Repeat.
“The Single Guy,” NBC at 8:30: Jonathan (Jonathan Silverman) begins dating Janeane’s (Jessica Hecht) sister (guest star Illeana Douglas), who lives in Washington, D.C. As usual, his friends get involved and manage to scuttle the shuttle relationship.
“New York Undercover,” FOX at 9: A provocative episode finds J.C. and Eddie (Malik Yoba, Michael DeLorenzo) probing the death of an investigative reporter who was closing in on a physician linked to the notorious Tuskeegee experiments. The trail leads to a shelter for AIDS victims.
“Mad About You,” NBC at 9:30: The comedy gets a one-time airing on Thursday. It’s a repeat episode in which Paul and Jamie (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) pose as his parents to take advantage of some non-transferable tickets to an island resort.
“CBS Reports: The Gulf War + 5,” CBS at 10: Dan Rather anchors an hour that puts the desert war in perspective. Debated is the belief in some circles that as little of one more day of fighting would have toppled Saddam Hussein and dramatically changed the war’s questionable legacy.
Observers and participants discuss why Iraq was allowed to keep the tanks and attack helicopters subsequently used by Saddam to quell Kurdish rebellions in the north and Shi’ite rebellions in the south of Iraq. xxxx CABLE CALLS “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (1948), AMC at 5 and 9: This classic is always good for a chuckle as city slickers Cary Grant and Myrna Loy set up housekeeping in a 200-year-old country farmhouse. Based on the Kaufman and Hart play “George Washington Slept Here,” it was a 1940s precursor to television’s “Green Acres.” “Midway” (1976), TBS at 5:05: A score of familiar aces can’t lift this long, thin account of the critical World War II battle in the Pacific best known for its excess of stock footage and combat scenes from 1944’s “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.”