Bad-Guy Role A Good Move

Most of the time Joanna Kerns’ movies are to be avoided like the plague. She usually whines her way through a contrived plot in which a woman is a victim of some form of abuse.

One would never guess that after appearing as sappy heroines for years, Kerns would have it in her to play a villain. But she does, and she does it well.

In “Mother Knows Best,” ABC Sunday at 9, Kerns plays a hoity-toity socialite, as well as the kind of mother-in-law no upstanding person would ever want. Her Celeste Cooper is obsessed with appearances, social climbing and keeping up with the Joneses.

When her daughter (Christine Elise) falls for a blue-collar auto mechanic (Grant Show), mother-inlaw dearest hits the roof. Her schemes to break up the relationship spiral out of control. (She eventually takes out a contract on her son-in-law’s life.)

Kerns is the whole show here as a high-heeled psychopath. Her evilness veiled by a sugary exterior will send chills down your spine.

Highlights

“The Meteor Man” (1993), NBC Sunday at 9: This easy-viewing Robert Townsend comedy has the comic actor as a reluctant superhero. He finds his fear of heights interferes with the responsibilities.

“Early Edition,” CBS Sunday at 9 and “Chicago Hope,” CBS Sunday at 10: The network airs new episodes of these dramas rather than a movie. In “Edition,” Gary’s paper-delivering cat bonds with a woman played by Marion Ross (“Happy Days”).

In a gut-wrenching “Chicago Hope” a woman (Valerie Wildman) wants a double mastectomy. The woman, however, has no sign of breast cancer.