Counseling Could Save ‘Crisis Center’
Call it “ER” without surgery or “L.A. Law” with only one lawyer.
Either way, NBC’s “Crisis Center” at 10 breaks no new ground in television drama.
It’s not the format that holds back this show. After all, what are “ER” and “L.A.< Law” but “Hillstreet Blues” without cops?
“Crisis Center,” set in the San Francisco Assistance Center, falls short because the cast and script of tonight’s premiere deliver little original character development and virtually no surprises.
Kellie Martin (“Life Goes On”), Nia Peeples (“Return to Lonesome Dove”) and Dana Ashbrook (“Twin Peaks”) star.
Peeples plays crisis center co-director Lily Gannon, and Martin is fledgling counselor Kathy Goodman.
Ashbrook plays a sensitive police officer with a crush on Kathy.
In the opener, Kathy answers a call from a young man threatening suicide - a call she may not have been qualified to take.
The consequence is stunning, but the rest of the hour fails to pay off. A climactic hostage scene is particularly sleepy.
Someone call for help. This series faces a short run if it can’t cook up a better crisis.
Highlights
“Soap Opera Digest Awards,” NBC at 8: NBC promises an evening of “romantic supercouples, scheming villains, torrid triangles and hunks and beauties.” I’ve never heard a better description of the soap world. Viewers pick the winners in the annual bash thrown by Soap Opera Digest magazine.
Aaron Spelling receives this year’s Editor’s Choice Award. Leeza Gibbons (“Leeza”) and daytime stars Shemar Moore (“The Young and the Restless”), Austin Peck (“Day of Our Lives”) and Ingo Rademacher (“General Hospital”) are the hosts.
“Dave’s World,” CBS at 8: During a poker game, Dave (Harry Anderson) discovers that Beth (DeLane Matthews) has kept secret a college fling she had and that best friends Kenny and Shel (Shadoe Stevens, Meshach Taylor) have known about it all along.
“Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary Party,” ABC at 9: This hourlong theme-park commercial includes performances by Donna Summer, Gloria Estefan and The Village People. But it’s mostly the same old Disney magic shtick.
ABC/Disney stars Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina, The Teenage Witch”) and Will Friedle (“Boy Meets World”) host with cameos by Drew Carey (very funny stuff), Michael J. Fox, Jeff Daniels and Rosie O’Donnell.
Cable Calls
“Screamers” (1995), MAX at 8: Peter Weller (“RoboCop”) stars in this grim futuristic thriller written for the screen by Dan O’Bannon (“Alien”). Set on a desolate planet, it’s about a war between miners and their bosses.
There is a lot of high-tech blood and gore in this one, mainly from battles with nasty computer-driven automatons called Screamers. It comes together with a surprisingly intelligent plot.
“Moonlight and Valentino” (1995), SHOW at 8: Laughably bad, overly sincere, this movie gives the term “chick flick” a bad name. A good cast - Elizabeth Perkins, Whoopi Goldberg, Gwyneth Paltrow - is squandered here, and rock star Jon Bon Jovi is a lost cause as a hunky house painter.
“Motor Madness,” TNN at 5: Three hours of monster truck competition, live from Beaumont, Texas. Who says there’s never anything good on television anymore?
“Outside the Lines,” ESPN at 5:30: Bob Ley hosts an hour honoring one of baseball’s greatest in “Crossing the Line - Jackie Robinson’s 50-Year Legacy.”
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: Actress Patricia Arquette, actor William Macy and music group Squirrel Nut Zippers.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: Actor Bill Pullman, comedian Richard Lewis and singers Lyle Lovett and Randy Newman.
“Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” ABC at 12:35 a.m.: Al Franken, Graham Nash, conservative columnist Betsy Hart and author Tony Hillerman.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Sports commentator Bob Costas, author Merrill Markoe and musical guest Bonnie Raitt.