‘Goodbye’ Raises Assisted-Suicide Issue

Mon., Sept. 1, 1997

John Martin New York Times Syndicate

Television news has covered the passionate debate over physician-assisted suicide for some time.

Now comes “Time to Say Goodbye? The Klooster Family Story” (LIFE at 9), a fact-based TV movie that shows how the sensitive issue ripped through one family.

Veterans Richard Kiley and Eva Marie Saint play Dr. Gerry Klooster and his wife, Ruth. When he realizes he has Alzheimer’s disease, he insists that, when the time is right, he be allowed to end his life.

But even a doctor needs help to take his own life.

When Gerry asks for assurances she will help, Ruth is initially angry. Two of his sons, (Alex Carter, Kevin Hicks), are sympathetic but reluctant to say they will help him.

A third son (Rick Roberts), also a doctor and something of a religious zealot, believes that it is his mother who really wants his father to take his life. He files suit to become his father’s guardian and eventually kidnaps him.

Gerry’s daughter (Margaret Colin) leads the anguishing court battle that follows. The performances by Kiley and Saint give this story a depth that is missing from so many network “issues” movies.

For while it is about a legal matter, it is first and foremost an evocative and memorable love story.

Highlights

“Guarding Tess” (1994), NBC at 9: Nicolas Cage plays a Secret Service agent assigned to protect a precocious former first lady (Shirley MacLaine). The two Oscar winners pour on the charm, but it’s all a bit too contrived.

“Football,” ABC at 6: The first regular-season Monday night game features the Chicago Bears taking on the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.

“Chicago Hope,” CBS at 10: Doctors in the emergency room staff are accused of allowing a wounded gang member to die. In the absorbing hour, each physician describes a different story.

Steve Harris effectively portrays the prosecutor. Repeat.

Cable Calls

“Tennis,” USA at 4:30: Play resumes in the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadow, N.Y. USA’s coverage runs through Friday; CBS has nightly recaps at 12:35 a.m., following “Late Show with David Letterman.”

“NFL Prime Monday,” ESPN at 4:30: Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Sterling Sharpe preview the Monday night game and add highlights from around the league.

“Biography,” A&E at 5 and 9: A “Classic TV” week begins with a first-run bio of actor Andy Griffith.

Born in Mount Airy, N.C., Griffith rose to fame in Broadway’s “No Time for Sergeants” and his acclaimed performance as a television idol in the movie “A Face in the Crowd.”

Ron Howard, Don Knotts and Patricia Neal are among those who share their views on Griffith’s many accomplishments.

Local journalism is essential.

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