Get Up Close To A Fascinating ‘Puma’
Watching filmmaker Hugh Miles in action is almost as fascinating as his photographic prey in NBC’s “Puma: Lion of the Andes” at 8.
The National Geographic special takes armchair travelers to the Andes Mountains of Chile, the puma’s natural habitat. It’s a stunning but unforgiving place of ice, wind and rocks.
Miles spent most of a year slowly gaining the confidence of a typically shy and potentially dangerous cat he named Penny.
He ended up spending more than a year recording the puma’s daily routines. Throughout the film you hear Miles discussing his strategy and making observations about the animal’s habits.
Miles, the first nature photographer to successfully stalk a puma, was rewarded for his effort. This film was handed top prize at this year’s prestigious Wildscreen film festival.
F. Murray Abraham narrates the special.
This is an exceptional documentary, one that offers an intimate glimpse of a rare and beautiful animal.
Highlights
“Dangerous Minds,” ABC at 10: Callie (Tamala Jones) is ostracized when she steps in to stop the beating of a paroled child molester who moves into her neighborhood. Also, a hospitalized Blanca (Maria Costa) worries about her condition as well as her uninsured parents’ inability to pay mounting medical bills.
“Ink,” CBS at 8:30: Mike (Ted Danson) tries to avoid an obsessed reader while Kate (Mary Steenburgen) fends off the advances of her boss, played by director and actor Paul Mazursky (“An Unmarried Woman,” “Carlito’s Way”).
“Lying Eyes” (1996), NBC at 9: Cassidy Rae (“Models Inc.”) stars in this unavailable-for-review morality tale about a high school senior who dates a married lawyer (Vincent Irizarry).
When she tries to break it off, she becomes the target of a stalker. You’re left to guess if it’s the lawyer, his betrayed wife or his jealous ex-girlfriend.
It’s just a guess on my part, but this doesn’t sound like an Emmy contender.
“Football,” ABC at 6: Kansas City (9-4) takes on Oakland (6-7).
“TV’s All Time Funniest Holidays,” FOX at 9: Ted McGinley (“Married … With Children”) hosts this clip fest featuring episodes tied to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Halloween and New Year’s Eve.
“Cybill,” CBS at 9:30: Cybill (Cybill Shepherd ) endures a holiday visit from her mom (Audra Lindley), and Ira (Alan Rosenberg) reacts to the news that Zoey (Alicia Witt) lost her virginity on her European vacation.
“Chicago Hope,” CBS at 10: Grad (Jayne Brook) is attracted to an anthropologist (guest-star Julian Sands, “A Room with a View”) who involves her in his study of a Peruvian mummy. McNeil (Mark Harmon) takes extreme surgical measures to salvage a man’s hand that was mangled in an accident.
Cable Calls
“Handel’s Last Chance” (1996), HBO at 7: As he prepares for the premiere of “The Messiah,” the great composer (Leon Pownall) encounters a 10-year-old boy (Tod Fennell) who is thrown in jail for stealing a chicken. Handel is in grave need of a voice to smooth over a talentless boys’ choir, and the lad has the requisite gift.
This clever bit of fiction, the latest in HBO’s “The Composer’s Specials,” is handsomely mounted, and Pownall, who gives Handel a comedic flair, is fun to watch.
“A Different Kind of Christmas” (1996), LIFE at 8: Shelley Long is a politically ambitious city attorney who becomes a real Grinch when she comes down hard on a kindly old gent (Bruce Kirby) who wants to be the town’s full-time Santa Claus.
A transparent plot and a dull performance by Kirby leave this made-for-cable tale as dry as last Christmas’s fruitcake. Despite good intentions, this story never adds up to much joy.
Barry Bostwick co-stars.