‘Avalanche’ Slides In With Plenty Of Action
FOX offers some relief from the summer programming doldrums and the heat, too, when “Baywatch” hunk David Hasselhoff stars in a frosty, claustrophobic 1994 thriller, “Avalanche,” at 8.
Hasselhoff plays international diamond smuggler Duncan Snyder, who makes off with a big haul and then double-crosses his accomplice. Flying over the mountains of Alaska, he shoots his pilot-partner and parachutes with the loot.
What Snyder doesn’t plan for is that when the plane crashes it sets off a massive avalanche. By chance, he’s deposited just outside the smashed-in picture window of a mountain cabin occupied by divorced college professor Brian Kemp (Michael Gross) and his two visiting children Deidre and Max (Deanna Milligan, Myles Ferguson). The remainder of the avalanche buries the cabin beneath tons of snow, trapping the foursome inside.
What follows is a cat-and-mouse game as Snyder persuades the Kemps to tunnel out of the cabin in the direction where he believes he lost a camera containing the stolen gems. Soon the Kemps realize that their visitor is more than a little odd.
This is a rather conventional scenario. But it is powered by superb direction by Paul Shapiro, who mixes tension and action to their maximum potential.
Maddened by greed, Hasselhoff’s Snyder turns into a wild-eyed monster. As is common in too many thrillers, he seems certain to be dead or incapacitated several times before he meets a requisite violent end.
Hasselhoff’s performance is a bit over the top, but you’re always left feeling some sense of the terror of being snowbound with this maniac.
“Avalanche” barrels along with close-quarters suspense. It’s a cut above usual TV-movie fare.
Highlights
“Friends,” NBC at 8: This “real time” episode didn’t quite live up to its build-up when it first ran. The gang is supposed to be getting dressed for a black-tie benefit at Ross’ museum. But it begins to look like they’ll never make it. This is, as they say of “Seinfeld,” a show about nothing. As you’ll see, “Friends” is better when it’s about something.
“High Incident,” ABC at 8: On Halloween night, the El Camino cops have to round up prison inmates who escaped during a location transfer. But they find it hard telling the resourceful cons from costumed trick-or-treaters. Repeat.
“Moloney,” CBS at 9: Nick (Peter Strauss) is taken hostage by a suspect (Nicholas Lea) who has been taken to a psychiatric ward. The other hostages are criminals who are equally dangerous. This is one of the more interesting places the writers placed the crime doc this season. And they get good mileage out of a subplot involving Kate (Ashley Johnson) who awaits the outcome feeling guilty about the unkind words she had for her dad the last time she saw him. Repeat.
“48 Hours,” CBS at 10: A mother searches the Southwest states for her schizophrenic son, who is on the run - without his medication - from their home in Hawaii. Repeat.
Cable Calls
“Painted Hero” (1995), MAX at 8: Dwight Yoakam (“Sling Blade”) stars as a rodeo clown who returns to his home town and finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery. Bob Hoskins costars.
“Up Close,” ESPN at 6:30 and midnight: This hour is one for baseball fans to tape and cherish. Home-run champ Hank Aaron and the 10 former major-leaguers who have hit 500 or more homers are interviewed. The sluggers include legends Willie Mays, Ted Williams and Ernie Banks.
“Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), USA at 11: Tom Cruise shines in this Oscar-winning bio of paralyzed anti-Vietnam War activist Ron Kovic.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:50: Actors Robin Williams and Billy Crystal and singer Barry Manilow. Repeat.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: Actor Tim Robbins, science teacher Lee Marek and comedian Sarah Silverman.
“Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” ABC at 12:05 a.m.: TBA.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:50 a.m.: Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”), actor Erik Estrada and musical guest Silverchair Repeat.