‘Woods’ finds Asner being gruff again
Are we doomed by first impressions? If Lou Grant had never uttered those fateful words, “I hate spunk,” would Ed Asner have been spared a career of playing ornery but ultimately loveable cranks?
“Out of the Woods” (8 p.m. Saturday, Hallmark) offers Asner another chance to act prickly, gruff and wise. This time he’s Jack, an eccentric grandfather who is estranged from his materialistic grown daughter (Mel Harris, “thirtysomething”). She becomes alarmed when she discovers that Jack has moved to a remote cabin in the woods and plans to squander the family fortune on the purchase of 1,200 wooded acres – land he intends to donate to the Native American tribe that used to own it.
She files a legal motion to stop Jack’s scheme and dispatches her son, Matt (Jason London) to serve the papers. While well along on the partner track at his law firm, Matt seems none too happy. His girlfriend, the boss’ daughter, is a whining princess who is already conspiring with Matt’s mom to rope him into a posh wedding and a life of excessive credit card bills.
If you don’t think Matt is going to learn a few valuable nuggets from Jack, you haven’t seen enough TV movies. And this one lays on the lessons with a thick side order of ham and stereotypes. Jack quotes Persian poetry and Native American lore, and even undergoes a sweat lodge ceremony or two while imparting truths from his life’s “journey” to his hapless grandson. Help yourself.
Rick Schroder trades in his “NYPD Blue” uniform for surgeons’ scrubs in the TV drama “14 Hours” (8 p.m., Sunday, TNT). Otherwise, he’s pretty much the same brash character. In his very first scene, the young Dr. Foster is seen at the communal fridge eating a piece of cake that was clearly intended for a nurse’s going-away party. This alienates him from the warm and empathetic head nurse, Jeanette (JoBeth Williams).
But none of that really matters, because their Houston hospital is soon plunged into darkness by a blackout and threatened by a flood resulting from 20 inches of rain in the space of 14 hours. Based on true events during the 2001 tropical storm Allison, “14 Hours” unfolds like a slightly longer and particularly damp version of “ER.”
It’s hard to be a sensitive soul in a town without pity. In fact, it can be murder. “Malice Aforethought” on “Mystery!” (8 p.m., Sunday, KSPS) stars Ben Miller as Dr. Edmund Bickleigh, a would-be painter in the gossipy English village of Wyvern’s Cross.
He feels stifled by his older, bitter wife, Julia (Barbara Flynn), who continually belittles his artistic pretensions and reminds him of his lowly birth. He takes solace in the arms of a young beauty, Ivy (Lucy Brown), but then dumps her for exotic and seemingly rich patroness of the arts Madeleine (Megan Dodds). But when Madeleine tells him she’d never marry a divorced man, the desperate doctor concocts a series of potions to dispatch his dyspeptic wife.
He soon learns that not even murder can bring him his dream marriage, as Madeleine has taken a younger and richer lover. And soon the town is buzzing with rumors about Julia’s sudden mysterious demise.
A clever and entertaining grown-up drama, “Malice” is more sexually frank than most “Mystery!” fare.
Saturday’s highlights
Carl Franklin is profiled on “The Directors” (11 a.m., Encore).
The final four contend in the NCAA Basketball Tournament (3 p.m., CBS).
An encounter with Indians on “Little House on the Prairie” (8 p.m., ABC).
Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino star in the 2002 sequel “Spy Kids 2” (9 p.m., ABC).
Sunday’s highlights
Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): an interview with Jane Fonda; questionable spending for anti-terror efforts.
Another palooka hits the mat on “The Contender” (8 p.m., NBC).
Charity in the Pelican State on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC).
Denzel Washington and Robert Duvall star in the 2002 medical hostage drama “John Q” (9 p.m., CBS).
Comatose Mama Solis shows signs of change on “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., ABC ).
Witness protection falls short on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (9 p.m., NBC).