Friday April 11 8:34 AM EDT
REVIEW/TELEVISION: 'Gun' Hits Target With First Round
Gun (Sat. (12), 10-11 p.m., ABC, 1:00)
By Todd Everett
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Finally landing after a fusillade of promotional spots, the anthology series Gun
starts off with a bang. Two, if you include whatever hipness quotient results from the use of the new
U2 recording of the Beatles' Happiness Is a Warm Gun as theme.
None-too-original concept follows titular hardware from one owner to another as long as ABC series
lasts. Fortunately, individual stories may rise (as this one does, with extreme vigor) above gimmick.
Daniel Stern stars as Harvey Hochfelder, actor who -- after 10 years in Hollywood -- has only two
episodes of Dynasty and one of Murder, She Wrote on his resume. As he, wife Dora (Kathy Baker) and
son Buck (Zachary McLemore) stop at a convenience store on their way out of town, Harvey finds
himself foiling a robbery attempt in which the gun (a pearl-handled, semi-automatic pistol) figures. As
hour progresses, Harvey's accidental heroism follows its own trail, beginning with a live shot on the
local news.
Script by series creator and co-exec producer James Sadwith launches into parody (or is it?) as Harvey,
taking advantage of his new celebrity, unsuccessfully lobbies to get his story turned into a feature,
then badgers producers to cast Michelle Pfeiffer or Meryl Streep as his TV-movie wife (he settles, with
amusing results, for Kathy Ireland), and recruits a couple of unlikely co-stars (Donald Willis, Reggie
McFadden).
It's a very funny hour, clear through to the "gotcha!" ending. Performances are commendable
throughout, including sharp cameos from Clint Howard as a bum in the 7-Eleven and Kathleen Sullivan
as herself.
Ireland is in some standout scenes, particularly one in which she balks at rehearsing a bit with Harvey in
bed. "We have to establish our torrid feelings for each other to motivate the action of heroism at the
end," argues Harvey, to which she snaps, "Are you saying that if your wife weren't putting out, you'd
have let your son be kidnapped?"
When Dora expresses jealousy over Harvey's extensive rehearsals with Ireland, he explains, "It's called
'Method acting' -- you should be honored that I care enough to make sure our relationship is depicted
correctly."
Elements of story that may not make sense are sorted out by the climax. For those carefully watching,
there's a somewhat obscure Citizen Kane reference, and one that confuses a local radio talk show host
with his more famous namesake.
If the quality of this episode of Gun holds up in future installments, ABC may at last have a shot at
"Walker, Texas Ranger."
Cast: Daniel Stern, Kathy Baker, Kathy Ireland, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Verica, Clayton Landey, Zachary
McLemore, John Asher, Erick Avaari, Santos Morales, Clint Howard, Reggie McFadden, Lawrence LeJohn,
Eddie Velez, Kathleen Sullivan, Adam Clark, Donald Willis, Andrew Shaifer, Dara Tomanovich.
Filmed in Los Angeles by Sandcastle 5 Prods. and Sadwith Prods. in association with the Kushner-Locke
Co. Executive producers, James Sadwith, Robert Altman, Rob Dwek, Donald Kushner, Peter Locke; line
producer, Sascha Schneider; director, James Foley; writer, Sadwith; camera, Roy H. Wagner; editor,
Dorian Harris; production designer, Bernt Capra; sound, Lee Archer; music, Lee Curren; casting, Annette
Benson, Harriet Greenspan.
Reuters/Variety |
