BigMarty-3

"Angie" was a program that was doomed to last no more than one season. First of all, it ran on ABC in the late 1970s, which pretty much sealed its fate as a ratings flop. Moreover, it had all of the right elements, in the wrong combination. In a way, the show was very ahead of its time. In another, it had very little new to offer.

Donna Pescow played Angie, a working class Italian-American woman working as a waitress in a Philadelphia Diner, who dreamed of a better life. She was often visited by her "rough around the edges" sister, who criticized her conservative nature, and her smothering mother who criticized her lack of a husband. In the third episode, she married Brad, a regular customer at the diner, only to discover AFTER the wedding that Brad was the heir to a huge family fortune. But her new found wealth didn't keep her from working at the diner, especially after Brad bought her the diner for her birthday. Angie turned her downtown restaurant into a success, while living in her uptown penthouse apartment.

"Angie" had a strong cast. It was well written and it's "working class humor" was right for the times. But the "rags to riches" storyline and slapstick humor did little to set it apart from the sea of sitcoms that filled the airwaves in 1979.

Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love, was one of the many "made-for-TV" and "based on a true story" movies that were so popular in the late 1970's, and I consider it to be one of the best. It is the story of a family dealing with the difficulties of raising an autistic child. The couple already had two young daughters when their son, Raun, was born. While they were excited to finally have a son, the couple became concerned when Raun failed to develop emotionally in the same way that their daughters had. Shortly thereafter, Raun was diagnosed as autistic. He could not form complete sentences and he would spend hours at a time, spinning a china plate on the tile floor, shaking his hands wildly in the air while he watch the plate spin, then starting the process over again...spinning the plate and shaking his hands in the air.

Raun's parents took him to several specialists and considered placing him in a full-time care facility until they discovered that many of these facilities suffered from poor sanitation or experimented with shock-treatment. The couple found this to be very frustrating and disappointing, often blaming themselves for their son's situation. Raun's mother laments, "When I was pregnant with the girls, I would continually ask God to make sure that they were healthy. When Raun was on the way, all I could think to ask was that we have a son."

Finally, the couple decided to develop their own therapy program for their son. With years of hard work, tremendous patience and a seemingly endless capacity for love, Raun's parents and sisters were able to help him find a way out of his autism, and become able to interact with other people in a more "normal" way.

It has been more than 20 years since "Son-Rise" appeared on television. But the moving story of a family's determination to help their son, continues to be an inspiration to me.

"ZOOM" was a daily television program that came along in the nick of time. Just as the first generation on "Sesame Street" fans became too old for Big Bird, "ZOOM" hit the scene. Targeted at elementary school aged kids, "ZOOM" featured young boys and girls in orange and brown striped rugby shirts learning about art and science in a way that made them fun. Viewers were encouraged to write letters to the cast that might be read on the show, or could write in to request "ZOOM cards". These colorful cardboard pamphlets provided information about the topics discussed on the show and covered issues from baking cookies to protecting the environment. I still remember the address..."That's ZOOM! Z-"double O"-M, Box 3-5-0, BostonMass, Oh!-Two-One!-Three-Four!!"

PBS will be re-introducing "ZOOM" in 1999. I'm sure that twenty-something "ZOOM" fans everywhere are happy to know that their own kids will learn that great theme song..."Come on and Zoom, Zoom, Zooma-Zoom. Come on and Zooma-Zooma-Zooma-Zoom. Come on and give it a try...We're gonna show you to fly. HIGH! Come on and Zoo-oom. Come on and Zoom Zoom. Come on and Zoo-oom"

I have never understood the seemingly universal disapproval of this fine film. Is it "Reds"?...No. Is it "Rain Man"?...No. Was it intended to be?...Of course not.

Ishtar is a comedy of the first measure. Start with two struggling musicians trying to make it big, who find themselves trapped in a circle of espionage and intrigue in a far away land. Include some of the funniest text ever written for the big screen. Add two of the greatest actors of our day, Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, (both of whom are playing characters that could not be farther from the traditional roles that these actors have played, which was, I'm sure, a challenge in and of itself) and throw in a blind camel for good measure, and you have the recipe for a cinema classic. If this film had managed to avoid the negative press that it received early on, it would have gone done in history as one of the great comedies of the 1980's. Now, everyone wants to be on the "I hate Ishtar" bandwagon. It is truly unfortunate that this film has not received the credit that it deserves.

"Ishtar" is not the most under-rated film ever, but it may be close.