Tag Archives: made-for-tv movies

An eye for talent

I cast a major network sitcom.

No — not cast in.  I helped cast one of the guest stars in last night’s episode of Up All Night.

Let me explain.

Earlier this year, Christina Applegate took to Twitter and asked her followers to suggest comedic actors for a project.  Knowing most people would go with the obvious choices, I put forth a recent find:

Steven Pasquale

I happened upon the actor a month or two before in the USA mini-series Marry Me, co-starring Lucy Liu.  The movie wasn’t anything to write home about, but Pasquale was.

He took your typical made-for-TV romantic lead and turned it into something uniquely appealing.  His timing was unique.  I stuck with the mini-series — we’re talking four hours, people — because he made the expected and predictable extremely entertaining.

Christina later tweeted a thank you for our suggestions, saying she had received a couple of names that she didn’t recognize and planned to research.

And look who pops up on Up All Night??

It’s pretty gratifying, I admit.  (Would be even more so with a finder’s fee.)

Killer nose

I lived in Boston for six years, and never knew Lizzie Borden’s house was just down the road.

(Random learning from the Internet #725)

Turns out Lizzie Borden and her poor, axe-murdered parents were from Fall Rivers, which is an hour outside of Boston.  Their house has been turned into a museum and bed-and-breakfast, and was recently chosen by The Huffington Post as one of the “10 Strangest Lodgings to Stay Around the World.”

I would second that notion.

Visitors can take a “time tour” of the murders — even see the carefully preserved skulls of the Bordens –  then stay overnight in Lizzie’s room or the rooms of her dearly departed mom and dad.

Well, that certainly sounds restful.

Of course, we have to remember that Lizzie was found not guilty at the murder trial.  But the made-for-TV movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden” starring Elizabeth Montgomery, is what is burned on my brain.

There she was — sweet, nose-twitching Samantha  — spooky scary as Lizzie Borden.  After watching her re-enact how the police thought the murders had taken place, I was never more certain in my life that any woman was a cold-blooded killer.  Based on her performance alone, there is no way I would stay overnight in that house.

If the ghost of Lizzie Borden doesn’t get you in your sleep, I’m pretty sure Elizabeth Montgomery will.

Holiday haze

I blame it on the turkey.

People eat way too much of it on Thanksgiving, and — I theorize –the tryptophan-laden beast leaves them in a haze that makes really bad made-for-TV holiday films seem not only palatable but, gosh darn it, great!

I’ve already started watching them, and I’m can’t get enough!

ABC Family’s ’25 Days of Christmas’ began the day before Thanksgiving — the promos way before that — and somehow the combination of B-movie stars and done-to-death Santa scenarios is totally charming.  I’ve found a tear in my cynical eye more than once, believe you me.

How can you miss with classics named…

“Sons of Mistletoe”

“The Dog Who Saved Christmas”

“Naughty or Nice”

“Cranberry Christmas”

“Holiday in Handcuffs”

“Santa Baby 2″   (After they saw the first one, they did a sequel?  Amazing!)

And just to make sure a few of their offerings are actually quality — remember, some people don’t eat turkey — ABC Family landed all the “Harry Potter” films, several Pixar animations, and true classics from my childhood like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

So, if you like turkey — and even if you don’t — cable television is ready to serve it up on a big ol’ holiday platter.

White or dark meat?