Tapes on this page: 1 new, 3 already catalogued (1175 on ADVENTURE'S; 1177 on ADVENTURE'S; 1178 on ADVENTURE'S)
## HEADING: ADVENTURE'S ## LEFT COLUMN 1175. the WIZARD Imagine Santa Claus, Einstein and Merlin the magician rolled into one. There you have Simon McKay (David Rappaport), the Wizard, a pint-sized toy maker who invents amazing contraptions. Simon used to design hardware for the Government and still does an occasional job for it. That's why the brass has assigned Alex Jagger (Doug Barr) and Darcy Stafford (Cheryl McFadden) to make sure Simon doesn't fall into the wrong hands. As one such schemer says to his henchman: "You procure heem for me and I will pair-suade heem to use his technology for more importanht theengs than toysss . . ." To Simon, the importanht theeng is to use his wondrous powers to help others—like the little boy who will die of leukemia unless he can get a bone marrow transplant from his brother, who's somewhere in South America. Will Simon find him? Will the boy be saved? Fear not, dear viewer. The Wizard may be small, but he never comes up short. CBS. TV Debut. 9/9/86 2. THE REUNION. 9/16/86 3. HAUNTING MEMORIES. 9/23/86 4. HORSE RACE. 9/30/86 5. NOBODY'S PERFECT. 11/8/86 6. IT TAKES A CHIMP. 11/15/86 1176. The Wizard (1989) The Wizard ★ (Tues., CBS), also ostensibly about runaway kids, is really a prime example of Hollywood cloning big hits with new markets in mind. Thus: "Rain Man" for kids. The Wonder Years' Fred Savage is the pre-pubescent Tom Cruise in this 1989 road film, springing his Nintendo-playing brother from a mental institution and taking him to California for the big video-game championships. Beau Bridges costars in the only movie ever to give prominent screen credit to a "Power Glove Advisor." W/ Jenny Lewis & Christian Slater. PUMP UP THE VOLUME. (1990) w/Christian Slater T I L T . (1979) w/Ken Marshall, Brooke Shields & Charles Durning. ## RIGHT COLUMN 1177. AVALON. 11/3/91 Avalon (HBO, SHO, TMC) is Barry Levinson's 1990 ★★★ elegy to the American Dream and the role of TV in our lives. As were "Diner" and "Tin Men," this is Baltimore-based Levinson's semiautobiography, telling of the Krychinsky family's path, off the boat and into the middle class, from idealism to reality. Though Jewish, the family is oddly de-ethnicized, which broadens its viewer appeal but, de-flavorizes the film. w/Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aidan Quinn, Eliz. Perkins & Joan Plowright. family pictures 3/21/93 A MOVING SAGA OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY. 3/22/93 w/Anjelica Huston, Sam Neill, Jamie Harrold & Dermot Mulroney. FAMILY PICTURES, PART 1 Anjelica Huston (pictured) and Sam Neill star in this finely crafted drama about a suburban clan and the strains caused by heroic efforts to meet the needs of a mentally impaired child. The two-part 1993 TV-movie opens in early-1950s Seattle, where Lainey and David Eberlin (Huston, Neill) live with their two young children. As the years pass the Eberlins have four more children, including a son named Randall (Jamie Harrold), who is autistic. Although raising Randall at home proves stressful for the Eberlins, Lainey is determined not to put him in an institution. But her virtually single-minded devotion to Randall's welfare leaves the rest of the family feeling isolated and resentful. Based on the novel by Sue Miller. (2:00) 1178. RADIO FLYER. (1991) w/Lorraine Bracco, John Heard, Adam Baldwin & Ben Johnson. A TIME TO HEAL. 4/18/94 w/Nicollette Sheridan, Gary Cole, Mara Wilson, Loraine Toussaint, Ken Jenkins, Ben Masters & Tim Ransom.