Reel 6639

(HBO) Cases of 6 men who tried to kill themselves, one who lived. Narrator:

(2 hrs.) A poignant search for answers to the tragic riddle behind the suicide of a teen-ager. Earlier this month, CBS covered the subject in a "Schoolbreak Special" drama exploring the psychological distress that culminated in a youth's suicide. This 1984 TV-movie does that as well, but here the focus is more on the victim's family and friends in the aftermath of the tragedy. At first, though, the automobile death of 17-year-old Skip Lewis (Chad Lowe) is attributed to a freakish accident. But as clues begin to surface suggesting that Skip may have taken his own life, his mother (Mariette Hartley) and younger sister (Dana Hill) begin a search for the truth—a truth that's too painful for Skip's dad (Howard Hesseman) to face. Meanwhile, Skip's best friend Ken (Charlie Sheen) is also going through an emotional wringer; he thinks he could have prevented Skip's suicide.

(3 hrs.) An excellent cast addresses the subject of teen-age suicide with insight and compassion in this 1985 "ABC" heater" movie. Actually, "Surviving" is two films in one. The first part tells how identity crises and parental pressures precipitate a suicide pact between two smitten 16-year-olds from upper-middle-class families: an intellectual boy named Rick (Zach Galligan) and Lonnie (Molly Ringwald), a troubled girl who had tried to kill herself once before. The second part of the movie explores the emotional impact of the actual suicides on Rick's parents, David (Len Cariou) and Tina (Ellen Burstyn); and on Lonnie's folks, Harvey (Paul Sorvino) and Lois (Marsha Mason). Overcome with grief and feelings of guilt, both couples now also find that the tragedies have unearthed deep-rooted domestic problems.

(HBO)

(2 hrs.)

(3 hrs.)