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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1993-04-08
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TELEVISION, Page 55THE BEST OF 1992
1. Johnny Carson's Farewell (NBC)
TV's late-night king had grown tired and predictable in
the past few years. But when his retirement from the Tonight
show finally loomed, Carson revved himself up for a memorable
parting. On his final show, he appeared alone onstage,
introduced some well-selected montages of memorable Tonight
moments and said goodbye with understated grace. But the Tonight
episode that best summed up the Carson era came the night
before, when Robin Williams made Johnny crack up and Bette
Midler made him choke up: two of Carson's favorite entertainers
paying tribute in the way he most appreciated -- by
entertaining.
2. Prime Suspect (PBS)
Helen Mirren, looking more haggard and unglamorous than
any comparable American actress would dare, played a London
chief investigator faced with a baffling series of murders and
a lot of resentful male colleagues. Rare is the drama that works
so well on two levels: as a crackling whodunit and as a finely
tuned character study of a strong but insecure woman trying to
prove herself in a man's world.
3. The Water Engine (TNT)
Docudrama realism has become so entrenched on TV that this
flight of paranoid fantasy -- an adaptation of David Mamet's
play about an inventor who runs afoul of sinister capitalist
forces -- was largely ignored or misunderstood. Too bad:
director Steven Schachter and a terrific cast headed by William
H. Macy created the most stylish and haunting TV movie since
Twin Peaks.
4. Andy Kaufman: I'm from Hollywood (Shanachie Home Video)
The stand-up comic and former Taxi star was TV's most
daring put-on artist. Near the end of his career, however, his
obsession with pro wrestling (he began by challenging women and
wound up getting smashed to the mat by 250-lb. bruisers) seemed
to get out of hand. This skillfully produced video is more than
just a routine career recap. It's the startling account of a
comic pushing the boundaries of satire and possibly of sanity.
5. Rodney King's Appeal
Hour after hour, TV brought the horror of the Los Angeles
riots to a nationwide audience. Finally, the man at the center
of it all stepped before the cameras and nervously tried to
restore calm: "Can we all get along?" Only a man so totally
unsophisticated in the ways of the media could produce the
year's most emotional TV moment.
6. The Ben Stiller Show (Fox)
With In Living Color slumping and Saturday Night Live
grappling with the loss of George Bush, Fox's new sketch comedy
series is the place to turn for savvy media satire. Ratings are
low and the show is uneven, but at its best (a mock documentary
on U2's early days playing the bar mitzvah circuit; The Bride of
Frankenstein remade as a Woody Allen film) it's hilarious.
7. Bill Clinton on MTV
In a campaign waged largely on TV talk shows, the
President-elect proved a master of the Q&A format. Nowhere was
he more engaging or quicker on his feet than in this lively
studio encounter. We learned his favorite painter (El Greco),
an early Supreme Court choice (Mario Cuomo) and one reason he
beat Bush in the debates (he practiced more).
8. Seinfeld (NBC)
Four New Yorkers sitting around griping: after a couple of
seasons, this yuppie sitcom has finally established its
idiosyncratic, laid-back tone. Comic Seinfeld has adapted to the
sitcom form with surprising ease, and his three co-stars --
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards -- are
spinning very happily in their own quirky orbits.
9. A Doll's House (PBS)
Remember Masterpiece Theater? Sometimes it still does
uncover a masterpiece, as in this impeccable British production
of Ibsen's feminist classic. Stars Juliet Stevenson (as the
subjugated housewife), Trevor Eve and Geraldine James
illuminatingly stressed psychology over polemics.
10. The Donner Party (PBS)
Ric Burns produced this harrowing account of the famous
group of settlers who got stuck in the Sierra Nevada on the way
to California and resorted to cannibalism in order to survive.
The artful mix of letters, diaries and archival photos created
more gripping drama than all the year's fact-based TV movies put
together.
...AND THE WORST
The Youth Explosion
Fox's hit high school show, Beverly Hills 90210, begat a
doleful dormful of knock-offs, all vying for the young audience.
Melrose Place (right), The Heights, The Round Table and others
tried to pass themselves off as hip and happening, but they
actually represented TV at its most stale and imitative. Even
the kids seemed to agree: ratings have been largely
disappointing.