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- January 7, 1985VIDEOBEST OF '84
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- THE BURNING BED (NBC). Farrah Fawcett proved she could act,
- and television proved it could do an "issue drama" without
- preaching, simplifying or sentimentalizing, in this gripping TV
- movie about a woman who takes incendiary revenge on her brutal
- husband.
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- CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (Showtime). Jessica Lange was a sizzling
- Maggie and Rip Torn an offbeat Big Daddy in this lively and
- well- directed (by Jack Hofsiss) classic. TV's finest
- posthumous tribute to Tennessee Williams.
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- CONCEALED ENEMIES (PBS). Alger Hiss, the alleged spy;
- Whittaker Chambers, his accuser; and Congressman Richard Nixon,
- the investigator. These were the true-life protagonists of the
- year's most intriguing mystery story, deftly dramatized in an
- American Playhouse miniseries.
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- DOMESTIC LIFE (CBS). Before Bill Cosby revived the sitcom genre
- in the fall, Martin Mull poked juicy fun at it last January,
- playing the father of a slightly loony family in a very funny,
- undeservedly short-lived series.
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- THE GLITTER DOME (HBO). James Garner and John Lithgow were two
- burned-out detectives in this taunt, cynical adaptation of
- Joseph Wambaugh's novel about murder in movieland. Possibly the
- best movie yet made for pay TV.
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- JEWEL IN THE CROWN (PBS). With understated urgency, this
- 14-week series (which runs until March) sketched a sovereign
- vision of the long, sad twilight of the British raj in India.
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- KING LEAR (syndicated). In what may prove to be his last great
- role, Laurence Olivier acts up a storm -- and, in the heath
- scene, outacts one -- scaling the majesty of Shakespeare's mad
- monarch. Will this Lear be surpassed on TV? Never, never,
- never, never, never.
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- MIAMI VICE (NBC). Unlike most of the season's new shows, this
- hard- nosed police series has actually improved since its pilot.
- The first network series since Hill Street Blues to establish
- a unique look and tone: an alluring mix of cinema verite grit
- and rock-video glitz.
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- PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE NO. 1. Walter Mondale's unexpected humor;
- President Reagan's awkward pauses; Moderator Barbara Walters'
- lecturing of the audience: between two dull conventions and a
- runaway election, this face-off to chart the course of the Free
- World was the political year's most interesting TV news event.
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- LOS ANGELES SUMMER OLYMPICS (ABC). With half the globe
- watching, the extensive and authoritative coverage of the XXIII
- Olympiad was breathtaking to behold.
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