Martin Mull is playing a character with the same name as his who hosts a local talk show out of Pittsburgh (Well, when you're from Pittsburgh you have to do something, to quote Auntie Mame), and is enticed by small town housewife Mary Kay Place to come to her hometown (Hawkins falls, ironically the setting up one of TV's first soap operas), and feeling neglected by busy husband Fred Willard, begins to spend a lot of time with the rather ruthless Mull. He wants her on the show and utilizes the idea of having the couple reaffirm their vows to get closer to her, fully aware that Willard probably won't make it in time. It's all about saving a marriage and small town versus big city (not that I'd consider Pittsburgh a metropolis of sophistication), and other than that, not much happens.
The amoral character played by Mull is too shallow to like, and the couple played by Place and Willard don't really seem at all realistic. In fact, their performances annoyed me with the way they build their lines in unrealistic ways, which made me not root for them either. The character performers are pretty interesting, particularly Conchata Farrell as the mayor's wife, making the most of a poorly written scene involving accidents in the home that resulted in the loss of a body part. The other woman, having been guilty of licking a knife covered in frosting, seems like something out of a "Lucy Show" episode rather than a late 1980's TV movie. The result is a premise that attempted to deal with modern issues but presented them in a very dated way.
The amoral character played by Mull is too shallow to like, and the couple played by Place and Willard don't really seem at all realistic. In fact, their performances annoyed me with the way they build their lines in unrealistic ways, which made me not root for them either. The character performers are pretty interesting, particularly Conchata Farrell as the mayor's wife, making the most of a poorly written scene involving accidents in the home that resulted in the loss of a body part. The other woman, having been guilty of licking a knife covered in frosting, seems like something out of a "Lucy Show" episode rather than a late 1980's TV movie. The result is a premise that attempted to deal with modern issues but presented them in a very dated way.