NEW YORK -- None will deny the magic of television, but never has it been so graphically illustrated as in the re-enactment of history which ABC will air tonight on '20-20' from 10-11 p.m., EST.
'Saving the President's Life' is exactly that -- a chilling replay of the day, a year ago, when President Reagan was gunned down by a would-be assassin outside a Washington hotel.
Most of the principals in the drama -- doctors and nurses who labored at George Washington University Hospital to save his life -- are cast in the roles they played. Only 25 professional actors were signed for the documentary.
One of them, Donald Williams, portrays the stricken president and others portray secret service agents. The rest are real -- remembering their actions and repeating them down to the finest nuance.
Reagan himself comes on to tell '20-20' what he remembers of the fateful day.
Much of the footage is shot in a jerky stop-frame slow motion that fairly screams crisis. The Secret Service comes across as a wolf pack, its members fiercely protective of their charge and icy in their rage at his wounding.
For the first time, perhaps, and in the starkest of visual terms, it is revealed just how close Reagan came to death.
The production is the work of the husband-and-wife producing team of Paul and Holly Fine who have collected 58 Emmy Awards for their work. 'Saving the President's Life' should assure them of No. 59.
What ABC News giveth, ABC prime time taketh away.
'We Dare You' is the title of a brand new 30-minute freak show anchored upon what the network calls 'a great American tradition -- the practical joke.' A joke it is. Practical it will never be.
The show's premise is a clumsy cross-pollination of 'You Asked for It' and 'Candid Camera' in which hosts Terry McGovern and Jon Bauman - the 'Bowser' of Sha-na-na -- go around the country daring people to do stupid things to each other and filming them on the sly.
It was funny when Alan Funt did it years ago -- but he did it and did it and did it. ABC really doesn't have to do it. But ABC is going to do it Monday from 8-8:30 p.m. None will den all.
National Geographic apparently couldn't produce a loser for PBS if it set out to do so, and while the last new piece of the season may not have the impact of earlier ones done on sharks and polar bears, it still carries beauty like a banner.
'The Thames,' which PBS stations will air next Wednesday under various local listings, is all about a river. Not a mighty river like the Mississippi or a mysterious river like the Nile -- just a river that has flowed through so much history it could almost publish its memoirs.
Like most rivers in today's polluting world, England's has known hard times, but unlike many of them, it is on the upswing. In Queen Victoria's day, it was called 'a most-abominable ditch' -- a breeder of cholera with a stench that could offend a nose miles away.
Today, thanks to a multi-million-dollar clean-up campaign, it flows clear again and the fish are back.
But it is the poetry of the Thames -- recited beautifully by narrator Glenda Jackson -- and the rich history, from Shakespeare to Oxford and Eton that dominates the Gulf Oil-underwritten piece.
A search through the television guide for a better hour will be an exercise in futility.
