TWO SUB-PAR CBS TELEMOVIES, FROM THE IN-HOUSE PRODUCTION ARM OF CBS ENTERTAINMENT AND DIRECTED BY FAMILIAR ACTORS, PREMIER TONIGHT. NEITHER IS WORTH THE EFFORT REQUIRED TO WATCH. EXCEPT FOR THE ABC NONFICTION SPECIAL, THE SAME GOES FOR PRIME TIME IN GENERAL.
TAKE THE NIGHT OFF!
THE SECRET WITNESS
One secret about 'The Secret Witness' is that, before the writer's strike, it was identified as an afternoon after- school special. Now, because of a need to fill prime time in September with first run shows, and a lack of the same because of the strike, this drama suddenly becomes a ready-for-prime-time play. It stars Leaf Phoenix and Kellie Martin as two young friends whose experiments in "innocent" voyeurism take a supposedly dramatic turn when the boy witnesses his father embracing a strange woman - who, the next morning, is found dead. David Rasche of "Sledge Hammer!" plays the boy's father, and Paul Le Mat plays the suspicious island recluse. The story, like most of it's characters, is infuriatingly simple and stupid. The Director is Eric Laneuville, who co-starred on "St. Elsewhere" as Luther, and directed many fine episodes of that series. His direction here is broad and obvious, but that's not inappropriate for an after-school special - which is what he thought this was when he made it. CBS . . .