The four-hour package makes an eerie supernatural tale, spiced with substantial good-versus-evil subtext and musings on the power of friendship. Screenwriters Lawrence D. Cohen and Tommy Lee Wallace are true to the book`s spirit, and Wallace`s direction is snappy. They treat King`s gifts with respect. One of the best is his way of transforming the most ordinary items into images and instruments of terror.
I like The Tommyknockers...Written by Lawrence Cohen, whose adapations produced the best TV ("It") and movie ("Carrie") Kings, The Tommyknockers" gets special-effects, sci-fi silly on the second night. But King's ability to give us relationships-between Gard and Bobbi, between E.G. Marshall's character and his grandson, even between Bobbi and Gard and their dog-on which to hang our emotions provides a familiar and solid foundation for his effective scare tactics.
"Cop Rock" is less innovation than next logical step (some might even say overdue step) for an increasingly music-conscious medium. [26 Sep 1990, p.1C]
There's a sophistication at play in this show. The acting (Shipp has won two Emmys for his work in daytime soaps) is refreshingly unmannered. The supporting cast is solid, and the sets, costumes and soundtrack all work to create a distinctive TV world. [20 Sept 1990, p.15]
Certainly, these pioneering jaunts have a stylishness and sophistication lacking in most mainstream televison shows. But at this point, for all their nifty good looks, they just aren't special or scary enough. [9 June 1989, p.C-1]
Perhaps there are a few kids who might buy this sort of stuff, but most others will be bored stiff and find pretentious the ways in which Chance maintains that what he is now doing is part of a post-Vietnam guilt trip. The show's main failing is in taking itself too seriously. It's somber when it should be silly. [20 July 1992, p.C5]
Winfrey's appeal is considerable and should, for a time, guarantee curiosity-fueled high ratings. It's a warm and serious show, a television time capsule that takes us to a quieter, safer and better place. [1 May 1990]
