In A New Light (1993) (TV)

Patti Austin, Pat Benatar, Clint Black, Michael Callen, Melissa Etheridge, Elton John and Silk are among the artists who perform against a haunting background of names embroidered on the AIDS Memorial Quilt, commemorating men, women and children who have died of the disease.

In words and graphics, information is given without equivocation and underscored through repetition: how a condom is used, how it can prevent transmission of HIV, what bodily fluids transmit it, where vulnerable mucous membranes are located, ways you cannot get the virus. Abstinence is stressed; in the absence of abstinence, "safer sex," not "safe sex," is the operative term.

Entertainment and statistics are interspersed with memorable segments spotlighting people working in AIDS education and/or living with HIV and AIDS.

A few of the stars who speak their piece and urge viewers to call for information are Hollywood's leading AIDS spokeswoman Elizabeth Taylor, Chad Lowe, Judith Light, Rosie Perez and Luke Perry ("I've been tested three times").

Memorable comic moments and candor are provided by Lily Tomlin as Ernestine, answering questions on an AIDS hot line.

Worth tuning into? You bet your life.

In A New Light (1993) (TV)

Cast: Patti Austin, Pat Benatar, Clint Black, Michael Callen, Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Silk, Elizabeth Taylor, Chad Lowe, Judith Light, Rosie Perez, Luke Perry

Andy Griffith Show Reunion, The (1993) (TV)

Cast members from "The Andy Griffith Show" gather to reminisce about the classic 1960's TV series. The program is a series of interviews conducted by Andy Griffith. He interviews the other cast members and questions them about their favorite episodes and other memories. It also includes clips from select episodes as well as home movies taken on the set. Present are Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Ron Howard, George Lindsey, Jim Nabors and Jack Dodson. Sheldon Leonard and Aaron Rubin also gave interviews. The sets used were not the originals. The designer used only set pieces to offer the feel of the show. Also included are a series of celebrity comments about the show, including journalist Charles Kuralt, baseball player Nolan Ryan, musicians Randy Travis, Kenny G, Reba McEntire and Clint Black, actors Burt Reynolds and Lisa Hartman, and football players Bob Golic, Howie Long and Steve Wright.

The Andy Griffith Show Reunion (1993) (TV)

Cast: Andy Griffith, Charles Kuralt, Nolan Ryan, Randy Travis, Burt Reynolds, Lisa Hartman, Kenny G, Reba McEntire, Bob Golic, Howie Long, Steve Wright, Clint Black, Don Knotts, Ron Howard, Jim Nabors

Willie Nelson: The Big Six-0 (1993) (TV)

Willie Nelson Reflects On 60, With A Little Help From His Friends
By David Tarrant
Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas - Relaxing on his bus outside an Austin television studio, Willie Nelson sits at a small dining table, looking less like a legend and more like a man who just slipped into a truck stop to order the No. 3 special. It is April 27. In two days Nelson turns the Big Six-O. He seems to be taking the event philosophically.

So, is there life after 60 for a long-haired, self-styled outlaw? Nelson grins. "Well, I don't know. I never figured I'd get this far. "Not only has he gotten this far - he is still shooting down a career path as twisting and turning as the Rio Grande.

In the last two months, he has released his promising new album, "Across the Borderline," which includes celebrity duets with Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan. He has also completed his sixth Farm Aid benefit, hosted "Saturday Night Live," and taped two concerts for a CBS special tribute to his birthday, which airs from 9-11 p.m. tomorrow. In the works are another album and possibly a movie role. All that, and a grueling 1993 concert schedule crowded with more than 200 dates, makes it easy to overlook the fact that Willie will soon be eligible for senior citizen discounts. "I never really thought that much about 60. But as you get closer to it, you start thinking more about it, especially since it's always been called `The Big Six-O.' It's supposed to be some goal you reach, and by the time you get there you're supposed to be. . . just about dead," he says with a soft chuckle. "And it's real funny when you get there and you're not." Nelson is one of the most famous and prolific singer-songwriters in history. Even if he had never recorded a single song in his life, he would have gone down in history as a legendary songwriter for penning classics such as Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and Ray Price's "Night Life" more than three decades ago. Songs like "On the Road Again" and "Always on My Mind," are among the most enduring and recognizable in American contemporary music.

He is a genuine Texas folk hero whose long reddish-gray hair, rolled head bandanna, crinkly, kind face and snowy beard seem as familiar as the carvings on Mount Rushmore. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was the Lone Star of country music - a colossus straddling pop and country charts strumming his battered 30-year-old Martin classical with the hole worn in it. He led young rock-'n'- roll fans out of the disco desert, and he was the spiritual leader of an old-guys brat pack with pals Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, who made movies and mischief together. His legendary carousing, bacchanalian Fourth of July picnics and sneakers-and-T-shirt lifestyle fueled the vicarious dreams of fans who ranged from rednecks, hippies and homemakers to urban cowboys and office workers.

Then he hit an ugly patch of road. In 1990, the Internal Revenue Service smacked him with a bill for $16.7 million in back taxes, and he saw most of his property and possessions sold on the IRS auction block. He lost his son, Billy, who committed suicide on Christmas Day 1991 at age 33. Martha, his first wife and Billy's mother, had died in 1989. Even the National Enquirer ran a cover story reporting that he was considering suicide. Instead of being diminished by those personal tragedies and swings in fortune, Willie says he feels a sense of redemption for having survived them. "Those are some of the worst things that can happen to you. And they've already happened to you. "It's sort of like, what can you do to me now? And once you reach that point where it seems like you've been through the fires and you're still here, then that in itself is a miracle that you survived all these things. There's enough reason there for jubilation, I think, whether it's on your 20th birthday or your 60th, that you've made it that far." Copyright (c) 1993 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.

Willie Nelson: The Big Six-0 (1993) (TV)

Cast: Tom Arnold, Clint Black, Edie Brickell, Gary Busey, Ray Charles, Bill Clinton, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris,     Waylon Jennings, B.B. King, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Lou Diamond Phillips, Sydney Pollack, Willie Nelson

Grand Ole Opry 65th Anniversary (1991) (TV)

Live performances from many great Country & Western stars. Hosted by Roy Clark. With Bill Anderson, Chet Atkins, Clint Black, Holly Dunn, Larry Gatlin, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Bill Monroe, Lorrie Morgan, Minnie Pearl, Carl Perkins, Eddie Rabbitt, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Billy Walker.
 

Grand Ole Opry 65th Anniversary (1991) (TV)
Host: Roy Clark

Opryland's Country Christmas (1996) (TV)

Christmas special featuring country music stars of the day celebrating Nashville's holiday traditions in an eclectic blend of Christmas songs performed in a variety of styles including country, blues, folk, pop, bluegrass, rock and gospel. Don't look for the classics, this is full of traditional and original with a definite focus on faith and family. It must be said that it is refreshing to hear a holiday themed show and not be burdened with amateurish arrangements of tired "classics" or insultingly childish retellings of that same tiredness. This is very satisfying as standard fare or holiday listening, it excels both ways.

Opryland's Country Christmas (1996) (TV)

Cast: Clint Black, Wynonna Judd, Patty Loveless, Barbara Mandrell, Lorrie Morgan, LeAnn Rimes, Kenny Rogers, Marty Stuart, Jerry Sullivan, Tammy Sullivan, Hank Williams Jr.

Opryland's Country Christmas (1994) (TV)

The only thing to not like about this is the one hour runtime. This could easily have been twice as long. Greatly appreciated effort from all the participants but with a little somethin' somethin' via the great Neil Diamond and his background singers, The Soul Children of Chicago.

All these Opryland productions are excellent, with wide ranging entertainment fit for the whole family, from upbeat toe-tappers to heartfelt blues. Good stuff all around and more the sentimental for the Christmas themes and imagery. Imagery such as Banjo Santa, for instance.

Opryland's Country Christmas (1994) (TV)

Cast: Clint Black, Neil Diamond, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Ronna Reeves, Mike Snider, Marty Stuart, Mel Tillis, Pam Tillis, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Tammy Wynette, Trisha Yearwood, Soul Children of Chicago

Bob Hope's Yellow Ribbon Party (1991) (TV)

As part of an earlier promise to US forces, Bob Hope put on a homecoming show for US Troops who served in both the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the 1989 invasion of Panama from his Palm Springs, California home. Considered by many to be his final USO Show.

Great show, along with regulars like Brooke and Marie O, you'll see the fabulous Patti LaBelle singing like she's at a Black Tie evening event even though it's daytime and she's outdoors! Completely brings down the figurative house, she's just great. The audience is all regular folk, servicemen and women and their families. Full of pride and all sharing in their love of America and the American way. One of television's greatest hours. Bob was the man.

Bob Hope's Yellow Ribbon Party (1991) (TV)

Cast: Ann Jillian, Bob Hope, Brooke Shields, Clint Black, Clint Holmes, Delta Burke, Ed McMahon, Gerald McRaney, James Stewart, Marie Osmond, Patti LaBelle