'Reagan' saves its stones for Haig

Though he is listed as the executive producer of "The Day Reagan Was Shot," director Oliver Stone claims he had little involvement with the new Showtime movie that dramatizes the 1981 attempt on President Reagan's life. That's his story, at least. But is Stone trying to hide his true involvement in this movie? Consider, if you will, the eerie similarities between the opening minutes of "Reagan" (8 p.m. Sunday on Showtime) and the opening minutes of "JFK," Stone's 1991 conspiracy flick. In "JFK," the voice of Martin Sheen barks over a frenzy of disturbing images culled from news footage of the time. Then the film slows down, and there is an agonizingly drawn-out sequence that leads up to Kennedy's shooting, set to the chilling accompaniment of military drums. "The Day Reagan Was Shot" opens in almost exactly the same manner. Notice carefully as I replay the film: Back ... and to the right. Back ... and to the right. Alas, this movie does not keep mimicking "JFK" - a fine film for all its crazy idea-mongering. This one quickly turns into a smear job on then-Secretary of State Alexander ("I'm in control here") Haig, who is depicted as being mad as a hatter and the perpetrator of a plot to stage a legal coup d'etat in the hours after Reagan and three other men were hit by gunfire. If you thought Richard Dreyfuss was insufferable as CBS professor Max Bickford, wait till you see him as Haig, stomping around the war room ranting at four-star generals, bringing our country to the brink of nuclear war - or so the movie alleges. Haig isn't the only one who's going to be steamed when he sees this. Others with unflattering portrayals include Nancy Reagan, Michael Deaver and George Bush senior. The only ones who emerge unscathed are the Gipper and the doctors who save his life. To their credit, the film's producers did not cast a bunch of look-alikes for the parts: Richard Crenna looks more like Haig than Dreyfuss does, but he's perfect as Reagan, gamely tossing off those now-famous bon mots as he is wheeled in for surgery ("I hope you doctors are Republicans"). And for all its problems, what works against "The Day Reagan Was Shot" more than anything is circumstance. At a time like this, who wants to watch a movie about the White House being held hostage by an egomaniac? "The Seventh Stream," a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" special airing at 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 5), is a tale about a seal (the amphibious critter, that is) who sheds her skin one day and voila! becomes human. As if that weren't odd enough, recall that there was a show earlier this year, also on CBS, called "Wolf Lake," in which wolves morphed into humans. This special is a lot better than "Wolf Lake." After a slow start, even by "Hall of Fame" standards, it turns into an intriguing romance involving a lonely Irish fisherman (Scott Glenn), the alluring mystery seal-woman (Saffron Burrows) and a jealous bachelor who knows her secret (John Lynch). Christmastime is here. Those three words, indelibly linked to the holiday classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas," have now become linked with a new network. After 35 years at CBS, the animated holiday special that started them all moves to ABC, airing 7 p.m. Thursday on Channel 9. Stay tuned afterward for a new special, on the making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," featuring Whoopi Goldberg and the now grown-ups who provided the voices of Charlie and the gang. Steven Spielberg can only dream of cranking out the sequels as fast as the Discovery channel. A mere 18 months ago, "Walking With Dinosaurs" wowed TV audiences with its computer-simulated dinos. That was followed this summer by "When Dinosaurs Roamed America." And now comes "Walking With Prehistoric Beasts" at 6 p.m. Sunday on Discovery. The three-hour special magically brings still more long-extinct species back to life, such as the piglike Entelodont, the voracious Andrewsarchus and the humongous Indricothere, one of the largest land mammals ever to walk the earth. Look for a more familiar creature to make an appearance as well - Cro-Magnon. One week you see him on "Ally McBeal"; the next week, A&E. What's next, the halftime show on "Monday Night Football"? Elton John will take your phone calls on "Live By Request" beginning at 8 tonight on A&E. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com.