IF YOU HAVE 10 TV-WATCHING HOURS TO KILL ...Byline: - Rob Lowman Fairy tales This is a list of fairy tales, the dates of their earliest known printed version, the author and, if known, the collection of tales in which it was published. It should be noted, however, that not all stories listed below would be categorized as fairy tales by a strict definition have endured because they tap into some deeper psychological vein. In the original stories by the Brothers Grimm For information about the other uses of the name, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation). The Grimm Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, were German academics who were best known for publishing collections of folk tales and fairy tales,[1] , many of the tales have dark, even tragic undercurrents Undercurrents is:
Now NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. is asking viewers to endure 10 televised hours of its miniseries ``The 10th Kingdom,'' which revolves around the idea that these stories are a real place - the Nine Kingdoms, where characters like Snow White and Cinderella actually live - and that there is a conduit between our world and theirs in the form of a magic mirror. In 10 hours ``The 10th Kingdom'' weaves a complicated tale, but briefly: There is this 20-something New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. waitress, Virginia (Kimberly Williams This article is about the American actress. For the Adult model, see Kimberly Williams (model). Kimberly Williams-Paisley (born September 14,1971 in Rye, New York) is an American actress. ), and her father, Tony (John Larroquette), who are chased through the magical mirror. There, in the Nine Kingdoms, they must save a prince (Daniel Lapaine) who has been transformed into a dog and prevent the Evil Queen (Dianne Wiest), a prodigy of Snow White's Evil Queen, from taking over the kingdoms. If it seems like we're leaving some of the plot out, we are. For instance, what is the 10th kingdom? The Big Apple, New York City, silly, proclaimed so by a trio of trolls, though Gothamites are oblivious to this. What has this to do with the plot? Not much except that the magic mirror is located in Central Park, but it may as well been Topeka, Kan. To be fair, ``The 10th Kingdom,'' produced by Robert Halmi Sr. (``Lonesome lone·some adj. 1. a. Dejected because of a lack of companionship. See Synonyms at alone. b. Producing such dejection: a lonesome hour at the bar. 2. Dove,'' ``Gulliver's Travels,'' ``Merlin''), is hardly the dog a rival network executive labeled it last month. The miniseries does have a number of inventive and entertaining moments. (We suspect, though, that many critics and viewers will be too irritated with its length and meandering to notice or care.) But since we dutifully du·ti·ful adj. 1. Careful to fulfill obligations. 2. Expressing or filled with a sense of obligation. du waded through the eight-plus hours (no commercials), we'll give you a taste of some of its juicy moments. For the big bites, you're on your own. First, there's Scott Cohen Scott Cohen (born December 19, 1964 in New York) is an American actor. Cohen is most widely known for his role as Wolf in the 2000 NBC mini-series The 10th Kingdom, his recurring role as Max Medina on the WB hit TV Series Gilmore Girls who plays Wolf - a half-man and, duh, half-wolf - who teams up with Tony and Virginia while in N.Y.C. He quickly becomes infatuated in·fat·u·at·ed adj. Possessed by an unreasoning passion or attraction. in·fat  u·at with Virginia and buys a number of self-help books to tame his animal
side. It's an amusing conceit that works for a while as much for
the idea as Cohen's funny tics but wears thin by night No. 3
because they haven't pushed it forward or resolved it.
Then there is that trio of trolls who, while in the city, steal a tape deck with a cassette of Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb — that became one of the most successful musical acts of all time. They were born on the Isle of Man to English parents, lived in Manchester, England and moved to Brisbane, Australia during tunes from ``Saturday Night Fever'' (talk about fairy tales - is anyone still playing that?); a dead Snow White, played by Camryn Manheim; a 200-year-old Cinderella (Ann-Margret) whose vanity keeps her going; the Peeps (as in Little Bo), who turns out to be decidedly crooked; and a dog that's been turned into a prince (Lapaine in dual roles) who would rather eat bones and do other doggy things. Wiest, to her credit, manages to stay interestedly wicked throughout all of this, and it's her dark secret revealed and played out toward the end that somewhat redeems the whole over-bloated enterprise. And what you get in the last two hours is more akin to the psychological themes of the original fairy tales. The facts --The show: ``The 10th Kingdom.'' --What: A 10-hour, five-night miniseries about a New York City waitress and her father who are drawn into another world where fairy tales are real. --Starring: Kimberly Williams, Scott Cohen, John Larroquette, Dianne Wiest, Ed O'Neill, Rutger Hauer, Daniel Lapaine, Camryn Manheim and Ann-Margret. --Where: NBC (Channel 4). --When: Part 1: 9 tonight; Part 2: 8 p.m. Monday; Part 3: 8 p.m. Wednesday; Part 4: 9 p.m. Sunday; Part 5: 8 p.m. March 6. --Our rating: Two and one half stars. |
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