Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 201

Sunday, September 30, 1984 Old pro heart'sfring Garner, Moore light up dark tale of medicine American-Statesman tug at i Tolmicinn J1 iV tA -if I i i James Garner and Mary Tyler Moore bring warmth and light to a grim tale of medical mismanagement in Heartsounds, at 8 tonight on Channel 24. People willing to watch a 2Y2-hour movie about death will be pleasantly surprised; most will even be inspired. Tonight in Heartsounds (at 8, KVUE-TV, Channel 24, Cable 3), James Garner plays Dr. Harold Lear, and Mary Tyler Moore is his wife, Martha. Together they battle his illness, her fear and the callousness and condescension of the medical profession.

Based on the 1980 book by Martha Lear, Heartsounds has been lovingly produced by the doctor's show business cousin, Norman Lear. FOR THAT REASON, an inordinate amount care has gone, into the TV adaptation. The script is diligently faithful to the book, and the casting is superb. Garner and Moore are both moving out of semi-comedy acting. Moore, a sitcom star for years, earned an Oscar nomination for a straight dramatic role in Ordinary People.

Garner has maintained a light dramatic movie career during his lighter TV roles such as Maverick and Rock ford Files. Together they are lovable and heartbreaking. If they weren't so likable, it might be impossible to sit through the botched medical procedures, physical pain and the constant threat of death. What lifts Heartsounds above CBS's Anatomy of an Illness, another death-and-disease movie with Ed Asner as the ailing Norman Cousins, is that Garner and Moore light up the darkness with their warmth and wit HAL LEAR, a doctor specializing in sexual dysfunction, suffers two heart attacks, brain damage and'endures a constant battle with doctors who gave up on him years too soon. After his first heart attack, which is gruesomely and painfully depicted, Hal winds up in the hospital for the first time and is shocked by the way he's treated.

"When the doctor becomes the patient, his perceptions turn upside down," he tells Martha. Hal realizes that the patient is power- I I i iane Holloway less and often treated with incredible insensitivity. Martha, a feature writer for the New York Times, suddenly finds herself suffering with her husband while trying to keep an eye on his treatment Hal's condition is marked by confusing physical and emotional peaks and valleys, but he newr loses his will to live. Doctors are somewhat annoyed by his ability to hang on when he should be dying. ONE OF THE most difficult parts of the movie to watch is also the most powerful.

In what appears to be Hal's last trip to the hospital, he lies gasping and sweating with a 105-degree fever while the night staff bumbles around incompetently for eight hours. The real heart of Heartsounds is the love story of the remarkable couple. Without the funny and tender moments, it would have been awful. Terrified of another attack after Hal comes home, Martha spends an entire night watching him sleep. -She even puts a mirror under his nose to make sure he's breathing.

"What are you afraid of," cracks Hal, "crib death?" Despite their confusion, anger and fear, Hal and Martha cling to their love for each other. Cuddling his wife in his hospital bed, Hal becomes the strong protector. "Talk to me," he says quietly, "about my dying about your feelings, your fears." Moore's performance is powerful, but Garner's is a paranteed heartbreaker, even without the makeup that sometimes makes him look like a corpse. Heartsounds won't make you laugh and sing, but it will leave a lump in your throat and warm spot in your heart Soaps 72 Television logs Sunday 10 Monday 14 -Tuesday 18. Wednesday 22 Thursday 26 Friday 30 Saturday .34 Theater 40 I 1 backgrounds." The goal is to create a character people will really like.

Neither Fischer nor Lansbury is interested in making Jessica a wacky old lady in crazy hats. "YOU HAVE TO like her," said Lansbury. "She mustn't be a boob. She must be entertaining." "We don't want a bizarre character," agreed Fischer. "We want someone people will want in their homes each week" The series will get a big boost from having 60 Minutes as a weekly lead-in.

Scene of the Crime (tonight at 9, KTW-TV, Channel 36, Cable 4) is an houriong special, but NBC executives have ordered six new episodes to make it a fall replacement series. Orson Welles will be the permanent host "It's sort of-a solve-your-own mystery show," said NBC representative Frank Farrell. "Viewers are encouraged to participate." The program was planned as a half-hour pilot for June. Tonight's episode combines two half-hour episodes. In the first part Kim Hunter tries to solve the murder of a bride on her wedding day.

The second segment stars Anne Lockhart and Joshua Bryant in a chiller about a sadistic baby sitter who mentally tortures her 'charges. "Welles is like (Alfred Hitchcock) in the show," said Farrell. Angela Lansbury, left, and producer Peter Fischer, above, are teaming up to create a likable solver of mysteries. Murder She Wrote -premieres at 7 tonight on Channel 7. guests: Yes, just like Love Boatbut hopefully with more for them to do than parade across the screen in thick "makeup.

Executive producer Peter" Fischer has developed a way with mystery and detective shows over the years. He was the story editor on Columbo during its last few years and produced Owen Marshall, Kojak, Baretta, McMillan Wife, Delvecchio and Ellery Queen. "There will be four or five good pest roles each week," said Fischer after the clip was screened. "The Miss Marple mur der mysteries were the seed for this show, but we're adding gla- What's inside Angela Lansbury's Murder She Wrote premieres tonight (at 7, KTBC-TV, Channel 7, Cable 2). Although only a 10-minute clip was available for preview, the series could be a bright spot in an otherwise dull lineup on CBS this fall.

Lansbury is Jessica Fletcher, a teacher in Maine who writes mystery stories after her husband's death. She becomes a best-selling author and cracker-jack crime solver. Her method is reminiscent of Columbo's shucks-and-golly style. THE KEY TO the series is Lans bury, who is the star and only regu- lar character in a weekly cast that Arts 38 Art calendar 41 Celebrity questions 70 Film 4 Glad you asked 5 Nielsen ratings 6,7 On ACTV 64 On KLRNKLRU 62 On the shelf 52 Radio log 68 5 ft JLil-3 He comes on and talks about.