The Big Time (2002) (TV)

Director:

Paris Barclay

Writers:

Carol Flint (writer)
Thornton Wilder (play)

Release Date:

20 October 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It was the beginning of television. And they put it all on the line to get it on the air.

Plot:

In 1948 Manhattan, a diverse group of people are committed to making the fledgling Empire Network a success...

Plot Keywords:

Early Television | Based On Play

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Dylan Baker	...	The Colonel
Molly Ringwald	...	Marion Powers
Christopher Lloyd	...	Doc Powers
Christina Hendricks	...	Audrey Drummond
Shane Johnson	...	Timothy Wilkison (as Shane Mikael Johnson)
Michael B. Silver	...	Walt Kaplan
Sharif Atkins	...	Joe Royal
John de Lancie	...	Vaughn Clay
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eydie Alyson	...	Ibsen Script Girl
Gabby Anderman	...	Another Miss Eve
Dwayne L. Barnes	...	Stuff
Ronald Bruner	...	Skins
John Byner	...	Ed Wynn
Lizette Carrion
Thomas Daniel	...	Businessman
Lisa Darr
Joseph J. Dawson	...	Dr. Frank Gibbs ('Our Town' cast member)
Heather Donahue
Jake Fritz	...	Fenton Spelman
Phil Gardiner	...	New York Stock Broker
Pete Gardner	...	Announcer
Marc Goldsmith	...	Engineer
Dylan Haggerty	...	Technical Director
Pat Healy	...	Burlingame
Elaine Hendrix	...	Fleur Soap Announcer
Gildart Jackson	...	Clive
Timothy Joliat	...	Businessman (featured)
Devon Michael Jones	...	Engineer
Katrina Kitsis	...	School Teacher
Steven Koller	...	Larry
Joel Leder	...	Scott
Jane Lynch	...	Miss Rush
Katie Maguire	...	Business Women
Dakin Matthews
Victor McCay	...	Ibsen Director
David O'Donnell	...	George
Robyn Pedretti	...	Potential Miss Eve
Mario Piccirillo	...	Lobby Attendant
Eric Rutherford	...	Paramedic
Angela Shelton	...	Gladys
Nicolas Surovy	...	Mr. Spelman
Austin Tichenor	...	Tesman
John Vickery
Larry Vigus	...	Old Gold Executive
Doug Wax	...	Vaughn Clay's Assistant
Mary Kay Wulf	...	Mrs. Gibbs
Susan Yeagley	...	Miss Eve #1 (Nelle) (as Susan Yeagly)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

John Wells Productions

Trivia:

Originally made as a pilot for a TV Series, but was never commissioned.

Hopefully more to come

Wow, what a surprise. This short made-for-tv TNT original movie was more entertaining than 95% of new material on television today.

The sense the film gives is that it is part of a series of films or tv series, with this particular "episode" being a middle one. Unfortunately, this is just one movie, and viewers are left with the desire for more elaboration on the wonderful characters. The highpoint, out of many to choose, is the character development. To me, the seven or eight important characters are portrayed more interestingly than the casts of "ER" and "NYPD Blue" put together. In the films short duration (2 hours minus time for tv commercials) it covers everything from power struggles in early television studios to morality and ethnicity codes.

The film takes place in New York City in 1948, and America is fresh out of a war. Women have been removed from the factories and must seek gainful employment in a fast and changing economy and social structure where women and minorities are starting to be excepted. The main character, Audrey, is a young woman moving to the big city and gets caught up in the whirlwind of a struggling live television studio, Empire. The swarm of actors, salesmen, producers, sponsors, and other various contributors to early television help paint a picture of early post-war American popular culture.

Look for a blond Molly Ringwald as a golddigger, and Christopher Lloyd playing a terminally ill president of a young tv studio. (His character is named "Doc", no relation or correlation to "Back to the Future").