A real homicide investigation in Baltimore and a visit to the set of NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" are among the features in "Behind the Badge," a scattershot documentary premiering tonight on the Learning Channel. Dennis Franz of "NYPD Blue" is host.
In Part One, "On the Case," which airs from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., City of Baltimore Police Detectives Lynette Nevins and Mike Hammell investigate the shooting of a 19-year-old man in an alley on the city's east side. The problem with the show, though, is that just as you start to get interested in the case, the scene shifts to California and the efforts of a police officer in Orange County to solve another case there. And, then, in the strangest scene shift yet, we are in Britain with a top-secret crime squad that's trying to nail a known drug smuggler. I'm not sure what the connection is, except law enforcement in a very broad sense of the term.
Part Two, "Lives on the Line," from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., visits the set of "Homicide" among other stops, but the interviews were filmed last year, and they are not especially interesting to begin with. "Behind the Badge" is a bit behind the times in its reporting and way too jump-about in its storytelling for me.
-- David Zurawik
At a glance
"The Road to Fame" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- This show features before-they-were-stars footage of Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and others. Fox.
"John Sandford's Mind Prey" (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- "ER's" Eriq La Salle stars in his first TV movie as a self-assured detective playing mind games with a sociopath (Titus Welliver) who kidnapped a woman (Sheila Kelley) and her two daughters. The thriller is based on a book by Sandford. ABC.
"The American Experience" (9 p.m.-10 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67) -- A hero at age 25 for his solo flight across the Atlantic, Charles A. Lindbergh never had the chance to live happily ever after. Among other things, this program looks at some of the low points that followed the 1927 flight. Repeat. PBS.
"L.A. Doctors" (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- How's this for cross-promotion? Sammo Hung ("Martial Law") appears as himself, playing an injured martial arts actor. Meanwhile, Roger treats a former patient on death row, and Evan reluctantly removes his son from the care of Sarah's father. CBS.
At a glance
"In Search of History" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., repeats midnight-1 a.m., History) -- "The Wild Bunch Week" starts with a look at those legendary bikers, the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. Tomorrow: Quantrill's Raiders, the out-of-control anti-Union gang of the Civil War era.
"Weddings of a Lifetime" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., Lifetime) -- Soap stars John Callahan and his wife, Eva La Rue Callahan, are hosts of this hourlong look at the nuptials of a lucky couple from Arizona.
"The Ultimate Guide" (9 p.m.-10 p.m., repeats midnight-1 a.m., Discovery) -- Which animal hatches from an egg, gallops like a horse and kills without remorse? That would be the crocodile, whose species is studied on this new documentary.
"Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" (10 p.m.-11 p.m., HBO) -- This new edition includes segments about the classic 1968 basketball game between Houston and UCLA, the economics of Major League Baseball, recruiting violations in the LSU basketball program, and colorful commentator Dick Vitale.
Pub Date: 3/22/99