ABC MINI-SERIES: STEPHEN KING'S THE TOMMYKNOCKERS {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Part one of this two-part miniseries, based on the Stephen King horror novel of the same name, about a small town in Maine where residents fall under the power of an otherworldly object. The program, set in Haven Falls, Maine, begins in the town diner as Bryant and Marie Brown counsel their unruly children, Hilly and Davey. Later, Ev Hillman explains about the concept of magic to his grandson, Hilly, and presents him with a magic kit. Ev also tells him about Burning Woods, a haunted part of the nearby forest. Ev tells Hilly to never go there alone. Later, Sheriff Ruth Merrill gives some schoolchildren, including Davey, a tour of the police station, including her doll collection.
Ruth’s dolls scare Davey and she later asks them privately for the identity of the toy that frightened the boy. Meanwhile, Joe Paulson gets a call at the post office from his wife, deputy Becka Paulson, and explains that he will be home late that night. Afterward, he canoodles with the sexy new postmaster, Nancy Voss. Later, writer Roberta “Bobbi” Anderson stumbles on a buried object while walking her cataract-afflicted dog Petey in the woods. When looking for something to dig out the object, it emits a green glow that hits Petey. Meanwhile, Jim Gardner attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There, he details his drinking problems, a fear of reading his poetry for audiences, and his relationship with lover Bobbi. Soon, trooper Butch Duggan from nearby Derry drops by the police station and flirts with Ruth, though he makes no overt moves. That night, Hilly use a flashlight in his bedroom to read about Harry Houdini. Jim calls Bobbi and asks if she’s started her new novel.
The next day, Bobbi takes her dog to the vet, who agrees that the pooch’s faulty vision is indeed improving. Then, all the animals at the vet’s office begin freaking out. Meanwhile, Jim speaks at a poetry reading in front of a packed house to great acclaim. Back in Haven, Bobbi wonders why her dog’s vision is healing, and heads back into the woods to dig up the object that caused her to trip. As Bobbi touches the tip of the object, a green light appears, just as Hilly and his friend Barney stumble upon the scene. After the reading, Jim tries hard to stay sober, but harsh words from event organizer Patricia McCardle cause him to start drinking again. Meanwhile, Ruth prepares for her first date with Butch as Becka takes her to Pearl’s beauty parlor to get gussied up. At the same time, Bryant takes Ev to task for Hilly being in Burning Woods, then complains to Marie about a headache, wondering if something in the forest bit him when he retrieved his son. Soon, a drunken Jim gets into a fight at the event’s soiree before stumbling out a second-story window. Slipping into unconsciousness, Jim returns to a dream he had earlier about finding Bobbi in the woods in a trance.
Jim awakens from his drunken stupor after nightfall, wondering what he did this time, calling out for Bobbi. Salesman Jack Kimball picks Jim up on the road and gives him a lift. When Jack’s radio emits static, Jim explains how and why he has a steel plate in his head. That night, Davey wakes up Hilly, scared and claiming that there’s a monster in his closet. He fears it’s a tommyknocker, which he recalls from nursery rhymes. Hilly finds nothing when he investigates. Meanwhile, Ruth and Butch talk about their life choices while on their date. Then, she notices Joe and Nancy having a liaison across the street. The next morning, Joe tells Becka that he is going fishing, though he quickly meets Nancy for another libidinous rendezvous. At school, Hilly shows off some of his newly learned magic to his class. Hilly’s first trick is a rousing success but his second one blows up in the face of teacher Mr. Allison. Jack drives Jim back to the house he shares with Bobbi. There, she greets him with a kiss before telling him about her discovery. Jim notices that Bobbi is acting both loopy and euphoric. Bobbi leads Jim to the forest, where she discusses how her discovery seems to have cured Petey’s sight.
Jim is stunned to see how much of the large structure has been excavated by Bobbi. She encourages Jim to touch the device; when he does, he is stricken with head pain. Afterward, as Bobbi cares for Jim, he reveals that he fell off the wagon the previous night, angering her. Jim tries to apologize but admits that he didn’t even try to stay sober. He states that he hasn’t written “anything worth crap” in years. Bobbi admits that she will always love Jim and soon they are kissing passionately. Meanwhile, Joe and Nancy park in the woods for a drunken coupling. There, Joe sees the weird green light and soon Nancy’s eyes glaze over. By the next morning, Becka wonders why Joe didn’t wake her when he returned home the previous night. Meanwhile, Bobbi reveals to Jim that she fixed their broken water heater herself. Jim goes to the basement to investigate, where he again sees the green light. Bobbi claims a voice – emanating from the device outside – told her how to fix the heater. Bobbi feels the need to completely dig up the “miraculous” device in the forest.
At the same time, Nancy shows Joe an invention she made for sorting mail at the post office. Later, Bobbi and Jim go to the hardware store to buy more digging implements. There, they learn from store owner Mabel Noyes that there’s been a run on batteries in the town. Meanwhile, Becka wants “the truth” from Joe, wondering why he is so mean to her. Later, TV dating host Chuck Henry begins talking from the TV directly to Becka, discussing Joe’s infidelity and his affair with Nancy. Bobbi and Jim excavate more of the mysterious object, speculating on what it may be. Jim wonders if they should tell the authorities and Bobbi refuses. Bobbi goes to the post office to pick up some registered mail and begins hearing Nancy and Joe’s inner thoughts. Jim is incredulous that Bobbi could be reading minds. Hilly performs his latest magic show in front of a small crowd at his house, aided by the green light. Everything goes well until the finale: Using a trick he learned from the tommyknocker man, he makes Davey permanently disappear. Within the hour, Ruth comes to investigate but is unable to find Davey. She questions Hilly as to how he thought up the trick and he reveals that “the voices” told him what to do. Ruth gathers the townsfolk to go search for Davey. Ev asks Jim if he thinks Davey is truly lost, or has disappeared for good. In the woods, Ruth encounters Bobbi and Petey, who acts crazy.
Later, while sorting laundry, Becka finds lipstick all over Joe’s shirt. As Joe and Nancy make love in her apartment, Becka begins soldering some wires -- as directed by Chuck from the television screen. When Joe returns home, Becka yells at him before he is shocked to death while trying to turn off the TV. Becka is put in a straitjacket and thrown in an insane asylum. That night, Jim discovers that Bobbi has rigged up a “telepathic typewriter” which writes her novel as she sleeps, aided by the green light. By morning, Hilly hears Davey’s soft voice, claiming he is stuck with the tommyknockers. Hilly has no clue how to rescue his brother. Hilly subsequently faints and Ev rushes him to the hospital. After telling Bobbi that her new novel is the best thing she’s ever written, Jim says he’s receiving no inspiration, speculating that the plate in his head is impeding the object’s effects on him. He questions Bobbi on the feelings she is experiencing and she claims it is “an incredible high.” That night, at the 4th of July celebration, the many recent tragedies in town are addressed in Ruth’s speech to the crowd. Meanwhile, Hilly apologizes to Ev at the hospital for using a trick he learned from the tommyknocker man. As fireworks go off, a sickening green glow is cast on Haven’s residents, with the tommyknockers seemingly infecting the whole town. Includes commercials. Also includes an “ABC News Brief” with Sheilah Kast.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 9, 1993 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:31183
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1993
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Last Action Hero" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - "Lost in Yonkers" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - "Needful Things" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - "Super Mario Bros." motion picture
- TV - Commercials - AT&T calling plans
- TV - Commercials - Budweiser beers
- TV - Commercials - Burger King restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Continental Airlines
- TV - Commercials - Crystal Light soft drinks
- TV - Commercials - Dairy Farmers of California, Oregon and Washington for milk
- TV - Commercials - Dove chocolate
- TV - Commercials - Energizer batteries
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - French's mustard
- TV - Commercials - JC Penney stores
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal
- TV - Commercials - L'Oreal Casting hair color
- TV - Commercials - Lexus automobiles
- TV - Commercials - McDonald's restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Miller Lite beer
- TV - Commercials - Minute Maid orange juice
- TV - Commercials - Mr. Phipps pretzels
- TV - Commercials - Nabisco Honey Maid graham crackers
- TV - Commercials - Nissan automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Pontiac automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Quaker Toasted Almond cereal
- TV - Commercials - Saturn automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Slim-Fast crunch bars
- TV - Commercials - Social Security Administration/U.S. Department of Health and Human Service
- TV - Commercials - Sprint calling plans
- TV - Commercials - Uncle Ben's pasta dishes
- TV - Commercials - Wendy's restaurants
- TV - Commercials - WordPerfect software
- TV - Promos - "American Detective"
- TV - Promos - "Coach"
- TV - Promos - "FBI: The Untold Stories"
- TV - Promos - "Good Morning America"
- TV - Promos - "Home Improvement"
- TV - Promos - "More of the Best of the Hollywood Palace"
- TV - Promos - "Roseanne"
- TV - Promos - "The Barbara Walters Special: What Is This Thing Called Love?"
- TV - Promos - "The Wonder Years: The Final Episode"
- TV - Promos - "Wild Palms"
CREDITS
- Frank Konigsberg … Executive Producer
- Larry Sanitsky … Executive Producer
- Jayne Bieber … Producer
- Jane Scott … Producer
- Lawrence D. Cohen … Co-Producer, Writer
- Jenny Fulle … Visual Effects Producer
- John Power … Director
- Stephen King … Based on the novel by
- Christopher Franke … Music by
- Jimmy Smits … Cast, Jim "Gard" Gardner
- Marg Helgenberger … Cast, Roberta "Bobbi" Anderson
- John Ashton … Cast, Butch Duggan
- Allyce Beasley … Cast, Becka Paulson
- Robert Carradine … Cast, Bryant Brown
- Joanna Casssidy … Cast, Ruth Merrill
- Annie Corley … Cast, Marie Brown
- Cliff DeYoung … Cast, Joe Paulson
- Traci Lords … Cast, Nancy Voss
- E.G. Marshall … Cast, Ev Hillman
- Chuck Henry … Cast, Chaz Stewart
- Leon Woods … Cast, Hilly Brown
- Paul McIver … Cast, Davey Brown
- Yvonne Lawley … Cast, Mabel Noyes
- Bill Johnson … Cast, Elt Barber
- John Steemson … Cast, Barney Applegate
- Rick Leckinger … Cast, Jingles
- Peter Rowley … Cast, Benton Rhodes
- John Sumner … Cast, Mr. Arberg
- Elizabeth Hawthorne … Cast, Patricia McCardle
- Craig Parker … Cast, Student Bartender
- Kay Helgenberger … Cast, Pearl
- Jim McLarty … Cast, Dr. Etheridge
- Timothy Bartlett … Cast, Mr. Allison
- Larry Sanitsky … Cast, Neurologist
- Helen Medlyn … Cast, Neurologist #2
- Daniel Bieber … Cast, Boy at Vet
- Karyn Malchus … Cast, Tommyknocker
- Harry Houdini
- for "ABC News Brief"
- Sheilah Kast … Anchor