Made-for-TV Nutjob

I applaud Mr. Greg Angelo's perspicacious insights regarding the Jennifer Wilbanks-Judith Regan dinner-theater version of Faust, but I must admit to being a bit, well, underwhelmed with the notion of this made-for-TV runaway bride.


We can only assume that ReganMedia president and reigning bitch-goddess Judith Regan is still suffering from Bernie Kerik withdrawals when she says "I am looking forward to developing the scripted project with Wilbanks and [her fiance John] Mason. Theirs is an unexpected and compelling story of love and forgiveness that has certainly taught me a thing or two."

Now, we can certainly understand why the family of Mark "Deep Throat" Felt is maneuvering things so that grandpa is paying off like a Reno slot machine. That's a compelling story (Tom Hanks' production company has purchased the movie rights).

But does anyone really think that the Jennifer Wilbanks story cries out as compelling? Even by TV-movie standards, we're not certain of the dramatic potential. Girl meets boy. Girl gets engaged to boy. Girl screws over boy so that she can hop aboard a Greyhound and get her head straight in Las Vegas (!). Boy forgives girl and they go ahead and marry because boy knows he can hold this embarrassing fiasco over girl's head for the rest of their natural lives.

In Oklahoma, we call that marriage.