What about television?

In compiling my list of favorite performances in film history, I had to wrestle with whether or not to include television-I mean, performances in series would be inappropriate, as surefire placers like Calista Flockhart's Ally McBeal or Martin Sheen's President Bartlett had years to amass my devotion. However, tv movies were a different scenario.

The miniseries has not been my great friend through the year-possibly because I don't have the patience to sit six days in a row, watching a long-running narrative. However, there are several, including The Forstye Saga and The Temptations, that capture the best of a "real" film. Great performances are much more difficult to come by, in part because film has the beautiful stigmas of sitting alone in a dark, and also because I have seen many more of the great films than the great miniseries. Here, however, are the three performances that I would have considered, if not placed in the top 100:

Colleen Dewhurst (Anne of Green Gables)-This series is filled with lovely acting, ranking from the late Richard Farnsworth's Matthew to the whatever-happened-to-her wonder that is Megan Follows as Anne with an e. However, if I had to pick a favorite, it would of course be Colleen Dewhurst's stodgy Marilla Cuthbert. Can you imagine anyone else exuding such stern grace as a woman who wanted a boy, but was blessed with a girl? Her best scenes are telling off Mrs. Barry when she yells about Anne drinking the raspberry cordial (growing up, I always wanted to drink this magical cordial as well). I distinctly remember watching this for the first time as an adult (it played opposite the Super Bowl-guess which one I would pick?), and balling like a baby when she stated, "They knew we needed her." Such sorrows, all from one capable thespian.

Jennifer Ehle (Pride and Prejudice)-Going from a multiple Emmy winner to a Tony winner, you can't really tell how Jennifer Ehle could have possibly been made for the stage-I mean, I love her, and she's all there as an actress, but her brilliant symmetry just doesn't seem like it would work well in the louder, more on-the-spot world of the theater. Watching her as the divine Elizabeth Bennett is like watching a softly unfolding Keats poem. If there was ever an actress I've wondered more about, I can't think of one offhand-how could she not have a major film career with a performance this radiant? Aside from that film with Ralph Fiennes (Sunrise-which is high on my Netflix queue-Ralph and my Jennifer, I can hardly wait), there's nada. But no matter-even if she never creates anything else, she will live on in my memory as a stubborn, vibrant Elizabeth Bennett. Not handsome-it's a pity for Mr. Darcy that he couldn't realize her many excellent qualities at the beginning of the film. As for the audience, who received one of the best miniseries ever, we have no such complaints.

Robert Duvall (Lonesome Dove)-And, so you don't think I forgot the fellas, well, just look at Robert Duvall. For some he may be Bill Kilgore, to others Tom Hagen, and still more Mac Sledge. To me he'll always be Gus McCrae-that charismatic, romantic, hopelessly fascinating last warrior of the west. I don't like the Western as a general rule, and I may not like the miniseries all that much, but all that is cast aside in this masterpiece-I ADORE this movie, and Robert Duvall in the greatest performance, not just of his career, but of the entire eighties. If you haven't seen this miniseries, set aside the 384 recquisite minutes to fully appreciate this miracle at the end of a decade of yuppies and Rambo. The western may be dead-Lonesome Dove will live forever.