OUT ON A LIMB {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)

Summary

The first part of this two-part miniseries detailing actress Shirley MacLaine’s experiences with fringe spirituality and paranormal phenomena, based on her book of the same name. Following the opening night of her show at the London Palladium, actress Shirley MacLaine meets with young British socialist politician Gerry Stamford backstage. The two are instantly attracted to one another, but she does not see him again during her European tour. Eventually she returns to New York and has lunch with politician Bella Abzug. The two of them have a discussion where Shirley questions the purpose of existence, and notes that she feels as though something is missing in her life. Gerry calls her, explaining that he’s in New York for a conference, and asks her out to dinner. She agrees, but then he hangs up abruptly. That evening he meets with her at her apartment as they prepare to go out, and he talks to her about the poverty plaguing many countries of the world. Over dinner Gerry discusses his background growing up in a poor suburb of Manchester. Shirley asks why he asked her out and he notes that she “seems to be a happy person.” After dinner Gerry mentions that he is married and has two teenage daughters; Shirley is surprised to learn that Gerry’s wife is a staunch Marxist, seemingly in conflict with his own political views. Back at her apartment, the two of them kiss, and Shirley notes that she feels comfortable and “familiar” around him. Gerry ends up spending the night with Shirley, and they make arrangements to see each other again sometime, either in London or Paris. Soon after he leaves her agent sends her to London to shoot a part for a film, and she quickly meets with Gerry again at her friend’s apartment. Gerry cannot spend the night with her, however, much to her disappointment. They plan to meet again in Paris soon, although they both realize that they are starting some type of long-term affair. In Paris they have dinner together at a restaurant but are spotted by a group of English journalists, and they try not to act suspiciously around them. Gerry tells Shirley that they should take their relationship more slowly, and that he needs to deal with the journalists but will meet her the following day at a small hotel in the French countryside. They do so, and have an extended romantic stay over the weekend before Gerry has to abruptly return to London. Back in New York, Shirley and Abzug visit an art gallery together, where they meet David Manning, a painter in the midst of a travel spree around the world. The following week she returns to London and meets with Gerry again to celebrate his birthday with him, and gives him a painting she discussed with David as a present. The next day, Gerry arrives unexpectedly, informing Shirley that his family is beginning to get suspicious that he may be having an affair. Both of them are frustrated at the secrecy they must employ to carry on their relationship. Shirley continues to go on tour with her live show and visits Gerry in between shows. She attends the House of Commons while Gerry gives an incendiary speech about a looming housing market crisis. They have dinner together that night and talk about his speech; she feels that it’s counter-intuitive to be combative with the people he requires cooperation from, but Gerry is enraged at what he feels is hypocrisy and egoism on their part. She points out that someone else in the House could easily look up his phone records and discover all his calls to her, paid for by government time. She accuses him of maintaining a dichotomy between his personal and political beliefs, but he denies this. They argue about the nature of their relationship and he leaves after accusing her of being “stuck” in their relationship and being unable to deal with the fact that he is married. She returns to her apartment in London later to find Gerry waiting for her, and she tells him that she is leaving for California the following day. Once back in the United States she tries to call his office but finds out he is out of the country for two weeks. She begins to have trouble concentrating on her stage show, and her agent Mort secures for her the leading role in the film “The Turning Point.” Shirley runs into David again, who invites her over to see his artwork and asks her out to dinner. He shows her a series of photographs he took from his recent trip to Peru, and their discussion soon turns to a spiritual bent, which fascinates Shirley. Shirley doesn’t hear from Gerry, but David arrives again at her home in Malibu, and they spend more time together. David keeps saying axioms such as “there are no accidents,” and reveals that they met ten years beforehand when he brought her a necklace on behalf of a Maasai chieftain whom he met while on a photographic safari in Africa. They end up spending the day together, talking about Shirley’s concerns about the purpose and nature of existence. David leaves her with a number of enigmatic thoughts, hinting about concepts like reincarnation and past lives. The next day she meets David at a small bookstore in town, where David gives her recommended reading on the subject of reincarnation. Soon Shirley becomes fascinated with metaphysics and she reads a great deal about the subject. After digesting books about the supposed eternal reoccurrence of the soul, Shirley wonders whether she and Gerry knew each other in some previous lifetime. Gerry finally calls her, and they try to arrange to meet in Hong Kong in about two months’ time. Once there, Shirley tries to broach the subject of her recent metaphysical studies to Gerry, but he dismisses the notion of reincarnation, believing that people need to focus on the here and now and not worry about previous or future lifetimes. While in a bookstore in Hong Kong, Shirley learns about the process of “channeling” whereby mediums supposedly serve as vessels for the spirits of the deceased. She has a discussion about psychic studies with the elderly English owner of the store, and she recommends Shirley contact the Society for Psychical Research in England. Shirley and Gerry arrange to meet in Hawaii during a break in her tour. She talks to Abzug again, wishing her luck on her senatorial campaign. She and Gerry eventually meet up and spend time together on the beach. She again brings up the subject of reincarnation with him, expressing her belief that they knew each other in a past life. She notes that she is beginning to understand a more complete view of spirituality and the possibility of god, but Gerry tearfully reveals that he is an atheist. He confesses that he loves her and she reciprocates; neither of them had admitted it previously. Back in New York, Shirley comforts Abzul after she narrowly loses her senatorial election. They discuss her relationship with Gerry, and the supposed past life connection. Abzul dismisses Shirley’s claims and notes that something has to change if her relationship with Gerry is to continue. Shirley returns to California and reconnects with David. They continue to talk about reincarnation and its religious and social connotations, including the reasons why reincarnation is not included in the Bible. David encourages Shirley to embrace the divinity which supposedly exists inside her and in all people. One of Shirley’s friends recommends that she speak to trance channelers in order to befriend the spirits of the dead, particularly one named Sture Johanssen in Sweden. She gets her opportunity to see him when Gerry asks her to meet him in Stockholm the following week. She suspects that Gerry might intend to propose to her. She arrives in Stockholm and makes arrangements to meet with Johanssen before seeing Gerry. He admits that while he is deeply in love with her, he is afraid that knowledge of their affair could severely impact his political career and is concerned about what might happen to his family as well. Shirley advises him to put more faith and love into himself so that he can deal with the various commitments in his life. They discuss the matter but do not arrive at a permanent solution. Gerry leaves for a conference for a time, leaving Shirley free to visit Johanssen in a small village an hour outside of Stockholm. Supposedly he is to channel an ancient spirit residing in another dimension, and Shirley is curious to hear his wisdom. She assembles with a group as Johanssen exhibits odd behavior, seemingly channeling the spirit. The group asks questions of both personal and spiritual natures of the spirit, and is entranced by his answers. Shirley briefly meets with Gerry, who says that his wife has arrived from London and he’ll be unable to see her for a time. She falls into a depression and obsessively writes down all of her feelings about recent events while Gerry is gone, growing particularly concerned about whether or not they are playing out “roles” already decided by previous incarnations of themselves. When she sees him again she again brings up this subject to Gerry and talks about trance channeling, which Gerry dismisses as nonsense. Shirley disagrees, claiming that she wants to gain a better understanding of god and the afterlife; Gerry claims that he is more interested in “real problems” and that the spiritual world has no bearing on his life. He notices her writings and strongly advises against publishing any of her experiences with spiritualism, believing that people will think that she is insane. He notes that he is not prepared to “go out on a limb” in order to seek out some greater truth about the world and leaves. In California Shirley does some contemplation and finds out about another trance channeler, Kevin Ryerson, who lives around the local area. Shirley arranges to conduct a private session with him at her house and he arrives, discussing how he first got into channeling. He begins his session with her and seemingly channels a spirit identifying himself as “John,” and communicates with Shirley. She is taken aback when it appears that the spirit knows things about her that it could not be aware of, and another spirit speaks as well, this one of Irish descent. She is further impressed when, while blindfolded, Kevin, possessed by the spirit, discovers her mini-bar hidden behind a false bookshelf. The spirit also appears to be aware of her conversations with Gerry, repeating his phrase about going “out on a limb.” “John” manifests again and answers Shirley’s questions about her past lives, and it claims that Shirley and Gerry were married in a past life hundreds of thousands of years ago in Atlantis, and that their marriage was strained because Gerry’s past incarnation was busy with diplomatic negotiations with space aliens. Furthermore, he claims that aliens still reside among humanity and that she should speak to David for more information. Kevin returns to normal, and Shirley talks to him about his feelings about being a medium before he leaves. She is perplexed by this encounter and is left with still more questions. Following the advice relayed to her by Kevin, she visits David and notices his paintings of UFOs, which he claims are regularly sighted in the Andes Mountains. Abzug speaks with Shirley and doubts the veracity of her session with Kevin, especially after the mentions of Atlantis and extraterrestrials; Shirley believes that world leaders are part of some conspiracy to cover up the existence of aliens. David calls Shirley and invites her to come to Peru with him to look for UFOs. Includes commercials. Includes an ABC News Sports Update with Dan Lovett and an ABC News Brief with Tom Jarriel.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: January 18, 1987 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 2:51:24
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:09307
• GENRE: Drama
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV miniseries, 1987
• COMMERCIALS:
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  • TV – Promos – “ABC News World News Tonight”
  • TV – Promos – “Amerika”
  • TV – Promos – “Good Morning America”
  • TV – Promos – “Growing Pains”
  • TV – Promos – “Head of the Class”
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  • TV – Promos – “MacGyver”
  • TV – Promos – “Moonlighting”
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CREDITS

• Stan Margulies … Producer
• Colin Higgins … Co-Producer, Writer
• Robert Butler … Director
• Shirley MacLaine … Writer, Based on the book by
• Lalo Schifrin … Music by
• Shirley MacLaine … Cast, Herself
• Charles Dance … Cast, Gerry Stamford
• John Heard … Cast, David Manning
• Anne Jackson … Cast, Bella Abzug
• Jerry Orbach … Cast, Mort Viner
• Kevin Ryerson … Cast, Himself
• Sture Johanssen … Cast, Himself
• Kathryn Skatula … Cast, Katerina
• Fabia Drake … Cast, Bookshop Owner
• Shirley de Burgh … Cast, Lady Carlton
• Anki Leden … Cast, Birgitta
• Stefan Ekman … Cast, Lars
• Neil Hunt … Cast, Journalist
• Elizabet Bolme … Cast, Turid Johanssen
• Eric Helland … Cast, Gallery Owner
• Peter Fonfield … Cast, Grocer
• Alison Evans … Cast, Secretary
• For "ABC News Sports Update"
• Dan Lovett … Anchor
• For "ABC News Brief"
• Tom Jarriel … Anchor