ROOMMATES (TV)
Summary
In this made-for-television movie, two men from different backgrounds and lifestyles, but both infected with AIDS, reluctantly forge a friendship when they are forced to become roommates at a hospice. Bill Thomas, a wealthy Harvard-educated homosexual, decides to move out of his parent's home and into an AIDS hospice where he finds himself sharing an apartment with Jim Flynn, a homophobic ex-con who became infected with AIDS through a blood transfusion. At first, the two men feel they cannot live together, but the hospice administrator, Lisa, insists that they try it for a while. Eventually, Bill meets the people in Jim's life, including his father, Barney, from whom he is estranged. Suffering from cancer himself, Barney is angry that ironically he may outlive his son. Meanwhile, Bill devotes himself to raising money to fight AIDS. At a fundraiser, a woman blames the gay lifestyle as the cause of the disease, but Jim walks in and tells his story. Although Jim helps to raise money, Bill is upset by his roommate's interference. Jim, hurt that Bill is unappreciative, storms off to a pool hall; meanwhile, Barney stops by and talks with Bill, expressing concern that Jim is drinking too much and getting headaches as a result. Bill checks on Jim at the pool hall and winds up making friends with his pool buddies after proving his skills with a cue stick. On the way home, Jim's head is bothering him, and the next day, Bill and Lisa take him to the hospital, where they learn he has small tumors growing on his brain. Lisa, who has been hiding Jim's pain pills, asks if he wants them, but he insists that she keep monitoring his usage. That night, Jim's head hurts so much that he rips the apartment apart looking for pills, disturbs the other members of the hospice, and goes to a local bar to get drunk. The next evening, Bill defends his roommate at a hospice meeting of irate neighbors. Later, Bill and Lisa plead with Jim to get radiation treatment, but storms out with Lisa's car keys and gets into an accident. Ultimately, Bill and Barney watch over Jim, who is in a coma, and when Jim awakens, he is pleased to see his father and his friend. But Bill, who has been fighting pneumocystic pneumonia, takes a turn for the worse and Jim finds that it is his turn to take care of Bill. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Blake Byrne.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: May 30, 1994 Monday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:33:35
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:34068
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: AIDS (Disease) - Drama; Gays - Drama; Homophobia - Drama; Hospice Care - Drama; Hospices (Terminal care) - Drama; LGBT Collection
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1994
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Michael Filerman … Executive Producer
- Tom Rowe … Producer
- Jack H. Degella … Co-Producer
- Alan Metzger … Director
- Robert W. Lenski … Writer
- Lee Holdridge … Music by
- Randy Quaid … Cast, Jim Flynn
- Eric Stoltz … Cast, Bill Thomas
- Elizabeth Pena … Cast, Lisa
- Charles Durning … Cast, Barney
- Frank Buxton … Cast, Mr. Thomas
- Jill Teed … Cast, Barbara Thomas
- Babz Chula … Cast, Norma
- Phil Hayes … Cast, Mickey
- Kenn Hooker … Cast, Eldon
- David Michael Mullins … Cast, David
- Michael Roberds … Cast, Millard
- Angela Gann … Cast, the I.C.U. Nurse
- La Plant, Pat … Cast, Mrs. Thomas
- Joe Maffei … Cast, the Deliveryman
- Celia-Louise Martin … Cast, the M.R.I. Technician
- Richard Sali … Cast, Phil
- John Scott … Cast, Logan
- G. Danovan Spence … Cast, Stuart
- Malcolm Stewart … Cast, the Surgeon
- Jerry Wasserman … Cast, the I.C.U. Doctor
- Janie Woods-Morris … Cast, the Club Woman