Getting Away from It All

I had a really hard time watching "Getting Away From It All" because although it was a made for TV movie, it came off more like a bad TV sitcom. All that was missing was the bad laugh track!

When the film begins, there's a blackout in New York and three friends (Gary Collins, Larry Hagman and who cares about the third) are talking about how they hate the city. Then, completely impulsively, the three decide to buy a tiny island off the Maine coast and live there. When the fourth (Barbara Feldon) comes home, she learns that her husband has made this choice and he's sticking with it--whether she comes along or not. Well, not wanting to give up on the marriage she agrees and soon the four are heading to a place they've never seen...a very rural, cold and lonely place.

The idea of making such a move could have worked. After all, "Green Acres" was a fun show and in 1983 there was a similar made for TV film "Packin' It In"--where a family wants to get away from it all and move to rural Oregon...only to discover that their neighbors are all crazy survivalists. But these two projects had something "Getting Away From it All" didn't--they were actually funny. Sadly, this film is just tedious and silly...and not in a good way. Watch it if you'd like...I found it about as pleasant as Pink Eye.