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Scheduled to premiere on Saturday, October
25, 2008, on the Hallmark Channel, "Generation Gap"
is the fictional story of a rebellious teen who is sent for the
summer by his mother to live with his tough military grandfather,
who instills respect and discipline. The grandfather is played
by Ed Asner, who portrays a 3rd Armored Div. WWII veteran, "Bart
Cahill," a widower. Ralph Waite (of "The Waltons"
TV fame) plays Bart's WWII Spearhead buddy "Chick."
And "Kay," the owner of a local diner where Bart goes
for breakfast every morning, is played by Rue McClanahan (of
"The Golden Girls" TV fame).
The screenplay was written by Los Angeles-based
Sean King and Ray Starmann. And, yes, that's the same
Ray Starmann who was with the 3rd Armored Division as Asst. S-2
Officer (Intelligence), 4-7 Cavalry, in the late Cold War and
in the Gulf War. In an interview with 3AD.com, Starmann dodged
the issue of favoritism and maintained that any fair-minded writer
who competently researched for the film would have also chosen
the 3AD as the WWII connection.
The setting is in a small town, "Greensville,"
where Bart, Chick, Johnny (a Vietnam vet) and Mac (a Navy vet)
hang out at the local VFW and mentor the young kid "Dylan,"
played by Alex Black. In the course of the script, Bart speaks
of the 3AD in Normandy, the advance across France, and the Battle
of the Bulge. The liberation of the Nordhausen slave labor camp
is also mentioned, as is the 3AD's legendary commander, General
Rose. In several scenes, Dylan is shown wearing his grandfather's
field jacket with the 3AD patch.
The film should be available on DVD from Hallmark
and from Amazon.com sometime after the October airing. Check
back later on 3AD.com for DVD order information.
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