Showbiz Commentary: Heidi Oringer

March 1 -- Believe it or not, in order for me to write a column, be it scathing (usually) or complimentary (rarely), I have to be inspired.

As I seldom find spirituality in entertainment, the motivation to write is often hard to find. It's easy to criticize and to get others to jump on the "fault" bandwagon. The true challenge is discovering a way to express unabashed praise for someone and have others follow suit, without it seeming like you're embarking on a career in cult leadership.

Rarely Do I Fawn

At first I considered scribbling a "Good Puffy/Bad Puffy" trial synopsis, including the eventual outcome, which I believe will be a free skate for Daddy. Then I thought, "I don't care." And if I don't care, I figure a lot of people don't care, so I decided against it. Also, the rapper/gun/posse thing makes me a bit weary.

For a while there, I actually felt columnless.

Then I stumbled upon two very wonderful television performances, one by Judy Davis and the other by Anne Heche.

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Rarely do I fawn over anyone who doesn't pay me to do so (just kidding). But after seeing these two women, in completely different shows with completely different roles, I was struck by the sheer power of great acting — and on TV to boot.

Ms. Davis brought big-screen grandeur to all 27 inches of my telly (a case where size does matter) in her dead-on portrayal of Judy Garland in the ABC-TV miniseries Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.

Before I lavish this actress with more accolades, the menacing me needs to get one thing straight. I am not bestowing praise upon the miniseries itself, which is based on the memoir by Garland's younger daughter, Lorna Luft. Although I wasn't present at the time (I was living my first life as Shirley MacLaine's goldfish), others were there, including Lorna's father, Sid Luft, who contends things didn't happen exactly as Lorna says they did. As with most memoirs, the writer tends to make herself look somewhat grandiose.

Lorna claims to be victim — a dedicated daughter, and the only one who stood by Garland through all the tumultuous times, including addiction and poverty.