BWW 'Code Pink' DVR Alert: Lifetime's 'Living Proof' Airs Saturday Night

O.K. Gang! Get out the pink ribbons, grab a box of tissues and pull up a chair. I haven't done this much crying since the old days, when ABC used to air what we called "disease of the week" movies! Craig Zadan and Neil Meron really know how to throw a cast together ... and this television film is NO exception.

The network has framed it as a Lifetime Red Carpet Movie Event and it certainly delivers. It's always interesting to re-trace history and this true story will upset and satisfy you. The top-notch ensemble of actors, including a very welcome Trudie Styler and a too rarely seen John Benjamin Hickey, deliver in every way. Harry Connick, Jr. delivers the kind of performance we had yet to see in his acting career and Bernadette Peters will tear you apart. I'm not into "spoilers" ... so watch it or TIVO it. WELL-WORTH IT!

"Living Proof" premieres on the Lifetime Television network on Saturday night, October 18th at 9pm ET/PT during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month as the centerpiece of Lifetime's 14th annual multi-platform Stop Breast Cancer for Life public service and advocacy campaign. 

"Living Proof" is the true story of oncologist and researcher Dr. Dennis Slamon, the UCLA doctor who helped develop the breast cancer drug Herceptin, and his effort to keep the drug trials afloat. His inspiring journey shows the sacrifices he makes in his personal life and the obstacles that he faces to get the drug approved. Thousands of lives have been saved because of his dedication. (Based on Robert Bazell's book "Her-2.") Renée Zellweger, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, and screenwriter Vivienne Radkoff are the executive producers.

Theatre favorites like Bernadette Peters, Swoosie Kurtz, and Harry Connick, Jr. star in "Living Proof", alongside Angie Harmon, Amanda Bynes, Regina King, Jennifer Coolidge, Trudie Styler,Tammy Blanchard, John Benjamin Hickey and Paula Cale.

Bynes plays Slamon's student assistant. Harmon portrays Lilly Tartikoff, wife of former NBC entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff and the person responsible for raising money to continue Slamon's research. Blanchard is the first woman to receive Herceptin, while Kurtz plays her grandmother.

Peters plays the first woman in to be saved by Herceptin, while Styler and Coolidge play participants in the drug study. King plays a breast cancer survivor, and Hickey is a friend and fellow scientist to Slamon. Cale portrays Slamon's wife, Donna.

"Living Proof" continues Lifetime's quest to support their Stop Breast Cancer for Life campaign. Other original films that the network has made previously for this commitment include the 2007 movie "Matters of Life & Dating" starring Ricki Lake and the 2006 movie "Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy" starring Sarah Chalke, which was nominated for an Emmy(R) Award in the category of "Outstanding Made for Television Movie."

For more information on Living Proof, click here. 

Photos by Walter McBride