EARTH ANGEL (ABC-TVM 3/4/91)

In 1962, Angela (Cathy Podewell) is the most popular girl in high school, and she is dating Duke (Erik Estrada), the coolest guy in town.  She is also falling in love with Wayne (Mark Hamill), the biggest nerd in town – and a fool in love.  However, before her romantic crisis is resolved, an unfortunate car crash claims her life and she finds herself in purgatory.  The powers that be of the great beyond believe the young Angela girl hasn't yet earned her entrance into the pearly gates, so Angela’s guardian angel, Mr. Tatum (Roddy McDowall), sends her on a celestial mission back to earth almost 30 years later to act as a good-deed cupid for a group of teenagers.  The mission will earn her a place in heaven, but Angela doesn’t know what the mission is.  She returns home to find that 30 years have passed.  Wayne is still embittered over his lost teenage love and Duke is recently divorced and falling apart.  Judy (Cindy Williams), Angela’s former best friend, has a teenage daughter who is the only one in town that can see Angela’s Earth angel presence.  This apparition from the 60s has her work cut out for her as she tries to figure out her mission, aid her old friends and get acquainted with life in the modern world.  Alan Young, Andy Dick, Garrett Morris, Rainbow Harvest, Brian Krause and Dustin Nguyen co-star in this hilarious and heartwarming tale of redemption. (Color, 93 min)