TV REVIEWS : On-Screen Drinking Gets Sobering Look

So, Hollywood agrees that films can influence behavior. Witness “Hollywood Gets MADD,” a Mothers Against Drunk Driving special (at 2:30 today on TBS cable) that explores the way the industry has changed its attitude in recent years toward drunk driving on film.

Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, two of many unpaid celebrities who appear on the half-hour program, screen clips from such movies as “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Animal House” to illustrate old, non-critical attitudes. Clips from “Postcards From the Edge” and “Distinguished Gentleman” indicate that designated drivers and the consequences of drunk driving are acceptable film fodder.

Other films, such as “Say Anything,” are given points for emphasizing that “friends don’t let friends drive drunk,” but are reprimanded for showing teen-agers drinking at all. Alcohol consumption for those under 21 “is illegal, end of story,” says Leeza Gibbons.

Don’t be surprised if this worthy public-service effort pops up more than once on your screen. It has a point to make, and the National Assn. of Broadcasters is helping by making the program available to every TV station in the country.