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September 3 - 9, 2023 • Terre Haute Tribune-Star • 9 Almost two decades after making her mark in "Ever- wood," Sarah Drew continues to enjoy and display a diverse and prolific career. The actress also has expanded into writing and pro- ducing – as she did with last holiday season's Lifetime movie "Reindeer Games Homecoming" – and her lat- est performing turn comes right in the heels of her last one. After making another Lifetime film titled "How She Caught a Killer," she plays the title role in the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries feature "Guiding Emi- ly" Friday, Sept. 8. The telecast helps to mark National Dog Service Month, for a reason that's quite clear in the story. Based on the same-named book by Barbara Hinske, the film's Emily is a successful career woman who ex- periences a major crisis when an accident robs her of her eyesight. Struggling to adjust to the situation, she gets a helper in a canine named Garth (whose thoughts are voiced by "Will & Grace" alum Eric McCormack), who is undergoing his own transition as he trains to become a guide dog … and the two of them grow and benefit from each other as their symbiotic relationship develops. Antonio Cupo ("Blood & Treasure") and Sharon Taylor ("Nancy Drew") also are in the cast. In a statement she released before the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike, Drew said, "Shooting 'Guiding Emily' was a deeply moving experience that allowed me to enter into the blind and partially sighted community in a very powerful way. We were honored to have two actresses from the community play roles in the film, and sitting with them both and hearing their stories was transformative for me and for our crew." "I was also honored to visit the Guide Dogs of America open house the weekend before we started shooting," Drew noted, "and was able to tour the fa- cility and learn all about the process for raising service dogs and the sacrifice puppy raisers make to train them for two years, and then send them off to a mem- ber of the blind and partially sighted community to partner with them." While she was a "Grey's Anatomy" regular as Dr. April Kepner across nine seasons (with a couple of re- turn appearances in the role), Drew has been featured in a couple of series since, "Cruel Summer" and "Am- ber Brown." She also has remained a steady TV pres- ence through her cable-movie work, which has seen her move frequently between Hallmark and Lifetime. Several of her other holiday tales – "Christmas Pen Pals," "Twinkle All the Way" and "Christmas in Vienna" – continue to get regular workouts, particu- larly when the aforementioned cable outlets go into a 24/7 mode of seasonal fare toward the end of the year. However, the often-shown "One Summer" and "Stolen by Their Father" confirm that she also stays open to dramas of other types … and "Guiding Emily" now supplies even more evidence of that. spotlight BY JAY BOBBIN Sarah Drew in "One Summer," another Hallmark movie Sarah Drew and a guide dog star in new Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film Ben Miller in "Professor T" Sunday on PBS Q: Will Mariska Hargitay direct more episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"? – Gary Muller, via e-mail A: It seems likely, since it's a job she clearly enjoys doing, She has directed eight episodes of her long-running NBC crime drama, two of which were in Season 17 … quite a task, since it's often enough for a star of a show to direct only one during a season, given how much else has to be done acting-wise. The real question for Hargitay now is time, since the actors' and writers' strikes probably will lead to a reduction of episodes ordered for the upcoming Season 25 by the time production on the series is able to resume. It takes quite a bit of advance preparation to direct a show, and since Hargitay also will need to focus on her role as Olivia Benson in other episodes, it would appear to be a matter of whether she feels she has enough time to get another directing job done to her satisfaction. celebritypipeline BY JAY BOBBIN Send questions of general interest via email to tvpipeline@gmail.com. Writers must include their names, cities and states. Personal replies cannot be sent.