"The Pastor's Wife" (8 tonight, Lifetime) is a good old-fashioned Lifetime movie -- a woman in peril, a crime, tears, a trial. The good stuff!

And it's based on a true story too. In 2006, in small-town Tennessee, timid Mary Winkler killed her husband, a popular local minister, with a shotgun. It seemed impossible; the couple, who had three children, seemed the perfect happy family. But later, during the trial, Mary says Matthew was an abusive tyrant.

The structure of the story helps make it interesting; it starts with the body and has town residents speak to the camera, documentary style. We see one version of the family's life that shows a strict, but loving Matthew and a couple with severe financial problems. Later, those same scenes are revisited, adding Mary's revelation; that her husband smacked her around and forced her to dress up like a hooker for freaky sex.

With one script, NC native Kevin Williamson changed a film genre, revived a veteran director's career and made himself a Hollywood player.

It was the script for the blockbuster film "Scream," and "Scream: The Inside Story" (Bio, 8 tonight) is a lively and fun look at the making and impact of the 1996 film that spawned three sequels ("Scream 4" comes out this month).