Weekend
Picks for Saturday and Sunday follow Friday’s picks. Scroll down. You can’t miss ‘em.
On a very special Night Court (A&E, 11am), Mel Torme guest stars as Harry’s guardian angel, showing him what the world would be like if he weren’t a judge, in “Hey Harry,… For Cryin’ Out Loud, It’s a Wonderful Life.”
If that gets you in the mood for some more of the Velvet Fog (er, that would be Mel Torme), he’s in 1947’s Good News (TCM, 1pm), a rollicking collegiate musical with June Allyson and Peter Lawford.
Cry Baby (Showtime, 5:30pm) is my favorite John Waters movie ever. For that matter, I think it’s my favorite Johnny Depp movie, too. And it’s got Rachel Sweet singing Amy Locane’s voice. Boy, do you ever need to see this movie. It’s got hot-rods, and squares, and rumbles, and a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. And Iggy Pop, Patty Hearst, and Traci Lords. And Ricki Lake, but this is before she was a pop-culture gimmick.
If you’re in a market where they rerun Friends (syndicated, check your local listings), and I don’t see how you couldn’t be, the second episode today is the one in which Carol gives birth. I mention it because I think Chandler’s particularly amusing in this one. “Let’s go get some coffee.” “Oh, okay. Because we never do that.” Pure comedy. Also, the ending is actually pretty touching.
The second season of Babylon 5 (Sci-Fi, 6pm) starts off with a bang! Or so I assume, because I haven’t seen it. If you watch it, we’ll be sharing the experience together. I thought that was going to sound sweet, but it’s actually kind of weirding me out now that I think of it.
The Lone Gunmen (Fox, 8pm) sounds like a serious episode as Byers and Jimmy pose as death row inmates to try to prove that a convicted murderer is innocent. It sounds good, and yet I fear there will be a wacky subplot where Langly throws up and Frohike falls down a lot.
Everyone who watches it tells me that Farscape (Sci-Fi, 8pm) is a great show. Tonight, the crew goes back in time and changes the course of history. Because it’s just not a science fiction show unless you do that a few times.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 9pm) is a rerun: “Closure, Part II”.
L.L. Cool J is on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm). I have no advance information, but I suspect he’ll be wearing a hat of some sort.
NBC’s late-night lineup has the power to entertain . . . and the power to destroy. The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm) has David Spade, and Late Night with Craig Kilborn (NBC, check your local listings) has Tom Green. I could see it going either way, but I’m leaning toward “horrifyingly unwatchable”.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company (PBS, check your local listings) presents the Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged). I saw a local production of this a few weeks ago, and it’s great. You can’t go wrong with jokes about Titus Andronicus. The Hamlet’s nice, too. Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that this isn’t on in all markets, but it is in some of them. So check your local listings extra hard.
The Beverly Hillbillies (TV Land, 5am Saturday – 5am Monday) move to TV Land and stay there all weekend long. Really. All. Weekend. Long. They call it a “marathon”, which I think understates the case. Hundreds of people run marathons every weekend, but no one’s going to make it through forty-eight straight hours of “Whee doggie!” No matter how much you like it.
Believe it or not, the XFL (NBC, 7pm) is still going on. The San Francisco Demons face the Orlando Rage. Poor NBC. Poor, poor NBC.
I don’t have the Food Network where I live, but I have faith that you’ll enjoy Good Eats (Food, 8am). It’s “The Egg Files II: Man with a Flan” again. I’m guessing on the “again” part.
Series Premiere!
Stunt School (TLC, 9pm) has students learning to sell a punch and fight underwater while wearing scuba gear.
Babylon 5: The Gathering (Sci-Fi, 9pm) is a prequel to the series. It’s got lots of spoilers for Babylon 5 itself, so people who haven’t seen four seasons of B5 aren’t advised to see it. And that’s me, so I haven’t seen it. So I advise you to follow your instincts. Go with yourself.
Blacula (AMC, 9pm). Oh, lord.
World Beat (CNN, 11pm) is a great show about music from around the world. Sometimes it’s about EuroPop and you’re stuck with sub-Vengaboys stuff, but it’s mostly a lot of fun.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, check your local listings) is new! And (if you happen to be in the right area), it’s live! Renee Zellweger continues the Bridget Jones Diary full-court press by hosting. Eve is the musical guest. Not “Eve 6″, but “Eve”. I was going to make a joke about Eves 2 through 5, but I shall demur. I’m sure you can write one yourself if you really want one.
Beastmaster (syndicated, check your local listings) faces a personal challenge when Dar loses his ability to talk and throws the world out of balance. Wait. “Beastmaster”? Since when is this a show?
Black Scorpion (Sci-Fi, 11pm) and the Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (Sci-Fi, 12 am) are both new episodes.
I feel sorry for this episode of Beverly Hillbillies (Nickelodeon, 2am), in which Cousin Pearl gets a glamour treatment. I’m just guessing, but anyone awake at this time who wants to see the Beverly Hillbillies will probably be watching TV Land, whose Hillbillies marathon is still going on.
If you’re like me, you’re sad when you miss Sports Night on Thursday. And it’s for people like us that there’s Sunday showings at 11am on Comedy Central. Again, it’s “Kyle Whitaker’s got Two Sacks” and “The Reunion”. Incidentally, there’s a cd out of W.G. Snuffy Walden’s music, and it’s got the Sports Night theme song. If you play it at work and repeat everything people say to you, you can play Sports Night: the Home Game! Whee!
Kenan & Kel (Nickelodeon, 5pm) is a funny show. You might have seen Kel as Invisible Boy in Mystery Men, and you almost certainly didn’t see Good Burger. But it was funny.
The Princess Bride (HBO, 4:30pm) is great. You probably know that already. But it is.
Essentials: The Producers (TCM, 5pm). They’re not kidding when they call this series “The Essentials”, you know. Mel Brooks directed this movie, and it stars Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Rob Reiner introduces it.
Futurama (Fox, 6pm) goes to war against bouncy balls. I’m surprised by some of the entendres that made it onto the air.
The Oblongs (WB, 7pm) is a peculiar little animated show that no one I know has actually watched. But I’ve read the cartoons it’s ort of based on, so I can tell you that it’s weird. And the father has no arms or legs.
The Simpsons (Fox, 7pm) is the crayon-stuck-in-Homer’s brain episode. The second episode (Fox, 8pm) has Bart meeting a girl (Drew Barrymore) who claims to be Krusty’s illegitimate daughter. Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony the mobster shows up, too.
No new X-Files (Fox, not at all).
Junkyard Wars (TLC, 6pm) mini-marathon! Whoo! “Mileage Marathon”, “Off-Road Vehicles”, “Hovercraft” (in which someone uses a chainsaw to carve a propeller!), “Sky Rockets”,
The Sopranos (HBO, 8pm) has more of Ralphie acting up, and Johnny Sack has to intervene. And to the surprise of no one, Meadow and Jackie, Jr. look like they’re getting together.
