CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood host for the fifth time – and Kenny Chesney is up for his fifth Entertainer of the Year Award. He’s scheduled to perform on this live show tonight, as are Kelly Clarkson, Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and many others.
AMC, 8:00 p.m. ET
Here’s another one of my “spider-web” movies, featuring a brilliantly funny and clever screenplay by William Goldman, adapting his own, equally clever book. Rob Reiner’s direction is flawless yet casual, and every performance in this 1987 comedy film adds something wonderful to the whole. This time, I think I’ll point out the smarmy perfection of Chris Sarandon as Prince Humperdinck – and, of course, the scene-stealing performance by Mandy Patinkin, now co-starring on Showtime’s Homeland, as Inigo Montoya.
TCM, 9:45 p.m. ET
This 1968 movie is not only one of Steve McQueen’s best screen performances, but it contains, to this day, perhaps the best car chase sequence ever filmed. But pay attention to the supporting actors, too: They include Robert Duvall, Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bissett.
NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET
Rockefeller Center, and Rock Center, is so close to the action caused by the devastation of the storm called Sandy in the city that tonight’s special should be worthwhile for both its proximity and its live, up-to-the-moment timeliness. The New Jersey shore was hit hard, but lower Manhattan and other New York sites were hit, and flooded, just as brutally.
Comedy Central, 11:00 p.m. ET
Both this show and The Colbert Report took off on Tuesday night, understandably, because of the disastrous effects of the Sandy storm. Both shows returned Wednesday night, though, with episodes that, while sometimes short on production values, were long on heart, conviction and, yes, humor. Stewart’s take on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and his elevation of emergency needs above politics, was unabashedly, and impressively, supportive. He supported government action above the board, praising mayors, governors, and all manner of city and private workers and early responders. And with a little more time for his staff to put together clips, I can’t wait for tonight’s show. Or, immediately afterward, for what Stephen Colbert will do and say on The Colbert Report at 11:30 p.m. ET. Stewart’s scheduled guest is Bob Woodruff, and Colbert’s is Al Simpson.