Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET
MOVIE PREMIERE: This movie version of the Broadway musical is directed by Ryan Murphy, who parlayed his success with Fox’s Glee and such FX anthology series as American Horror Story, into a mega-money production deal with Netflix. This is his latest effort, and has him returning to his Glee roots: The Prom revolves emotional angst at a high school, is filled with music and makes room for adults, like Jane Lynch in Glee, who get to overact with playful cartoon abandon. In this movie version of the musical, Broadway stars who no longer are as luminous as they once were, but are oblivious to that new reality, descend upon an Indiana town and high school to champion a lesbian student who has encountered resistance to taking her girlfriend to the prom. The stars cast by Murphy have played self-obsessed types before: Meryl Streep in everything from The Devil Wears Prada to The She-Devil, and James Corden in every “Crosswalk the Musical” presentation he’s “directed” on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington, and Keegan-Michael Key co-star, so there’s plenty of talent on hand. The music and lyrics are by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, respectively, and Jo Ellen Pellman plays the teen at the center of the story – and the local Indiana controversy.
Amazon Prime Video, 3:00 a.m. ET
MOVIE PREMIERE: In this new Amazon movie, Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel tackles another period piece and emergent feminist role, but with a difference. Instead of a young woman in the late 1950s and early 1960s trying to find her place and voice as both a stand-up comic and a woman, as in Mrs. Maisel, the new I’m Your Woman places her character of Jean in the 1970s – and married to the mob. She’s disconnected, at least at first, from her husband’s illegal activities, and before long, she’s disconnected from him as well, when she and her baby have to go on the run to avoid bloody reprisal from some of her husband’s enemies. It’s not even technically her baby, which is one of the issues I’m Your Woman addresses as Jean, blonde and formerly pampered and with a baby carriage in tow, hits the road in a low-profile survival tour.
Movies On Demand, 3:00 a.m. ET
MOVIE PREMIERE: Drew Barrymore stars in this new comedy film in not one role, but two. One is Candy, a Hollywood actress on hard times; the other is Paula, a much sweeter lookalike who serves as her cinematic stand-in. Paula’s job vanishes when Candy implodes on the set, and is forced eventually into court-mandated rehab – but there’s a clever twist in this Prince and the Pauper variant. Instead of having Paula replace Candy on the set and on film, Paula is hired by Candy to replace her at the rehab facility, and serve her time. The events after that may not be as clever as the premise, and the script may not be as sweetly charming as Barrymore (or, in this case, even more Barrymore) – but as a Friday night shut-in option, The Stand In is a passable possible entertainment option. Co-stars include Ellie Kemper, Holland Taylor and, also from The Prom, Andrew Rannells.
USA, 8:00 p.m. ET
This 1948 Frank Capra film used to be everywhere on TV during the holiday season, for a reason that had more to do with Scrooge-like greed than Santa-like good will. The copyright to It’s a Wonderful Life had lapsed, so every local station or broadcast or cable network in the country could show it for free, and make 100 percent profit for every commercial it crammed into its telecast. Then Universal, the parent company of NBC, re-established and secured the rights, and for years now has doled it out exclusively, and sparingly. Before Christmas, it’ll show up on NBC itself, and tonight, It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, gets a special showing on another Universal network, specifically USA. That’s the good news. The bad news? USA traditionally crams its programs full of absurd amounts of advertising – so watching it here, tonight, is likely to evoke a different type of nostalgia or déjà vu, for the days when local stations would show the film doing the exact same thing… and every time you hear a bell ring, someone at Universal is making money…
