TCM, 6:00 a.m. ET
For the first time, TCM is giving its all-day treatment to Ann-Margret, a salute that begins early in the day, and continues until tomorrow morning. The best quartet of movies begins in prime time, starting at 8 p.m. ET with 1963’s Bye Bye Birdie – if you were a fervent Mad Men fan, doubtlessly you remember the episode in which the opening of Birdie, with Ann-Margret’s effusive young sex appeal, sparked a particularly vibrant ad campaign. Other films shown tonight include 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid (in which Steve McQueen plays a gambler jockeying his way into a major card game) at 10 ET, and 1975’s Tommy, at midnight ET, in which Ann-Margret plays Tommy’s mother in a movie version of The Who’s rock opera. She has an over-the-top scene, even for director Ken Russell, in which the products on the TV ads she’s watching burst through her set, almost drowning her in soap suds and baked beans (pictured). And at 2 a.m. ET, TCM presents perhaps her most serious and impressive film role, co-starring opposite Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel in the 1971 Mike Nichols film about the sexual revolution of the Sixties, Carnal Knowledge.
TNT, 2:00 p.m. ET
Jordan Spieth won the first two major golf championships of 2015, the Masters and the U.S. Open, yet came one shot short of a playoff bid at the British Open – a “failure” that he says is fueling him as he takes to the course today at the PGA Championship, played this year at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Spieth is ranked No. 2 in the world, but another young golfer, Rory McIlroy, remains ranked No. 1. And Tiger Woods? At this point in his career, the question is whether he can put together two rounds solid enough to make the cut for the weekend.
CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET
MINISERIES FINALE: This CNN documentary series concludes with a look at music, and its changes and effects, in the 1970s. There’s an awful lot happening in those last pre-MTV years, from Elton John (pictured) and James Taylor to Wings and Fleetwood Mac.
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
In tonight’s episode, Griffin Dunne has a witty guest star turn as a therapist to whom Johnny Rock (Denis Leary) and his band visit for the rock-band version of “couples counseling.” Hey, it worked for the Smothers Brothers…
IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET
SEASON FINALE: In tonight’s last episode of the season, the TV version of Marc Maron is ready to shoot his TV pilot (remember when Seinfeld did a story line about Jerry selling his series idea to NBC?). And while Maron ended up on IFC smoothly, and has done some very good things, his TV-universe counterpart has a rockier time of it, as his opening guest drops out.
Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET
SEASON FINALE: This season, again, has only six episodes, but that’s more than enough to immerse us into the world of these characters – and make you feel their emotions. Aden Young’s Daniel Holden has had as tough a time outside of prison as when he was an inmate, and Rectify proves, if nothing else, that the past is something impossible to escape, much less forget.