ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
Here’s a major guest star alert, matching a very clever performer to a very clever comedy series. Appearing this week is Ed Asner, who was equally brilliant as the newsroom boss of a Minneapolis TV station in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as the city editor of a Los Angeles newspaper on Lou Grant – playing the same character in both the sitcom and the drama series. Tonight, Asner is back in the newspaper business, and Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is his newest employee, the new paper boy. And somehow, Asner’s grizzled newsroom vet, dealing with young Brick, has reason to meet the parents – and, happily for us, share scenes with Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn.
HBO2, 8:00 p.m. ET
This 2011 two-part Martin Scorsese documentary on George Harrison is a superb piece of work, and is presented tonight by HBO2 in its entirety, as a convenient, ready-to-record double feature. For our TV WORTH WATCHING raves about this HBO biography of the former Beatle, see Eric Gould’s
Cold Light Reader column
HERE, and my own
Bianculli’s Blog review
HERE.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Karl Malden is the star of the month on TCM, so his movies are showcased Wednesday nights in March. But tonight, it might as well be Marlon Brando night, because the leadoff films feature not only Malden, but the best of Brando. First is this 1951 version of the Tennessee Williams play (pictured), co-starring Vivian Leigh and capturing one of the most influential acting jobs of the 20th century. Then, at 10:15 p.m. ET, comes 1954’s On the Waterfront, another seminal film and performance, with Brando as dock worker Terry Malloy, and Malden as Father Barry.
ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET
In an episode called “Send Out the Clowns,” Bobby Cannavale guest stars as Lewis, the estranged ex-partner clown of Eric Stonestreet’s Cameron, the Clown Formerly Known as Fizbo. They’re united at the funeral of Cameron’s clown mentor, which explains the unusually colorful cortege. What I want to know is, did they all pile out of the same tiny hearse?
Comedy Central, 10:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: The gang at South Park starts its 16th season tonight by going into the toilet. Again. But this time, it’s not a Mr. Hankey story. It’s an episode called “Reverse Cowgirl,” where a tragic bathroom accident results in police enforcement of mandatory seat belts on toilet seats. And you thought the cellphone driving laws were tough...