TCM, 6:00 a.m. ET
Today’s “Summer Under the Stars” focus is Steve McQueen, and a lot of the offerings today are flat-out McQueen classics. These include the car-chase magnificence of 1968’s Bullitt at 4:15 p.m. ET, the high-stakes intensity of 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid at 6:15 p.m. ET, the daring true-life war exploits of 1963’s The Great Escape at 10 p.m. ET, and the epic persistence of McQueen’s cage-resistant prisoner in 1973’s Papillon (pictured) at 1 a.m. ET. Four excellent films. Four enchanting star performances… all by the same star. And for 24 straight hours on TCM, it’s McQueen for a day.
BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET
This is a double feature allowing a direct comparison of two fine films based on Roald Dahl’s fabulous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory novel. First, at 8 p.m. ET, is 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, in which Gene Wilder interprets the candy-factory boss as a man with a quietly sadistic, very sarcastic, yet very funny emotional undercurrent. Then comes 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which Johnny Depp plays Willy Wonka as a more childlike chocolate mogul. Both approaches, like both films, are valid and entertaining. I prefer Wilder, but, like most sweet treats, that’s strictly a matter of taste.
HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
This week’s socially distanced edition of Real Time includes two former Democratic presidential aspirants who stood on the debate stage earlier this year with Kamala Harris, selected this week by Joe Biden to join him on the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket. And in addition to Pete Buttigieg (pictured, with Harris) and Andrew Yang, Maher also talks to Georgia Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.