Decades, 12:00 p.m. ET
Here’s a show that hasn’t been televised or circulated hardly at all since its original run on CBS – though it ran for four years (1996-2000), and starred a then-unknown actor who would soon become a beloved TV star thanks to Friday Night Lights. Its star is Kyle Chandler, and the premise of Early Edition, in those mostly pre-Internet days, was that the main character, Chandler’s Gary Hobson, would pick up the daily newspaper delivered to his doorstep, and find it was full of the next day’s news. He therefore had 24 hours, armed with that advance knowledge, to either cash in on it or try and change the predicted timeline for the better. Because this was network TV, he went the more noble route… and today and tomorrow, Decades is showing as many episodes of Early Edition as it can make room for in a two-day marathon.
BET, 8:00 p.m. ET
In 1989, Spike Lee made an audacious and impressive splash as the director, writer and co-star of Do the Right Thing, his (literally) incendiary character study of racial tensions in Brooklyn. More than 30 years later, Do the Right Thing remains intensely and unfortunately relevant – right down to the choke hold. And what performances: Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee co-star, and future stars John Turturro and Giancarlo Esposito are here too, along with Danny Aiello.
HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET
Even with some Academy Award nominations to its credit, this movie didn’t make enough of a splash when it was released last year, but that just makes it even more of a treat during these stay-at-home pandemic weekends. (Which are different from the weekdays how, at this point?) Anyway, this is the dramatized story of Harriet Tubman, who went from being a slave herself to helping hundreds of other slaves make their way to freedom. And what a cast: In addition to Cynthia Erivo from HBO’s The Outsider in the title role, you also have, as co-stars, Janelle Monáe from Moonlight and Clarke Peters from HBO’s The Wire. Erivo was nominated for Oscars for her supporting actress work and as co-composer of one of the film’s songs, “Stand Up.”
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Brad Bird, director of both Ratatouille and Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, has displayed terrific taste since guest programming TCM’s “The Essentials” showcase of classic films. Since he began presenting and discussing films in May with TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz, Bird’s roster of movies has included Singin’ in the Rain, The Searchers, Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Music Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Lawrence of Arabia, Ace in the Hole, The Red Shoes, and even a silent film, Buster Keaton’s The General. I’ve watched almost all of them anew, and have delighted at Bird’s enthusiasms and observations – for example, when he likened Keaton’s mastery as a daredevil stunt man and actor combined to Tom Cruise. And tonight, he presents 1941’s The Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart. Can’t wait.