MOVIES!, 8:00 p.m. ET
This WWII movie came out of nowhere in 1970, the same year as Robert Altman’s MASH. And just as Altman’s film used the setting of the Korean War to present an anti-authoritarian war movie populated with characters with anachronistically modern attitudes, so did Kelly’s Heroes. It’s set during WWII, and ends up being not a traditional war movie, but more of a heist film – involving a cache of gold bars secreted behind enemy lines. And watch for Donald Sutherland, in particular. The same year he starred as Hawkeye Pierce in MASH, as that most modern and authority-opposing of front-line physicians, he also co-starred here as Oddjob, a tank commander who, though operating in the 1940s, is about 98 percent hippie. That he pulls off this role, the same year as he played Hawkeye, is amazing enough. The fact that he co-stars here, opposite Telly Savalas, Clint Eastwood and Don Rickles, and makes it work, is a magic trick of sorts – like Andy Kaufman finding a way to populate the same world as Judd Hirsch and company on ABC’s Taxi.
NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET
If you saw last Saturday’s fresh episode of Saturday Night Live, you already had a hefty helping of above-par SNL sketches. But here, on Election Eve, is a second helping – a collection of politically themed sketches from the SNL archives. By the way: Before becoming president, Donald Trump hosted SNL, in 2015 (pictured). Will this NBC special feature even a moment from that appearance – or will Trump be portrayed, exclusively, by SNL sketch players? Alec Baldwin is the current champ, of course… but since both Trump and SNL hailed from New York, Trump has been played over the years not only by Baldwin, but by Phil Hartman, Darrell Hammond, Jason Sudeikis, and Taran Killam. Compare and contrast, if SNL shows them all… and I hope it does.