AMC, 8:00 p.m. ET
When I recently made a list of “spider-web” movies, of films that ensnare me each time they’re televised, how did I forget this one? When you’re talking about entertainingly repeatable films, this 1993 Bill Murray comedy may be the ultimate article. It’s all about repetition – up to a point. What a delightful movie, and, by Murray, what a confident, clever performance. Hard to believe, but next year, this movie will be 20 years old. Groundhogs usually don’t live past 10 years, but this Groundhog, I’m sure, will be around for many, many days to come. Including yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
IFC, 8:00 p.m. ET
What a clever idea for a movie – film fans, especially horror film fans, should love this, especially with Willem Dafoe’s outrageously committed portrayal of an actor who’s been cast to star in a vampire film, and turns out to be very long in the tooth for the part. In this 2000 movie written by Steven Katz, John Malkovich plays the director who fears his star has a secret and deadly type of night life – and what makes this plot even juicier is that it uses, as its imaginative jumping-off point, a real vampire film, and a real director. The film is the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu, Malkovich plays director F.W. Murnau, and Dafoe plays actor Max Schreck – who, in real life, was not a vampire. Not that I know of, anyway.
Syfy, 9:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: The third season of this fantasy-genre makeup competition show moves to a new night and time, but keeps its interesting formula untouched. Contestants with movie-makeup ability and dreams are given tasks, Project Runway style, and judged by some of the best makeup artists in the business. And don’t judge anything by the accompanying photo – those are two of the contestants.
ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET
SERIES FINALE: Part 1 of 2. Concluding tomorrow night, NY Med wraps up the last of its gripping medical stories and character studies, having successfully presented one of broadcast TV’s only intelligent new shows of the summer. Tonight’s real-life tales include a swimmer whose arm is injured in a car accident, an unborn child with a very abnormal heart, and a heart-valve replacement for a patient whose husband is afraid she won’t survive the operation. Not for the faint of heart – in two cases, literally.
HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
Last week’s installment showed how the Miami Dolphins coach, Joe Philbin, called wide receiver Chad Johnson into his office and dismissed him. (How? Differently, and more politely, than if the cameras weren’t there, I’m guessing.) Johnson, who had been involved in a nationally notorious head-butting incident involving his new bride, had been shown, earlier in this series, making better and more exciting catches than the other receivers fighting to make the roster. But now, with Johnson gone, it’s a wide-open field – in more ways than one.