Hulu, 3:00 a.m. ET
To all those who watched the first three episodes of Mrs. America when the brilliantly acted miniseries premiered last week, dramatizing the fight for (and against) the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, be aware: Episode 4 dropped today, and focuses on Tracey Ullman as pioneer feminist Betty Friedan. From now on, new episodes roll out weekly.
AXS TV, 8:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s guest for Rather’s one-hour interview is Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry – who, in her 1980s salad days, had a major impact not only on MTV, but on hip-hop. Yes, it’s true. Listen and learn, because I’m sure they’ll cover it, “Rapture”-ously.
AXS TV, 9:00 p.m. ET
This 1980 movie musical is rarely televised, so take advantage of the opportunity. It’s quite an oddity. A live-action adaptation of a cartoon or comic is nothing rare in Hollywood terms, but one directed by Robert Altman? With music and lyrics by Harry Nilsson? With Robin Williams in the title role? This eye-popping Popeye also stars Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl, Ray Walston as Popeye’s Pappy, and Paul Dooley as Wimpy. And look hard enough, and closely enough, and you’ll catch appearances by everyone from Dennis Franz, Bill Irwin and Linda Hunt to Donald Moffat, Van Dyke Parks and Klaus Voorman.
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
In tonight’s episode, the vampire pack heads out at night to feed – but, as an experiment, on snacks, served at a neighborhood Super Bowl party, their first. “You are all such strong women!” marvels Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) in her heavy accent, while sharing drinks and gossip with the human wives. “How did you end up married to such boiled potatoes?”
IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET
In this week’s new episode, “The Hall,” Hank Azaria’s Brockmire finally, finally, gets his shot at being inducted into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. But in doing so, he has to confront not only his troubled and colorful past – but his equally colorful wax likeness.
TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET
This 1982 film – a bizarre, bold favorite of mine – has a title that comes from a Hopi Indian phrase and translates, roughly, to “life out of balance.” It comes from a time when extreme time-lapse photography was relatively new, and the purpose of director Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi was to capture images from unexpected angles at unusual speeds. Urban traffic grids were shot from above and sped up greatly, making the lights from cars look like scurrying ants. Clouds were filmed from above, too, and speeding them up made them look eerily like waves. Other things, from rocket launches to volcano eruptions, were slowed down to a barely kinetic pace – all of it scored to perfectly matched music by Philip Glass. If you’ve never seen it, don’t miss it. You won’t forget it. I haven’t, and it’s been almost 40 years. Happy Earth Day!