Decades, 12:00 p.m. ET
This weekend’s TV marathon from Decades is the rarest one yet: It’s a two-day binge of one of television’s earliest Western series, noteworthy for being devoted to color – in both photography and subject. The series is the syndicated TV version of The Cisco Kid, which launched on the small screen in 1950. That’s only one year after The Lone Ranger began hiho-ing Silver on ABC, and a full five years before Matt Dillon began marshaling his forces on CBS’s Gunsmoke. And The Cisco Kid wasn’t just one of the first TV Westerns. It also was one of the first TV series, period, to have as its protagonist a person of color: The Cisco Kid was a heroic Mexican caballero, roaming the Texas-Mexico border and administering justice, Old West style, along with his loyal sidekick, Pancho. Originally based on a short story by O. Henry, The Cisco Kid galloped through the 20th century with a series of film, radio and TV versions. On film, the variations started in the silent era (1914’s The Caballero’s Way, repositioning O. Henry’s villainous Cisco as a Robin Hood-like hero, was the first), and continued until 1950, with Duncan Renaldo starring as The Cisco Kid in the final five films, and Leo Carrillo as Pancho. The TV version continued the series, with both of the movie stars, Renaldo and Carrillo, reprising their roles for the weekly series. The TV version lasted for six years, and from the start, was filmed in color – the first weekly TV series to do so. That’s plenty of Cisco Kid info before we get to today’s marathon, which is such a rarity, I don’t remember seeing an episode of The Cisco Kid presented on TV, even in reruns, since the 1960s. But as a bonus pop quiz, can you name their horses? (Spoiler Alerts: Cisco rode Diablo. Pancho rode Loco.)
TCM, 12:00 p.m. ET
This 1992 Spike Lee movie stars Denzel Washington, who gives a terrific performance, in the title role, based on the book and original Playboy interview with Malcolm X by Alex Haley, author of Roots. Lee plays a character named Shorty in the film, whose heavyweight co-stars include Angela Bassett, Theresa Randle (later to star in Lee’s 1996 drama Girl 6), and Delroy Lindo (a co-star, 28 years later, of Lee’s latest film, Da 5 Bloods).
Fox, 1:00 p.m. ET
ESPN has been televising major league baseball in the few days since play began for the new, reduced season. But today, Fox gets into the act, and dives in, as enthusiastically as it can, with a triple-header. (After all, what good is Fox Sports without… sports?) At 1 p.m. ET, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs, live from Wrigley Field in Chicago. At 4 p.m. ET, it’s the San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, live from Dodger Stadium. And at 7 p.m. ET, it’s the New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals, teams which began this series, and the 2020 pro baseball season, Thursday night by having Dr. Anthony Fauci throw out a ceremonial wild pitch.
HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET
Edward Norton wrote the screenplay adaptation of this Jonathan Lethem novel, but didn’t stop there. He also stars in, and directed, this 2019 movie about a detective in 1950s New York, who has Tourette syndrome, determined to solve the murder of his best friend. Co-stars include Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Cherry Jones, Bobby Cannavale, and Doctor Who veteran Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
“I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it…” Tonight, as guest host of TCM’s The Essentials, Brad Bird, director of both Ratatouille and Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, discusses and presents this 1968 masterwork by Stanley Kubrick. I’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey dozens of times, easily, and it always captivates me from the start. Two fun facts this time around: One, the man-apes in 2001 weren’t awarded Oscars because, even in those pre-CGI days, the voters didn’t think there were humans beneath all that fur. And two, the color-filtered tour through the stargate at the end, with its scenes of flying over (and under, thanks to the mind-blowing split-screen), was footage filmed for, and recycled from, the B-52 under-the-radar bombing run in Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, Or… How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. So enjoy 2001, all the more…
Animal Planet, 10:00 p.m. ET
This is not a recommendation. Just an observation, that the best way of Surviving Joe Exotic is to avoid all TV programming that stars or is devoted to him. Including this new Animal Planet special…