SATURDAY

MARCH 3

2012

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Public Television, 7:00 p.m. ET

(Check Local Listings) This new PBS pledge special pops up this weekend on most local public TV member stations, with a lot of them showing it late afternoon or in prime time tonight. Check local listings to find it in your area, and make a special effort to do so: Hosted by Peter Marshall (yes, of Hollywood Squares fame) and Nick Clooney (yes, George’s dad), this special is a compilation of movie clips and promotional film shorts highlighting big band headliners. It’s all vintage, and it’s quite a haul. A dapper young Frank Sinatra sings “Night and Day” with, and to, an all-girl orchestra (at left); Benny Goodman trades solo spots with vocalist Peggy Lee; and Louis Armstrong holds court from behind a bar. Great stuff, pristinely restored – and paired, on many stations, by another T.J. Lubinsky pledge production, a concert reunion special called ’70s Soul Superstars.

"THE MONKEES" MARATHON

Antenna TV, 5:00 p.m. ET

(Antenna TV, 5 p.m. Saturday-10 p.m. Sunday ET) In tribute to Davy Jones, who died earlier this week, Antenna TV has cleared its decks to make this a Pleasant Valley Sunday – and Saturday, too. Beginning at 5 p.m. ET today, Antenna TV is replaying, in order, every episode of the 1966-68 NBC series The Monkees. And many times, the performance segments on the shows featured different vocal tracks than the ones on the singles and albums, so there are interesting variations to be found here. For more Monkees information and reflection, see Diane Werts’ For Better or Werts column HERE and my Bianculli’s Blog entry HERE. And finally, to find Antenna TV in your area, click HERE.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

If you’re into NBC's Smash – and I wish more of you were, because I’m rooting for that ambitious series to succeed – this is the perfect time to catch this 1959 comedy, one of Marilyn Monroe’s career-best comedy roles. She stars as a member of an all-girl orchestra, which is infiltrated by a disguised Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, who are hiding from gangsters. (Who would have thought? Two references to all-girl orchestras in the same day's BEST BETS!)

AN IDIOT ABROAD 2: THE BUCKET LIST

Science Channel, 10:00 p.m. ET

On this season’s penultimate episode, Karl Pilkington travels to Japan, where he climbs Mount Fuji, tours Tokyo, encounters the world’s steepest roller coaster, and climbs in the ring with a Sumo wrestler. My money's on Karl... but only to be entertaining.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET

Lindsay Lohan returns to SNL for her first guest-hosting gig in six years – and her first appearance post-rehab. On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this week, she extracted a promise from the host to appear with her on her SNL comeback show, so Fallon, as well as Lohan, is someone to watch tonight. The musical guest is – well, really, this week, who cares?

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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.

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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Public Television, 7:00 p.m. ET

Antenna TV, 5:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Science Channel, 10:00 p.m. ET

NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET

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