Decades, 12:00 p.m. ET
Dan Curtis’ gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows, began airing on ABC in 1966, with a live TV approach whose low production values and performance levels often were as frightening as the vampires and werewolves. But a supernatural soap? Curtis was on to something, and once the show started playing with different time lines and doppelgangers, you could really sink your teeth into it. So this weekend’s Decades marathon picks up the action, and the daily soap series, at May 1967, when it was just starting to really take off. Jonathan Frid stars as Barnabas Collins – and looking for the mistakes (not just his, but he’s a great starting point) makes this a special Halloween treat. And if your favorite part of Dark Shadows, like mine, was Angelique the witch, played by Lara Parker, she didn’t show up until November of 1967, according to imdb.com. So unless Decades is time-shifting with the episode order, we won’t see her this weekend. But bouncing through various time periods, for this series, seems entirely appropriate, no?
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Still brilliant. In 1964, Stanley Kubrick and Terry Southern took on the Cold War and its attendant hawkishness, insanity, and paranoia – and won. This movie wasn't a bomb. It was the bomb.
NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET
John Mulaney returns again as guest host, for the second time this year. But who’s complaining? The former head writer for SNL must make it very easy on the rest of the cast and writers when he shows up to play: Who knows it better? And Mulaney is wildly funny, and unpredictably, ingeniously warped. He’s guest hosting here for the fourth time – and tonight, it’s Halloween, a full moon, and the last weekend before the 2020 presidential election. All in all, clearly not to be missed.