NBC, 9:00 a.m. ET
Weekends bring marquee events that NBC, the parent broadcaster for these games, actually can televise live. The action starts early, of course, and in a very familiar British venue: centre court at Wimbledon, where USA's Serena Williams and Russia's Maria Sharapova fight it out for the gold medal in women's singles tennis. And around 2:30 p.m. ET, Michael Phelps is scheduled to swim his final event of the 2012 Olympic Games — and perhaps his final Olympic swim ever — in the 4x100-m. relay. And that's just for starters…
IFC, 8:00 p.m. ET
We’ve had a lot of fun around here lately, readers included, listing “spider-web” movies – films that ensnare us every time they’re televised, no matter how many times we’ve seen them. This 1973 thriller definitely makes that list for me – and it’s even got a timely Olympics tie-in. (Stumped? The soundtrack includes some music featured briefly in the Opening Ceremony production number: Michael Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells.”)
Lifetime, 8:00 p.m. ET
Writer-director James L. Brooks took a chance and cast Adam Sandler as the lead in his story about a Mexican maid (Paz Vega) who works in Los Angeles for a well-to-do married couple (Sandler and Tea Leoni). Sandler’s less mature fans didn’t know what to make of this 2004 comedy-drama, but it’s one of Sandler’s career high marks. And Brooks also worked happily with supporting actress Cloris Leachman, whom Brooks first cast, decades ago, as Phyllis on CBS’s The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Today and tonight are dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, and this 1959 classic, co-starring Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, is only the tip of a very hot iceberg. Also shown in this MM tribute: a ridiculously generous bounty, including 1957’s The Prince and the Showgirl (the movie re-enacted by Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn) at 2 p.m. ET; 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at 4:15 p.m. ET; 1955’s The Seven Year Itch at 6 p.m. ET; 1956’s Bus Stop at 10:15 p.m. ET; 1953’s How to Marry a Millionaire at midnight ET; and 1954’s There’s No Business Like Show Business at 1:45 a.m. ET. That’s seven memorable movies by Monroe in a six-year span. Put in that context, no wonder she was exhausted, and rebellious.
Showtime, 10:30 p.m. ET
Kevin Nealon seems almost an effortlessly funny element of Showtime’s Weeds, making the most of every scene, line and even reaction shot. But in this new standup special, taped in Denver, he’s at center stage the whole time – yet, even when alone on stage, he makes comedy look much easier than it is.