TCM, 6:00 a.m. ET
Every Friday this month, TCM runs with the generally accepted thesis that 1939 was one of the best years ever in the history of cinema – with, just for starters, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Wizard of Oz all released that year. Eighty years later, try and build a comparative, competitive roster from the movies of 2019. But that quartet of classics is just the glittery tip of a cinematic iceberg. Starting at 6 a.m. ET and running all day and throughout prime time, TCM shows films from 1939. Among today’s highest of highlights: Young Mr. Lincoln, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford (noon ET); Only Angels Have Wings, starring Cary Grant and directed by Howard Hawks (3:45 p.m. ET); Ninotcha, starring Greta Garbo and directed by Ernst Lubitsch (6 p.m. ET). And once we get into prime time, TCM starts at 8 p.m. ET with The Wizard of Oz (pictured), starring Judy Garland, then includes The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton, at 11:15 p.m. ET, and Gunga Din, another 1939 vehicle for Cary Grant, at 1:30 a.m. ET. All those films came from the same year – and TCM is showcasing similar all-day lineups for the next three Fridays as well. Case closed…
ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
The cliffhanger ending to last week’s episode had the team reunited under a familiar leader, squaring off against another galactic enemy – except though the leader looks familiar, and is played by the same actor (Clark Gregg), he’s a different, darker guy altogether. But he’s proven his worthiness to lead them into battle, so here we go…
Cinemax, 10:00 p.m. ET
Last episode included a flashback to Jett’s time in a women’s prison, when she defended a newbie prisoner against a vicious group of predatory inmates. This series has jumped backward in time so many times, in fact, that I’m pretty sure we’re now watching Jett (Carla Gugino) live through a flashback within a flashback within yet another flashback. Not even the Austin Powers movies did that much leapfrogging flashbacking…