Decades, 12:00 p.m. ET
Cheers premiered in 1982, lasted for 11 years, and launched a spinoff series, Frasier, starring Kelsey Grammer, that lasted just as long. The expanded 1993 Cheers finale remains one of highest-rated sitcom episode of all time – not as popular as the finale of M*A*S*H, but what is? (Answer: nothing.) This Decades weekend marathon of Cheers begins with Season 8, the Kirstie Alley years as Rebecca, and samples episodes of the series up to, and including, its finale, which makes room for the return of Shelley Long as Diane. It’s shown in three parts, beginning at 4:30 a.m. ET on Monday morning, in case you’re interested. I am…
NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: Chris Rock, currently starring on FX in Fargo, returns to his old SNL roots to host this venerable NBC show’s Season 46 premiere. And the guests include another SNL veteran, Maya Rudolph, as well as a veteran from another sketch comedy TV series, Jim Carrey of Fox’s In Living Color. Carrey and Rudolph have been drafted to play the latest SNL incarnations of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – a new gig for him, a reprisal for her. How will the show stage itself, this season, during the pandemic? How will the writers respond to Donald Trump’s hospitalization after having tested positive for COVID-19? And what incendiary ideas will Rock, who is so confidently powerful in Fargo, pack into his opening monologue?