BEST BETS FOR SATURDAY, SEPT. 20, 2008

	FARM AID 2008 DIRECTV 101 Network, 4 p.m. ET Seven hours of live TV, presenting the 2008 edition of the Farm Aid benefit concert, are provided today by DIRECTV’s 101 Network – which is the name for its 101 channel, providing original and preview program. (Get used to finding it now – it’s where Friday Night Lights will premiere in a few weeks.) Carson Daly and Bob Costas share duties as host, and scheduled performers, live from Mansfield, MA, include Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews.
	WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION TCM, 8 p.m. ET Based on the Agatha Christie play, this 1957 movie, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton, holds up really, really well – and features a classic courtroom climax, one of the all-time best twists. Enjoy.
	ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Starz, 9 p.m. ET I’m on record as being a major Beatles freak, so you might expect me to love this 2007 musical based on songs by The Beatles. Nope. Except for the times when director Julie Taymor let loose with her oversized puppets, this movie, to me, was way too mannered, predictable and unsatisfying. Save up, fly to Vegas, and see the Cirque du Soleil Beatles “LOVE” show instead. Then again, this is a lot cheaper, so here it is…
	CECIL B. DEMENTED Flix, 9:45 p.m. ET John Waters’ 2000 comedy attacks radials and Holywood at the same time, by showing how easily one group embraces and corrupts the other, and vice versa. Melanie Griffith stars as an actress kidnapped by a radical group, and forced to star in a propaganda film. Also featured in this typically twisted Waters romp: Alicia Witt, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stephen Dorff and Entourage star Adrian Grenier.
	LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT NBC, 10 p.m. ET This was shown long ago on USA Network, but as NBC once liked to say, “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you.” It’s true. That actually was one of the network’s ad campaigns. Anyway, this is the season finale for this series, featuring Vincent D’Onofrio in an episode that has him acting even more haunted than usual. With good reason.
	SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET Last week’s season opener began brilliantly, but went downhill fast immediately afterward. This week, there’s an actor, not an athlete, as guest host: James Franco. Can’t hurt.