BYE BYE BIRDIE
TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET
This 1963 movie musical, playing off the Elvis Presley craze and his headline-grabbing appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, stars Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie, a hip-swiveling, lip-sneering, guitar-playing pop star. Pau Lynde plays the protective father of a daughter who wins a fan contest to receive a personal visit from Birdie. The daughter is played by Ann-Margret, who steals the show from the start (literally: from the opening credits) – but Lynde does get to sing an ode to Ed Sullivan that I, as a TV historian, enjoy a lot. Though I must say that, when this movie was released, I enjoyed Ann-Margret a lot more.