Seven Days of Television: January 26 to February 1
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television
MONDAY JANUARY 26 Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials (CBS, 8 p.m.) Only in America, you say? By now an annual TV tradition, this special pits the best-known halftime commercials from Super Bowls past against each other in a faux competition determined by viewer voting. Hosted by CBS football analyst Boomer Esiason and actress Katharine McPhee, this year’s show has a funky “old school versus new school” theme. Will more people vote for the timeless “Mean Joe Greene” Coke commercial or last year’s mega-budget Budweiser spot starring Arnold Schwarzenegger? And in between all those marvelous commercials stay tuned for… more commercials!
TUESDAY JANUARY 27 American Experience (PBS, 9 p.m.) Were you aware that Thomas Alva Edison had a grand total of three months of formal schooling? PBS’s profile series delivers a glowing treatise on the life and times of the man who gave the world such revolutionary inventions as sound recording, electric light and moving motion pictures. Unlike previous profiles, this program covers the lesser-known details of the Edison legacy, including the fact his first wife died of a morphine overdose and provides less-than-flattering examples of his intense rivalry with fellow inventors. Fresh perspective on the man comes in the form of more than two-dozen Edison experts, including author Jill Jonnes and historian John Staudenmaier.
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28 Secrets of the Dead (PBS, 10 p.m.) Back for a 14 th season, this offbeat series in which forensics experts employ modern scientific method to rewind history still appears to be PBS’s idea of a reality show. The season opener takes viewers to the one-time U.K. residence of that great American statesman Benjamin Franklin, whose largely peerless image has come under scrutiny in recent years due to a grisly discovery. Back in December, 1997, a team digging in the basement of his former London home were shocked to discover a pit filled with the human bones of at least 10 people – including several infants. Watch and learn as the SOD team shifts through the remains to find out why.
THURSDAY JANUARY 29 Doc Zone: A TV Renaissance (CBC, 9 p.m.) The theme of tonight’s new episode: Wow, isn’t TV just the best? Much to her credit, Halifax filmmaker Lorna Kirk makes a compelling case in favour of the TV medium with this snappy documentary. Sprinkled throughout with some pretty remarkable archive footage, the film reminds us that TV was a globally communal experience for events like man’s first steps on the moon and the horrific collapse of the Twin Towers in New York – and along the way TV altered the way people mate, arrange mealtime, and go to bed. TV has even provided some viewers with names to give their children. Hello, Fonzie Jr.!
FRIDAY JANUARY 30 Escape from Jonestown (CNN, 9 p.m.) Even more than three decades later, the mass murder-and-suicide tragedy known as Jonestown still ranks among America’s darkest days. In the final tally, 909 Americans were led to their death by the Reverend Jim Jones in the group suicide pact, not coincidentally right after Jones’ gunsels shot and killed a visiting U.S. congressman and four others at a nearby airport. Only 33 of 1000 church members survived the day and several are interviewed in this grim but sensitive retelling of the terrible incident. Also interviewed is CNN reporter Jim Polk, who covered Jonestown for the all-news network in 1978 and still appears rattled by the tragedy.
SATURDAY JANUARY 31 Along Came Polly (W Network, 7 p.m.) How has the movie business has changed in 10 years you ask? Way back in 2004, it seemed perfectly natural for Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston as a lovably odd couple in a breezy romantic comedy. And today that same concept would be turned into Sex Tape. In any case, Stiller clicks as the nebbish Reuben, a risk assessment expert whose tarty new wife Lisa (Debra Messing) cheats on him on the first day of their Caribbean honeymoon. Once back in New York, Reuben crosses paths with the hippie-dippie Polly, who nudges him to try new and dangerous things, like Moroccan food. After a few requisite sight gags (the dance-class lesson is pretty funny), the opposites start falling in love. And then Lisa shows up! The bittersweet part now: Watching the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman steal every scene as Stiller’s artiste best friend.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 1 And the Oscar Goes To… (TCM, 8 p.m. ET) Only three more weeks until the biggest awards show on the planet. First broadcast last year, this brisk primer should be required viewing for anyone planning to watch the Academy Awards on February 22. Driven by a remarkable string of archival clips, the show races through some of the most memorable Oscar moments from the past several decades. Among them: The streaker! The Marlon Brando trophy turndown! The tearful acceptance speech of Octavia Spencer! The program is followed, fittingly enough, with a rare broadcast of the 1927 silent film Wings – the first movie to ever win the best picture Oscar.