HBO, 7:45 p.m. ET
This film, a pet project of George Lucas’, finally came to the screen in 2012, directed by Anthony Hemingway, who also has directed some recent episodes of HBO’s Treme. It’s a dramatization of the WWII aerial combat unit known now as the Tuskegee airmen, a group of African-Americans who belatedly, but bravely, were sent into combat in 1944. Stars include Nate Parker, Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston and Cuba Gooding, Jr.
CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
This new CBS series from the fall 2012 crop was cut down so instantly and emphatically, only two episodes were televised before CBS pulled it from the schedule: the pilot, and one other. But this is Thanksgiving weekend, when network TV presumes no one is watching or caring very much about what’s on the tube (all that family around and such), so why not broadcast a never-before-seen third episode of Made in Jersey, starring Janet Montgomery as Jersey girl attorney Martina? And, in the same spirit of post-turkey ennui, or saluting a different sort of turkey altogether, why not highlight it?
Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET
This 2003 movie, the culminating installment in Peter Jackson’s directorial exploration of the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, won Best Picture and an additional 10 Oscars – and the story isn’t over yet. Or, rather, it’s only just begun: Movies based on its prequel, The Hobbit, are just around the corner. And, no doubt, they’ll prove to be no less Hobbit-forming.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Even in black and white, you can tell, in this 1938 Oscar-winning role for Bette Davis, that the party dress she’s wearing in antebellum New Orleans is scandalously red. Okay, so the plot and dialogue help – but still.
TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET
There’s a lot more to this 1959 biblical epic than its famous chariot race – but oh my, there’s a reason why that chariot race, in this version, is so famous, and so iconic. And if you have a wide-screen, high-definition TV, you can see why, in a big way. A big way, and a wide way, too – the image you see here is only half the picture.