Sundance, 11:00 a.m. ET
Last Sunday, Sundance televised the entirety of 1977’s Roots in an all-day miniseries marathon. Today, Sundance pulls a similar programming stunt, by presenting, in its entirety, the sequel to that top-rated Alex Haley drama, 1979’s Roots: The Next Generations. It’s better than the original, actually, and is even more loaded with big-name stars. Among them, as the story nears its conclusion: James Earl Jones as Haley himself, interviewing then-prominent neo-Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell. And Rockwell is played, believe it or not, by Marlon Brando.
ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
There’s no host this year, but there is some intrigue. Netflix has two movies up for Best Picture, The Irishman and Marriage Story – two excellent films that, if either claims the victory and the Academy’s top Oscar, surely will shake the foundations of Hollywood more than a tectonic-shift earthquake. Also, watch for the battle of the Newmans: Randy Newman is up for a Best Original Score Oscar for Marriage Story, while his younger cousin Thomas is nominated in the same category for 1917. Randy Newman also is up for Best Original Song, for the Toy Story 4 song “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” which he will perform live on tonight’s Oscar telecast. If either Newman wins a statuette, they’ll be adding to the Newman family musical legacy at the Oscars, which is astounding. Randy and his composing and musical scoring relatives – Alfred, Lionel, Emil, David, and now Thomas – already have won 12 Academy Awards between them, and have been nominated a total of 93 times.
Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET
This past week, politically, marked both Donald Trump’s post-acquittal victory and revenge lap, and the Democratic candidates’ debate in New Hampshire, as a prelude to this Tuesday’s primary. Lots of ground to cover, even with three well-connected Circus correspondents.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s episode is titled “The One About the Yiddish Vampire,” which is a hint that we’re about to dip into the past, as well as more deeply into the weirdness. Especially the weirdness.
Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This is the eighth and final season for
Homeland, and based on Season 8’s first four episodes, it’s going to be one of its strongest seasons ever. Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin are intense and engrossing as the unstable spy and her long-time mentor, both of whom find themselves this season at the very center of efforts to end the war in the middle east. Beau Bridges, in a central supporting role, adds even more humanity and empathy – and what this final season does is put Danes’ Carrie Matheson into the same space as her former lover Brody, as a potentially unreliable narrator and character. For this final season, Carrie is the new Brody... For a full review,
see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and
for Claire Danes' perspective, see Mike Hughes' Open Mike.
Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: Jim Carrey, finishing the first season of Kidding in a dark place, returns in an even darker one… but an interesting one, too.
HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET
Last week’s episode included a wildly cartoonish homage to The Three Stooges, and had fun with its characters in a way that was loose and goofy even by this show’s standards. (In fact, at the climactic scene when Larry and two cohorts all sported similar temporary speech defects, I don’t know how they got through that scene without laughing.) Tonight, I don’t know what to expect, except that I expect to laugh. A lot.