Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET
In just a few weeks, this Steven Spielberg movie will be 20 – count ’em, 20 – years old. Hard to imagine, but that’s how long it’s been since those who saw it then marveled at what digital special effects could bring to a movie, by bringing dinosaurs to life. I was at the midnight showing the first night Jurassic Park was released in 1993 – and along with me was my son, Mark, who was only eight years old at the time. Does that make me a good dad… or a bad one?
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Maybe it’s not quite so classic as another insider Hollywood satire, Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain, but this 1953 Fred Astaire musical comes awfully close. He plays a fading film star who tries to recapture fame on Broadway in a musical – but it’s overrun, and rewritten, by its director into an absurd updating of Faust. Cyd Charisse plays the ballerina hired to star opposite Astaire – and she’s not only all woman, she’s all leg. Both Band Wagon and Singin’ in the Rain, by the way, were written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
Disney Channel, 8:30 p.m. ET
There’s something awfully right about the Disney Channel presenting Cinderella on television, even if it’s a bit too early for the holidays. Made in 1950, it still enchants – and, most certainly, it still informs and inspires popular culture, including, of course, the current fantasy series from Disney-owned ABC, Once Upon a Time.
Pay-Per-View, 9:00 p.m. ET
A delightful USA Today factoid earlier this week pointed out that the average age of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, at this point in 2012, is younger than the average age of the members of the Rolling Stones. But it’s hard to imagine Judge Scalia, or anyone else, rocking his chambers like Mick Jagger rocks the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. That’s the source of this live pay-per-view telecast, the last stop on the Stones’ current concert run. It’s available on cable and satellite providers as a PPV event, and on the Internet via Yahoo. Expect a crossfire hurricane – and, given the occasion, expect a special unannounced guest or two. But not Justice Scalia.
NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET
What an amazing few days for Sir Paul McCartney. On Thursday morning, shortly after midnight, he closed the “12-12-12” benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden. Last night, he was seen in a double feature on PBS, in a documentary about 1967’s Magical Mystery Tour, and in a restored version of the program itself. Now, tonight, he’s the musical guest on Saturday Night Live – on a show hosted by Martin Short, former alumnus of both SNL and SCTV.