NETWORK
Sundance, 8:00 p.m. ET
Paddy Chayefsky became television’s first well-known star writer, the first to emigrate to Hollywood, after writing such early 1950s gems as Marty. Two decades later, still in Hollywood, he reflected on his roots by taking aim at TV in the 1976 movie Network – but instead of looking back with nostalgia, he looked ahead with astonishing prescience. Before Fox existed, he tells the tale of a fourth broadcasting network that becomes successful by pandering with outrageous reality shows, while powerful companies buy established networks and impose dictates, and profit demands, even upon their news divisions. How did he know? And how did he make all of it so damned funny? Peter Finch, William Holden and Faye Dunaway star, while Beatrice Straight, Robert Duvall and Ned Beatty offer truly stellar support. A great movie – and an important one, too.