Marathon (And On And On)

TV marathons: Being an engaged viewer is overrated -- if you do it right, television can go on and on without attention of any kind. iStockphoto.com

 

by Linda Holmes

As you have undoubtedly noted, we are in the late stages of the Television Dead Zone, which lasts from about mid-December to early January -- a time in which seriously, honestly, nobody does anything interesting on television. (This is why our new Discerning Viewer is taking a hiatus: honestly, right now, discerning viewers are going to the movies instead.)

However! It's New Year's Eve/New Year's Day, and while that doesn't bring anything new, it does bring the traditional selection of marathons. They can keep you away from football, they can keep you away from your relatives (hey, I don't know your relatives, I'm just saying), and in some cases, they can help you catch up on worthy shows you might have missed.

Fortunately, the blog Interesting Pile makes a habit of digging up the list of marathons at times like this, so you don't have to. Among this year's notables:

• Rocky movies on Versus (a cable network you may or may not receive, which highlights both bull-riding and NHL hockey in the title bar of its web site, so...you get the idea). Beginning at 11:00 a.m. today (Wednesday), they'll be showing all five Rocky movies consecutively. You should, of course, watch them while working out.

More marathons, after the jump...

• The Twilight Zone on Sci-Fi. All day today and tomorrow, Sci-Fi will be showing episodes, including a few you may recall: "Eye Of The Beholder" (tonight at 8:00 p.m.), "To Serve Man" (tonight at 10:00 p.m.), "Time Enough At Last" (tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m.), and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m.).

• Rocky movies on AMC. That's right -- starting at 3:00 p.m., AMC will also run all five Rocky movies. Either there's some crazy boxing mojo in the air, or the price of showing Rocky on television has just dropped precipitously.

• American Idol on Fox Reality. Did you miss the 2008 season? Do you feel left out? Starting at 9:00 a.m., Fox Reality has many hours of singing, both good and not-so-good. Spoiler: Ramiele Malubay? Not the big winner.

• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. Like most famous chefs, Bourdain is a love-hate proposition, but his fans will happily gobble episodes of his show, starting at 3:00 p.m.

• Monk on USA. Great news for my brother-in-law! USA is showing Monk all day tomorrow, so if you've always wondered what all the fuss is about and why Tony Shalhoub wins all those awards, it's a fine time to find out.

• The Brady Bunch on TV Land. And finally, what would a list of marathons be without six hours of The Brady Bunch? Nothing, that's what. Beginning at noon, enjoy Jan-centered episodes including "Her Sister's Shadow" (that would be "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!") and "Try, Try Again," in which it hilariously turns out that Jan is, indeed, bad at everything.

6:31 AM ET | 12-31-2008 | permalink

comments | | e-mail