Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
MUST-SEE: "Young Frankenstein," 1974, 2 p.m., AMC, or "The Untouchables," 1987, 8 p.m. TNT. Tomorrow, Mel Brooks is expected to frolic at the Tony awards. His musical, "The Producers," looms large. Before that, however, AMC lets us celebrate Brooks at his movie best. The black-and-white "Young Frankenstein" is filled with great moments. Gene Wilder plays Dr. Frankenstein's clueless grandson, returning to the family castle. There are wondrous supporting roles here for Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman and more. Meanwhile, TNT has another movie that got everything right. One wise decision was to have playwright David Mamet do the "Untouchables" script. His tough, taut style worked perfectly for this story of Eliot Ness, an incorruptible lawman in the near-lawless Prohibition era. Director Brian De Palma surrounded Kevin Costner with a great supporting cast. That included Robert De Niro as Al Capone and Sean Connery in his Oscar-winning role as a strong Irish cop.
"Braceface," 6 a.m., FOX Family Channel. A new cartoon series arrives, with an interesting look at teen life. The premiere has a teen girl getting braces just before her big date.
"The Thanks of a Grateful Nation," 1998, 4:35-8 p.m., Showtime. John Sacret Young, the brilliant "China Beach" producer, crafted one of the best miniseries of the 1990s. Ted Danson stars as an investigator, probing claims of an illness striking Gulf War veterans.
"Walker, Texas Ranger," 7 and 8 p.m., CBS. Here are reruns of two episodes with the rumbling Michael Ironside as the brilliant computer crook known as The Chairman. In the first, Walker tries to pry information from The Chairman's accountant; in the second, Walker's loved one is kidnapped.
Hockey, 2 p.m., ABC. Here's the third game of the Stanley Cup finals.
"Nero Wolfe," 6 p.m., A&E. This rerun is a two-part story in one bunch. Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) and Archie (Timothy Hutton) probe a death at a fashionable party for unwed mothers. The result is a fairly interesting mystery movie.
"The District," 9 p.m., CBS. Mannion has been getting nasty phone threats; now he learns who's behind them.
