Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"Great Performances: Making 'The Misfits'" (8 p.m.) and "American Masters: Willie Nelson: Still is Still Moving," (9 p.m.), both PBS. When work began on the 1961 movie "The Misfits," strong forces collided. Director John Huston liked straight forward, no-frills actors. Marilyn Monroe was a method actress who brought her own $5,000-a-week coach. Clark Gable was a movie star. Eli Wallach was a theater guy. They gathered in the Nevada desert to do a dark drama written by Arthur Miller, whose marriage to Monroe was crumbling. This would be the last film for her, and for Gable. The documentary offers intriguing glimpses, especially from Miller and Wallach. Then we meet Nelson who has resisted all star trends. At home, he jams with friends, in the cowboy town he built for a movie. On the road, he plays with the friends and family he's known for decades.

Of Note

"Law & Order" season opener, 9 p.m., NBC. When husband and wife professors are killed, police aren't sure if the key issue involved stem-cell research or the rights of Mideast women. Fred Dalton Thompson joins the cast as a district attorney.