Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes, Gannett News Service and Derek Paiva, Advertiser staff writer
Tonight's Must-See
Fiesta Bowl, 3 p.m., ABC. Sports fans never have liked the notion of leaving lots of teams feeling happy. They must have an ultimate winner — and lots of losers. So the college football season comes down to this Fiesta Bowl collision between two undefeated teams, Ohio State and Miami. One will emerge as the undisputed best in the nation. The other will join a mountain of also-rans.
Of Note
"The Nutty Professor" (1996), 7 p.m., Fox. Eddie Murphy started with a 1963 Jerry Lewis comedy then spun it in bizarre directions. He plays Sherman Klump, a science professor who is extremely overweight. Then he sees a gorgeous professor and chooses a drastic step toward instant slimming.
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986), 7 p.m., Pax TV. Matthew Broderick is showing up often on TV. On Thursday, Fox had his excellent "Election." In February, ABC has a terrific new "Music Man," with Broderick in the title role. Tonight, we can catch one of the comedies that made him a star. He plays an amiable teenager who decides to skip school for a day and have adventures.
"What I Like About You," 7 p.m., WB. A night of comedy reruns begins with a friend visiting Holly who then becomes attracted to her pal, Gary.
"JOHN CARPENTER'S ESCAPE FROM L.A." (1996), ABC, "JOHN CARPENTER'S GHOSTS OF MARS," (2001), Cinemax, both 8 p.m. Fans of director Carpenter's, shall we say, less thought-provoking work will simply have to toss a coin to decide which of these entertaining stinkers to spend two hours with tonight. "Escape From L.A." features the further adventures of inventively named anti-hero Snake Plissken, this time pursuing a doomsday device in the City of Angels. Kurt Russell, once again, lets a full beard and an eyepatch do the real acting in his reprise of Plissken. As for "Ghosts of Mars," even Courtney Love had the smarts to opt out of this tale of a police officer investigating a Martian colony full of possessed miners. Natasha Henstridge stars as the cop. Enough said.
"Hack," 8 p.m., CBS. In a rerun, Fisher Stevens plays a gambler who wants the cabbie to help him avoid trouble with a bookie.
