The role of women in TV comedy is still a hotly debated topic into the 21st century, even as talents such as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig rise to the top on TV, “Bridesmaids” breaks through on the big screen, and the fall offers fully developed stars in Whitney Cummings and Zoe Deschanel.
When Lucille Ball was born 100 years ago today, there was no television at all. And when she ruled the airwaves 60 years ago, there was little talk about gender issues in comedy. She was just funny.
Today, to mark her centenary, there are marathons of her classic sitcom, a run of her big screen films and a clever interactive doodle at the Google start page.
Forty-eight episodes of “I Love Lucy” (Hallmark, 6 a.m.) run all day today and Sunday on the Hallmark Channel.
Turner Classic Movies runs 14 of her films today, starting with “Du Barry was a Lady” (6 a.m.) with Red Skelton, and continuing with “Panama Lady” (8 a.m.), “Without Love” (9:30 a.m.), “Miss Grant Takes Richmond” (11:30 a.m.), “The Fuller Brush Girl” (1 p.m.), “The Long, Long Trailer” (2:30 p.m.), “Best Foot Forward” (4:30 p.m.), “Dance, Girl, Dance” (6:15 p.m.), “Stage Door” (8 p.m.), “The Big Street” (9:45 p.m.), “Easy to Wed” (11:30 p.m.), “Lured” (1:30 a.m.), “The Affairs of Annabel” (3:15 a.m.) and “Annabel Takes a Tour” (4:30 a.m.).
And check out the Google doodle here.
Another one of those “family night” TV movies premieres tonight. “Who is Simon Miller?” (NBC, 8 p.m.) stars Loren Dean as a constantly traveling businessman whose work has put a strain on his wife and kids. Then he disappears altogether and the family bands together to find him. Robyn Lively, the big sister of Blake, and one-time star of “Teen Witch,” co-stars. Skyler Day and Drew Koles play the kids.
Elsewhere, the Saturday night saga of Hogwarts continues with the fourth film in the series, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (ABC, 8 p.m.).
Among the premium cable premieres, Adrian Brody stars in “Predators” (HBO, 8 p.m.) and Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson Jack Nicholson and Paul Rudd are all in “How Do You Know” (Starz, 9 p.m.).
And a lot of favorites are rerun, including “The Princess Diaries” (ABC Family, 8 p.m.), “Goodfellas” (AMC, 8 p.m), “It’s Complicated” (Cinemax, 7:45 p.m.) and “The Notebook” (Oxygen, 9 p.m.).
The sci-fi saga “Outcasts” (BBC America, 9 p.m.) reaches its season finale with a virus and a revelation.
Liza Minnelli and James McAvoy are guests on “The Graham Norton Show” (BBC America, 9 p.m.).
Matt Damon stars in both “The Bourne Identity” (Encore, 8 p.m.), “Courage Under Fire” (Fox Movie Channel, 9 p.m.).
It’s a ratings winner nationwide: Yankees at Red Sox (Fox, 4 p.m.).
Ed Helms hosts a rerun of “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) with Paul Simon as musical guest.