A charm offensive from Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion and felon, convicted rapist, brawler and ear biter doesn’t quite succeed. There’s just too much to overcome and we’re not even talking about the big face tattoo.
“Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth” (HBO, 8 p.m.), an adaptation of his life story told on Broadway, is perfectly suited for premium cable for only its overuse on the F word. Having a former champion take to a stage to tell his story is not new. People still like to see him live, even if he’s not beating someone to a pulp. But director Spike Lee does add cartoon style sound effects as he goes through his paces.
As chagrined as he is about his life long brutality, it’s hard to clap a guy convicted for rape; his victim will not be afforded the same forum. He’s a little too proud of having beat down so many people and threatens to do so to theater patrons, just for chuckles. As director, Lee’s problem is the same one for us: With his speech impediment, you can hardly tell what the guy is going on about.
The theatrical adaptation leads into an all boxing night on HBO, with a new episode of “24/7 Pacquiao” (HBO, 9:30 p.m.) and the super-middleweight bout of Andre Ward-Edwin Rodriguez (HBO, 10 p.m.).
In the unusual docudrama “The Challenger Disaster” (Discovery, Science, 9 p.m.) William Hurt plays Dr. Richard Feynman, called in to figure out what went wrong with NASA’s greatest disaster. He ends up explaining what happened in a way made simple and engaging, mirroring his campus style. For the first dramatic feature film from the Science Channel (also being shown on Discovery), it has a pretty strong cast, including Brian Dennehey, as a bureaucrat who wants to protect the agency, and bruce Greenwood as a military man who is more interested in truth. And Eve Best of “Nurse Jackie” pops up as the astronaut Sally Ride.
On a lighter note, a new Yuletide movies include “The Christmas Ornament” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.) and “The Twelve Trees of Christmas” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.), in which a children’s librarian tries to help the building’s from being demolished for new apartments. They play among other holiday films including “Christmas Magic” (Hallmark, 10 p.m.) and “Dear Santa” (Lifetime, 10 p.m.).
Of the newscasters still around to tell the firsthand tale of TV reporting, Dan Rather is still around, but it is Bob Schieffer, then a newspaper reporter in Ft. Worth, who anchors the network’s 50th anniversary special: “As It Happened: John F. Kennedy 50 Years” (CBS, 9 p.m.).
College football dominates prime time with Stanford at Southern California (ABC, 8 p.m.) and Texas Tech vs. Baylor (Fox, 7 p.m.). Other college football games tonight include Alabama at Mississippi State (ESPN, 7:45 p.m.), Houston at Louisville (ESPNU, 7 p.m.), Florida at South Carolina (ESPN2, 7 p.m.), Louisana Tech at Rice (CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.), Wyoming at Boise State (ESPN2, 10:15 p.m.), San Diego State at Hawaii (CBS Sports, 10:30 p.m.) and San Jose State at Nevada (ESPNU, 10:30 p.m.).
Other games today include, at noon: Ohio State at Illinois (ESPN), Indiana at Wisconsin (ESPN2), Iowa State at Oklahoma (Fox Sports 1), Troy at Mississippi (ESPNU), Cincinnati at Rutgers (ESPNews) and Penn at Harvard (NBC Sports). Games at 3:30 p.m. include Oklahoma State at Texas (Fox), Michigan State at Nebraska (ESPN2), Miami at Duke (ESPNU), Georgia at Auburn (CBS), Syracuse at Florida State (ABC) and South Alabama at Navy (CBS Sports).
But there is also at least one college basketball: Ohio State at Marquette (Fox, 1 p.m.).
Sure sign of winter: the women’s Olympic Curling Trials (NBC Sports, 8 p.m.) are held in Fargo, N.D.
Also of interest: a replay of the Ironman World Championship (NBC, 4:30 p.m.) from Hawaii.
My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James performs on a new “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings). It’s likely a better musical choice than Lady Gaga, who plays and hosts a new “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.), for which the costume department is probably working overtime. In a one-hour cutdown earlier in the night, the Bruce Willis/Katy Perry episode from earlier this fall is summarized at 10 p.m.
Lady Gaga shows up as guest earlier in the night on “The Graham Norton Show” (BBC America, 10 p.m.), which also features Jude Law, Greg Davies and June Brown.
Late night network finally has some competition with the addition to “Axe Cop” (Fox, 11 p.m.), a loopy show that seems like it was written by a child, mostly because it was. The title character offers more unadulterated Nick Offerman than “Parks and Recreation.”