At a time when they could well be bringing back their Amanda Knox film, Lifetime brings something a little more uplifting in “The Gabby Douglas Story” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.). It’s the story of the plucky gymnast from Virginia Beach who moved to Iowa to intensively train, with her goal to get to the Olympics.
With the winter games pending, it’s time for a straightforward, uncynical is play of gumption, and with Douglas herself standing in for the actual gymnastic feats, a couple of young actresses, Sydney Mikayla and Imani Hakim of “Everybody hates Chris” nail their parts portraying her. Regina King, who looks like she could do a Michelle Obama bio pic down the road, plays the mom ; E. Epatha Merkerson is the wise grandmother.
Even before the big game, there’s an awards show. Alec Baldwin hosts the “NFL Honors” (Fox, 8 p.m.) from the Radio City Music Hall.
More sports stories? “We Are Marshall” (ABC Family, 8 p.m.), “Invincible” (AMC, 8 p.m.), “Rocky II” (Ion, 6:30 p.m.) and “Rocky III” (Ion, 8:30 p.m.) and, sort of, “Blades of Glory” (ABC, 8 p.m.).
Sidestepping the Super Bowl Sunday, new episodes of both “Girls” (HBO, 10 p.m.) and “Looking” (HBO, 10:30 p.m.). But you’ll have to wait until next weekend to see a new “True Detective.”
With the new month comes the countdown of “31 Days of Oscar” on Turner Classic Movies, which brings with it a new documentary “And the Oscar Goes To…” (TCM, 8 p.m.), in which stars tell their Academy Awards stories. It’s followed by some big winners: “Gone with the Wind” (TCM, 10 p.m.), “Dark Victory” (2 a.m.) and “Love Affair” (4 a.m.).
The animated “Epic” (HBO, 7:15 .m.), with voices lent by Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Colin farrell, Steven Tyler and Chistoph Waltz, makes its premium cable debut.
To ready you for the big switch on the “Tonight” show, heres’s a replay of the generally impressive two hour “Best of ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ Special” (NBC, 8 p.m.).
The stylish “Stan Lee’s Mighty 7” (The Hub, 8 p.m.) puts the octogenarian cartoon legend and creator of the “Fantastic 4” at the center of a new group of aliens who have both super powers and celebrity voices, some of which are surprisingly unsuited to their characters.
Whole lot of men’s basketball today including Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth (ESPN2, 11 a.m.), Coastal Carolina at Campbell (ESPNU, 11 a.m.), Ohio State at Wisconsin (ESPN, noon), Seton Hall at Xavier (CBS Sports Network, noon), George Washington at Dayton (NBC Sports Network), Marquette at St. John’s (Fox Sports 1, 12:30 p.m.), North Carolina State at North Carolina (ESPN2, 1 p.m.), Kentucky at Missouri (CBS, 1 p.m.), Toledo at Ohio (ESPNU, 1 p.m.), Baylor at Oklahoma State (ESPN, 2 p.m.), Memphis at SMU (CBS Sports, 2 p.m.), George Mason at Saint Louis (NBC Sports, 2:30 p.m.), Clemson at Florida State (ESPN2, 3 p.m.), Evansville at Wichita State (ESPNU, 3 p.m.), Michigan State vs. Georgetown (Fox Sports 1, 3 p.m.), Kansas at Texas (ESPN, 4 p.m.), Villanova at Temple (CBS Sports, 4 p.m.), Drexel at Towson (NBC Sports, 4:30 p.m.), Houston at Rutgers (ESPNews, 4:30 p.m.), Arkansas at LSU (ESPNU, 5 p.m.), Massachusetts at Saint Joseph’s (CBS Sports, 6 p.m.), Duke at Syracuse (ESPN, 6:30 p.m.), Wright State at Green Bay (ESPN2, 7 p.m.), Boise State at UNLV (CBS Sports, 8 p.m.), Pennsylvania at Harvard (NBC Sports, 9 p.m.), Tennessee at Alabama (ESPN2, 9 p.m.), UCF at Louisville (ESPNU, 9 p.m.), St. Mary’s (Calif.) at BYU (ESPN2, 11 p.m.) and UC Irvine at Cal Poly (ESPNU, 11 p.m.).
Hockey action includes Philadelphia at Los Angeles (NHL Network, 4 p.m.), Ottawa at Toronto (NHL, 7 p.m.) and Chicago at San Jose (NHL, 10:30 p.m.). In the NBA, Miami at New York (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.).
Jarah Jarosz and the Milk Carton Kids play a new “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings).
Melissa McCarthy hosts a new “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) with Imagine Dragons as musical guest. The big event will be tie final “Weekend Update” newscast from Seth Meyers before he leaves to host “Late Night” starting Feb. 24. Last week’s Jonah Hill-hosted “SNL” with Bastille is replayed at 10 p.m.