Just as album covers are glamorous, idealized version of the star inside, so is the puzzling posthumous biopic “Whitney” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.) that depicts her stardom and relationship with R&B star Bobby Brown. Anybody who really wanted to know about their harrowing life together could look up old episodes of their sanctioned reality show “Being Bobby Brown.” But here, in the directorial debut by Angela Bassett, who came to fame as an actress playing another pop icon, Tina Turner, it’s more of a storybook land, with them meeting cute at the Soul Train Awards and dating until they surprise everyone with their marriage.
In a way, it’s another variation of the “A Star is Born” trope, with updated music (sung by Deborah Cox) that ends, oddly, way before her sad premature death. Think of the drug use as just alcohol from the old days.
Yaya DeCosta is fine in the lead, though Arlen Escarpeta’s Bobby Brown doesn’t look that recognizable. That it seems super fictionalized and glamorized almost seems beside the point. It probably won’t compare well with the accompanying “Beyond the Headlines: Whitney” (Lifetime, 10 p.m.) and especially “Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances” (Lifetime, 11 p.m.).
Betty White celebrates her 93rd special with a new special, “Betty White’s Smartest Animals in America” (GAC, 8 p.m.).
“The Musketeers” (BBC America, 9 p.m.) return for a second season, going after a Spanish prison escapee.
It’s Adam Sandler night, with “Blended” (HBO, 8 p.m.) his romantic comedy last year with Drew Barrymore, making its premium cable debut as his 2011 “Just Go with It” (ABC, 8 p.m.) with Jennifer Aniston is on broadcast TV.
Last year’s “Godzilla” (Cinemax, 10 p.m.) also makes its cable debut.
Another new cable TV movie tonight, “Bridal Wave” (Hallmark, 9 p.m.) a young woman played by Arielle Kebbell has doubts about marrying. Andrew W. Walker, Jaclyn Smith and David Hayden-Jones also star.
Elsewhere tonight is John Hawkes and Helen Hunt in the 2012 “The Sessions” (FXM, 8 and 10 p.m.), a Dustin Hoffman double bill with “The Graduate” (Sundance, 9 p.m.) and “Tootsie” (11:15 p.m.).
The first two episodes of “Empire” (Fox, 8 and 9 p.m.) are rerun.
Turner Classic Movies goes for WWII spy stories with “Foreign Correspondent” (8 p.m.), “Contraband” (10:15 p.m.), “Above Suspicion” (midnight). Much later comes the horror films “Maximum Overdrive” (TCM, 2 a.m.) and “Logan’s Run” (TCM, 4 a.m.).
Men’s college hoops today include Tulsa at South Florida (ESPNU, 11 a.m.), Duke at Louisville (ESPN, noon), Texas A&M at LSU (ESPN2, noon), Tulane at Houston (EPSPNews, noon), Marquette at Xavier (Fox Sports 1, noon), Saint Louis at Dayton (NBC Sports, 12:30 p.m.), Purdue at Penn State (ESPNU, 1 p.m.), Florida at Georgia (CBS, 2 p.m.), Miami at Notre Dame (ESPN2, 2 p.m.), Ohio State at Iowa (ESPN, 2 p.m.), Central Florida at Memphis (ESPNews, 2 p.m.), Rhode Island at Massachusetts (NBC Sports, 2:30 p.m.), Baylor at Kansas State (ESPNU, 3 p.m.), Michigan State at Maryland (CBS, 4 p.m.), Kentucky at Alabama (ESPN, 4 p.m.), TCU at Texas Tech (ESPNews, 4 p.m.), Middle Tennessee at Louisiana Tech (Fox Sports Net, 4 p.m.), George Mason at George Washington (NBC Sports, 4:30 p.m.), Butler at Georgetown (Fox Sports 1, 5 p.m.), West Virginia at Texas (ESPN, 6 p.m.), Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (ESPN2, 7 p.m.), Temple at Cincinnati (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.), Providence at Creighton (Fox Sports 1, 7:30 p.m.), Kansas at Iowa State (ESPN, 9 p.m.), Connecticut at Stanford (ESPN2, 9 p.m.), Mississippi at Arkansas (ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.), Brigham Young at Saint Mary’s (ESPN2, 11 p.m.) and Hawaii at UC-Riverside (ESPNU, 11:30 p.m.).
Women’s games include West Virginia at Oklahoma State (Fox Sports 1, 2:30 p.m.).
Sam Smith makes his debut on “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings) with Future Islands.
Kevin Hart hosts the first new “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) of 2015, and the first new episode in a month. Sia is musical guest. The 10 p.m. vintage show is a 1984 show with Eddie Murphy and Robert Plant.