Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
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TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE
"Saturday Night Live," 10:30 p.m., NBC. Nex weekend, NBC will have a best-of-the-season special May 5, then a May 6 special whisking through the 1990s. Before that, we can sample a rerun, hosted by quarterback Peyton Manning. In one sketch (which will also be in the May 5 special), he's coached by a dancing Will Forte. Carrie Underwood is the musical guest.
OF NOTE
"The Staircase Murders," 4 p.m., and "A Life Interrupted," 6 p.m., both 2007, Lifetime. Lifetime's latest true-crime movies are rerun here. Each is well made, with terrific lead performances — Treat Williams as a glib murder suspect in "Staircase," then Lea Thompson as a rape victim in "Life." The difference is that real-life events didn't give "Staircase" a big ending. "Life," by comparison, has a dandy: Its case took a crucial role in the use of DNA as evidence.
"Pearl Harbor" (2001), 7 p.m., ABC. Not all movie epics are created equal. The "Titanic" love story was so good that we forgot the ship was going to sink; the "Pearl Harbor" one is so bad that we keep asking for the bombing to begin. The story has Kate Beckinsale learning that it's important to have a spare guy. Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett are the interchangeable cuties. Technically, the film is terribly impressive.
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," 7 p.m., CBS. Faye Dunaway plays a glamorous type, linked to the mob, who wrote a tell-all book. When someone is killed at her party, she suspects she was the target.
"The School of Rock" (2003), 5 p.m., TNT. Some terrific talents got involved with this light film. Mike White wrote the story of a ragged musician who scams his way into a teaching job. Richard Linklater directed, with Jack Black starring and White in support.
"Without a Trace," 8 p.m., CBS. A respected paramedic disappears. Gangs may have been involved.
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 8 p.m., NBC. In a take-off on a real life case, a young mother whose baby is missing commits suicide after confronting a TV interviewer.