Reacting to death and disease, television has a string of specials – some of them scheduled quickly – in the next few days.
A James Lipton special is today (Wednesday, March 4) on Ovation, but then will be available online for the next week. A Kirk Douglas marathon is Thursday on Turner Classic Movies and a coronavirus special is Friday on ABC.
Lipton (shown here) died Monday at 93; Douglas died Feb. 5 at 103, but TCM tends to schedule things a month in advance. The specials are:
JAMES LIPTON: For 23-plus years, Lipton presided over “Inside the Actors Studio. His final interview (Ted Danson) aired on Bravo in January of 2018, when he was 91.
The show later moved to the Ovation network, where it recently had an eight-episode stretch, using guest interviewers. For its Lipton tribute, Ovation has two episodes tonight (March 4).
At 7 p.m. ET is the 250th-episode special, from 2013. That includes bits from the episodes viewers voted as their favorites – George Clooney, Mery Streep, Steven Spielberg, and Robin Williams, plus Lipton being interviewed by Dave Chapelle. That’s followed at 8 by a 2011 episode with Bradley Cooper.
For the next week, the 250th episode will be available at www.ovationtv.com/watch/inside-the-actors-studio-classic-episodes/250th-episode/
KIRK DOUGLAS: The TCM tribute will start with Douglas’ first film and will peak at night with the classics he made with director Stanley Kubrick – “Paths ofr Glory” and “Spartacus.” The line-up:
– 6 a.m. ET Thursday, “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946); 8, “Two Weeks in Another Town” (1962); 10. “The Story of Three Loves” (1953);
– 12:15 p.m. ET, “Along the Great Divide” (1951); 2 p.m., “Out of the Past” (1947); 3:45, “Young Man With a Horn” (1950); 5:45, “Lust for Life” (1956); 8, “Paths of Glory” (1958); 9:45. “Spartacus” (1960);
– 1:15 a.m. ET, Michael Douglas interview (2017); 2:30 a.m., “The Bad and the Beautiful” (1953); 4:55 a.m., “Seven Days in May” (1964).
CORONA VIRUS: The “20/20” slot (9-11 p.m. Friday on ABC) will be taken by a special, “Outbreak: What You Need to Know.”
David Muir anchors, with Dr. Jennifer Ashton as the chief medical correspondent. This will include video diaries from China’s quarantined cities and from passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, plus reports by Bob Woodruff, Ian Pannell, James Longman, Deborah Roberts, Maggie Rulli and chief economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis.