1) Election coverage, all night, everywhere. Several networks – ABC, CBS, NBC – plan to start at 7 p.m. ET, an hour before polls start closing. Fox will wait until 8, but PBS will start at 6 … and the news channels will be at it all day. But with a cascade of absentee ballots, it may be approximately forever before anyone knows the winner. While waiting, you can catch such movies as “Godfather,” “Rocky” (shown here) and more; they’re mentioned next.
2) “The Godfather” (1972), 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., AMC. While waiting for rhe election results, we can savor one of the all-time great movies. Brilliantly directed by Francis Coppola, it’s No. 2 on the American Film Institute’s all-time list, trailing only “Citizen Kane.” And “The Godfather, Part II” is No. 32 … the only sequel in the 100-film list; it airs at 1 and 9:30 p.m.
3) “Rocky” (1976), 7 p.m., Paramount. It’s Italian movie night. “Godfather” gives us Marlon Brando in the first film, Robert De Niro in the second and Al Pacino in both; “Rocky” has Sylvester Stallone (shown here) and Talia Shire (Coppola’s sister). It won the best-picture Academy Award (as did “Godfather” and its sequel) and is No. 57 on the AFI list.
4) More movies. For sheer fun, there’s “Return of the Jedi” (1983) at 5 p.m. on TNT and the delightful “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2011) at 8 on HBO. Or catch the darkly brilliant satire of “Dr. Strangelove” (1964), at 7:15 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies. But give Pop credit for filling Election Day with “Election” (1999), at 1, 3:30, 6 and 8:30 p.m. It’s a clever tale of corrupt campaigning … in a high school election. Reese Witherspoon schemes and a teacher (Matthew Broderick) is overwhelmed.
5) “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” 8 and 9 p.m., CW. This is a rare chance for the mini-network to get some extra viewers, now that everyone else is tangled in the slow election count. It had scheduled “Swamp Thing” and “Tell Me a Story,” but then made a late switch. Now we get reruns of this entertaining show, which has magicians trying to confound the Penn & Teller duo.