1) “Snowpiercer” marathon, noon to 9:15 p.m. AMC. A train keeps circling the frozen Earth. Inside (shown here) are survivors – the only ones, perhaps – of the eco-disaster; also inside are class-struggles and a murder probe. That’s the set-up for a richly crafted series that TNT ran for three seasons, then abandoned. AMC which starts the fourth and final one July 21, shows us the start.
2) “Night Court,” 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. After a couple weeks of Olympic trials, NBC returns to Friday-night laughs. In the first rerun, Dan (John Larroquette) must defend a disgraced Broadway producer (Richard Kind) he despises. In the second, Abby (Melissa Rauch) falls for the HR guy (Ryan Hansen) who’s teaching workplace behavior.
3) “SWAT,” 9 p.m., CBS. When a transport van overturns, three women escape; one is a serial killer who may be on another rampage. That rerun is followed by a “Blue Bloods” one, involving the early release of a serial killer who once targeted Baez and her daughter.
4) “Roots of Comedy” finale, 10 and 10:30 p.m., PBS. First, Jesus Trejo meets Adam Pasi, a Samoan comedian who is the only two-time winner of as “Portland’s funniest person.” Then Trejo is in his home town of Los Angeles, with Sierra Katow, a fourth-generation Chinese-American.
5) Movies. On the light side, the first two “Charlie’s Angels” films (2000 and 2003) are scheduled for 8 p.m. on both VH1 and Showtime. On the flip side, HBO has “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) at 7:42 p.m. It won three Oscars (including director Ang Lee) and was nominated for five more, including best picture and stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
— Mike Hughes, TV America