TV is ready for its Easter splurge.
That started April 12, with Moses on the mountain top; it concludes eight days later with an Easter Day surge of movies, music (including Handel’s “Messiah”) and more. In between, it has dramas (shown here is “The Chosen”) and even a stage musical.
Some of this is fueled by the era when audiences (and movie studios) savored Biblical epics. During the 1950s, four of the annual box-office champions were Biblical. All of them will be rerun this year — “Quo Vadis,” “The Ten Commandments” and “Ben-Hur” (each an Oscar-nominee for best picture) plus “The Robe.”)
That starts with “Ten Commandments,” which airs on ABC on April 12, then jumps to UPtv the next morning (Palm Sunday) and again on April 18 (Good Friday). The others show up on Turner Classic Movies or the digital channel that calls itself “Movies!” (We’ll omit the exclamation mark here.)
But this isn’t just old movies. BYUtv has lots of music, including the massive sound of the Tabernacle Choir; it also has two episodes from the ongoing series, “The Chosen.” UPtv has another drama series (“The Stones”), some newer films and even a stage musical. History repeats two fairly recent mini-series; Movies has two older ones..
After the ABC movie, this list focuses on cable channels — Turner Classic Movies, History, Great American Family — and on cable/digital/streaming networks: UPtv (formerly the Gospel Music Channel), BYUtv (based at Brigham Young University in Utah), Movies and Story Television.
Unlike ABC, most don’t have multiple feeds; an 8 p.m. show ET is at 5 p.m. PT. Here’s a schedule, with all times ET:
“The Ten Commandments” (1956)
— 7-11:44 p.m. April 12, ABC.
— 10:30 a.m. April 13, UPtv.
— Noon April 18, UPtv.
“The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965)
— 9 p.m. April 13, UPtv.
— 8 p.m. April 16, Turner Classic Movies.
— 4 p.m. April 18, UPtv.
–10 p.m. April 19, UPtv.
“King of Kings” (1961)
— 1:30 a.m., the night of April 16, TCM.
— 5 p.m., April 20, TCM.
“Ben-Hur” (1959)
— 6 a.m. April 20, TCM.
— 8 p.m. April 20, Movies.
MUSICALS
— “The Thorn,” a filmed stage show with music, dance and acrobatics, 7 p.m. April 13, UPtv; also, 8 a.m. and midnight April 20.
— “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1973), 11:30 p.m. April 16, TCM.
— “Forty-Seven Days With Jesus” (2024), a drama that includes some music, 4 p.m. April 18, Great American Family; also, 8 p.m. April 19.
MORE MOVIES
— “Mary, Mother of Jesus” (1999), 1 a.m., the night of April 13, UPtv; also, 10 a.m April 18.
— “Quo Vadis” (1951), 12:30 p.m. April 16, TCM
— “The Gospel According to St. Matthew” (1966), 4:30 a.m., April 17, TCM.
— “The Life and Passion of Christ” (a silent film from 1907), 7 a,m, April 17), TCM.
— “The Bible” (1966), 8:20 a.m. April 18, Movies; also, 12:35 a.m., the night of April 20.
— “The Passion of the Christ” (2004), 8 p.m. April 18, UPtv; also, 10 p.m.
— “The Silver Chalice” (1955), noon April 20, TCM.
— “Barabbas” (1962), 2:30 p.m. April 20, TCM.
— “The Robe” (1953), 5 p.m. April 20, Movies.
MINI-SERIES
— “Jesus of Nazareth,” noon to 8 p.m. April 18, Movies.
— “Moses the Lawgiver,” 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. April 18, Movies.
— “The Bible,” 2 p.m. to midnight April 19, History; the portions dealing with Jesus (8 and 10 p.m.) then rerun at 12:03 and 2:05 a.m.
— “Jesus: His Life,” 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 20, History.
ALSO;
Later on Easter (April 20), there’s a switch to general family movies. BYU has “The Sound of Music” (1965) at 5:05 and 10 p.m.; TCM has “Easter Parade” (1948) at 8; UPtv has an Amish movie marathon, concluding with the debut of ”SugarCreek Amish Mysteries: Blessing in Disguise,” at 7 and 9 p.m.
DRAMA SERIES
— “The Chosen,” 1 and 4 p.m., April 13, BYUtv. These are two episodes from the current season, depicting some of the final days of Jesus’ ministry.
— “The Stones,” 2:30 to 7 p.m. April 13, UPtv; also, 5:30 p.m. April 19 and 9 a.m., April 20. It’s the first season of a series with a daughter finding she has her mother’s supernatural ability to link troubled people with Biblical characters.
MUSIC
— Handel’s “Messiah,” by the Tabernacle Choir, 5:03 p.m. April 19, BYUtv; also, 8 a.m. April 20.
— “Grace Notes” Easter episode follows “Messiah” both times on BYUtv, at 7:33 p.m., April 19 and 10:30 a.m. April 20. It’s also at 8 p.m. April 20.
— “Music & The Spoken Word,” with the Tabernacle Choir, has its Easter special live at 11:30 a.m., April 20; also, 3 p.m.
DISCUSSION, etc.
— “Messiah: Behold the Lamb of God,” a seven-part 2010 series with religious historians, is on BYUtv at 2 p.m. April 10-11 and 14-18; the sixth episode, focusing on Easter, repeats at 6 a.m. April 20.
— “Come Follow Up” has its Easter special on BYUtv, at 2:30 p.m. April 13, 8:30 a.m., April 17; and 7 a.m. and noon, April 20.
— “Biography” hours are on Moses, 2 p.m. April 19; and Jesus, 7 p.m. April 20, on Story Television, which also reruns mysteries-of-the-Bible shows both days.