Ted Koppel says adieu to ‘Nightline’
Tonight marks Ted Koppel’s last night as host of “Nightline” (11:35 p.m., ABC), a position he has held with much distinction since 1980.
“Nightline” evolved out of a nightly ABC News broadcast covering the Iranian hostage crisis that began in November 1979.
With these shows, Koppel helped change the landscape of TV news.
With the wide availability of cable news still some years away, Koppel offered the only nightly alternative to the dinner-hour newscasts. And by focusing on just one subject per show, “Nightline” could offer unusual focus and depth.
I’d like to think that Koppel would spend his valedictory evening reading the riot act to the toothless news media. Perhaps he could settle a score with Sinclair Media for censoring his reading of the names of the Americans killed in Iraq.
He’s certainly got the right to blast the folks at ABC for their embarrassing and fruitless public flirtation with David Letterman.
But Koppel will devote his final show to an interview with Mitch Albom. Who? He’s the author of the hugely popular and cloying memoirs “Tuesdays With Morrie” (Broadway, 2002) and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” (Hyperion, 2003).
Alas, Koppel goes out, not with a bang, but a wimp.
When “Nightline” returns on Monday, Nov. 28, the show will have three hosts: Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir. None of these three has anything resembling Koppel’s journalistic gravitas.
But who does? Bashir’s presence offers the most troubling indication of “Nightline’s” direction. He’s best known for his documentary interviews with Michael Jackson.
While much of movieland is focused on the release of director Peter Jackson’s epic remake of “King Kong” next month, Turner Classic Movie channel celebrates the man behind the original.
“I’m King Kong: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper” (5 p.m., TCM) profiles a moviemaker whose real-life adventures exceed anything he captured on celluloid.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Cooper put much of himself into “Kong.” Like the giant ape, he knew what it was like to be on the nasty end of biplanes and machine-gun fire.
Cooper was shot down no fewer than three times during World War I and its aftermath. And, like Kong, no prison bars could hold him.
While fighting in the Russian-Polish conflict of the early 1920s, Cooper was captured by the Red Army and sent to a Soviet labor camp. But Cooper escaped and lived to tell the tale.
Alec Baldwin narrates this documentary. A broadcast of “King Kong” (6 p.m., TCM) follows.
Cedric the Entertainer hosts the American Music Awards (8 p.m., ABC), not to be confused with the Grammy Awards, the CMAs, the Vibe Music Awards, the World Music Awards or any awards given this week or any other week.
Other highlights
Lauren Holly joins “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS) as a series regular.
Caroline Rhea hosts “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m., NBC).
A desperate plea from death row on “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox).
Carole King guest-stars in the Thanksgiving episode of “Gilmore Girls” (8 p.m., WB).
Earl has fences to mend with his father (Beau Bridges) after ruining his political career on “My Name is Earl” (9 p.m., NBC).
An AIDS patient insists that Dr. House take on his treatment on “House” (9 p.m., Fox).
Elizabeth Berkeley guest-stars on “Threshold” (10 p.m., CBS). It looks as if this sci fi thriller and “Close to Home” will swap time slots for the time being.
A runaway loses her unborn child after a vicious attack on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC).
Cult choice
A woman’s (Annette Bening) dark visions go unheeded in the 1999 drama “In Dreams” (9 p.m., Lifetime), co-starring Robert Downey Jr. and Aidan Quinn and directed by Neil Jordan. To quote a comment posted on The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), this is “the type of bad movie only talented people can make.” The film’s acting credits include six speaking parts for dwarves. You do the math.
Series notes
Tyra Banks hosts two episodes of “America’s Next Top Model” (10 p.m., UPN) … Global strategies on “The Amazing Race Family Edition” (9 p.m., CBS) … A mental institution’s haunted past on “Supernatural” (9 p.m., WB) … Snooping on e-mails on “The Office” (9:30 p.m., NBC).