Film celebs lined up for ‘Movies 101’
The leaves are falling, and it’s time to return to school. Or at least that’s what AMC wants us to do with its new nine-part interview show “Movies 101 with Richard Brown” (10:30 p.m., AMC).
Brown has been teaching an adult education class to Manhattan movie lovers since 1970. The tradition began one night when a film canister did not arrive, and Brown called up his friend and neighbor Mel Brooks, who consented to an interview that proved more entertaining than the scheduled movie.
Tonight, “101” kicks off with a chat with director Martin Scorsese. Future speakers include Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Kline, Daniel Day-Lewis and Willem Dafoe.
While “101” may remind some viewers of James Lipton’s “Inside the Actors Studio” program on Bravo, Brown does a much better job of asking good questions and fading into the background.
In his brief time with Scorsese, Brown allows the director to discuss his upbringing in New York City’s Little Italy, the influential role of a local parish priest in his life and his own brief time in seminary training. According to Scorsese, he was asked to leave after a particularly arduous struggle with Latin.
The filmmaker’s religious upbringing may come as a shock to critics who found “The Last Temptation of Christ” so blasphemous. As Scorsese explains, the film reflected his deep personal questions about the divinity and humanity of Jesus.
Scorsese also explains how he used voiceover in “GoodFellas” to give the movie its tone and to approximate the voices of the wise-guy street-corner storytellers of his youth.
He rues the “failure” of his attempt to fuse the naturalistic dialogue of John Cassavetes movies with musical-genre filmmaking in “New York, New York,” and discusses the maddening balancing act of making a creative, improvisational work on a strict shooting schedule.
And he does this all in a half-hour.
If “Movies 101” has a major flaw, it’s too darn short. We have all of the ingredients for a film feast, but all we get is an appetizer.
In last season’s “Hope & Faith” finale, Faith received two proposals from two suitors – Gary (Mark Consuelos) and Larry (Dean Cain).
In tonight’s hourlong season premiere (9 p.m., ABC) she not only makes her feelings known, she begins to plan her walk down the aisle – but not without some static and interference from Hope.
Martin Freeman, who played the lovesick white-collar drone on the BBC version of “The Office,” returns in “The Robinsons” (6:40 p.m., 10:40 p.m. BBC America), a droll comedy about an extended family of English eccentrics, all named after members of the royal family.
The special “Degrassi: Behind the Scenes” (9 p.m., The N) commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Canadian high school drama.
Design experts take tips from Eastern and Western influences on “That Yin Yang Thing” (8 p.m., TLC).
Other highlights
A young accident victim returns to console his grieving parents on “Ghost Whisperer” (8 p.m., CBS).
Out of the running on “Bernie Mac” (8 p.m., Fox).
Rosanna Arquette guest-stars on the seventh-season premiere of “Malcolm in the Middle” (8:30 p.m., Fox).
An escaped mental patient may be linked to the mystery ship on “Threshold” (9 p.m., CBS).
A killer targets organ-transplant patients on “Killer Instinct” (9 p.m., Fox).
Jewel thieves get personal on “Numb3rs” (10 p.m., CBS).
A rash decision on “Inconceivable” (10 p.m., NBC).
Scheduled on “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC): interviews with Ashley Smith and Carole Radziwill, and a profile of a high school athlete who surmounted crippling birth defects.
“Movies That Shook the World” (10 p.m., AMC) looks at the influence of the 1968 sci-fi fantasy “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Cult choice
A meddler (Joanna Kerns) takes deadly aim at her son-in-law (Grant Show) in the 1997 made-for-TV shocker “Mother Knows Best” (9 p.m., Lifetime), co-starring Jessica Walter (“Arrested Development”).
Series notes
A soldier’s wife needs help on “Supernanny” (8 p.m., ABC) … Wrestling on “WWE SmackDown!” (8 p.m., UPN) … A lover’s quarrel on “What I Like About You” (8 p.m., WB).
Mitchee feels unappreciated on “Twins” (8:30 p.m., WB).
“Three Wishes” (9 p.m., NBC) visits Clovis, N.M. … Cupid’s direct hit on “Reba” (9 p.m., WB) … A surprise party on “Living with Fran” (9:30 p.m., WB).