Off the Wall salutes Susan Lucci
Susan Lucci promotes "All My Life: A Memoir" at the New York Friars Club in Manhattan. (Sept. 7, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Off the Wall wants to wash out ABC's mouth with soap!
DOES SOAP IN YOUR EYES MAKE YOU CRY? Sure does, if you're an "All My Children" fan. This is the 41-year-old daytimer's last week on ABC, saluted by sister channel SOAPnet in two weekend events. "I Love Lucci" (Saturday night, 7-midnight) showcases Garden City native Susan Lucci's four decades as man-eater Erica Kane, in five classic episodes originally aired 1979-2005. "AMC: Last Chance for Romance" (Sunday, 5 p.m.-midnight, both on SOAPnet) revisits vintage love stories like Cliff and Nina, Jenny and Greg, Tad and Dixie, Ryan and Gillian, Leo and Greenlee, in episodes aired 1980-2008. Then, watch ABC's final hour of "All My Children" (Friday at 1 p.m., ABC/7). All things "AMC" at abc.com/shows/all-my-children.
AWARDS ALERT Who's got the Emmy? Start finding out in the crafts-area "Creative Arts Emmy Awards" (Saturday night at 8, Reelz), honoring casting, cinematography, editing and other skills, taped last Saturday. The "big" awards come Sunday night as "Glee" fave Jane Lynch hosts "The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards" (8-11 p.m., Fox/5). Tune in early for "Countdown to the Red Carpet" (5 p.m.) and "Live From the Red Carpet" (6 p.m., both on E!), as well as official arrivals hour "Countdown to the Emmys" (7 p.m., Fox/5). The next night, dish it all with "Kathy Griffin's Emmys Aftermath" (Monday at 8 p.m., TV Guide Network) and Joan Rivers' "Fashion Police" (Monday at 10 p.m., E!).
CUTE PUPPIES! No. Not just cute. They're "Too Cute! Puppies" (Saturday night at 9, Animal Planet). This! hour! special! covers the first three months of three litters. More at animalplanet.com.
UNSCRIPTED PREMIERES This week officially starts the networks' fall season, detailed in Newsday's Fanfare section Sunday. Cable battles back with lots of crime and psychics. "Killer Instinct" (Saturday night at 9, Cloo), the former Sleuth channel's first original series, goes inside the minds of killers with a top criminal profiler. "Celebrity Nightmares Decoded" (Saturday night at 10, Bio) tracks the dreams of names like Dustin Diamond and Danielle Staub. "Confronting" (Saturday night at 10, OWN) brings together victims and offenders. "Will to Live" (Sunday at 8 p.m., TV One) explores how people survived life-threatening situations. "American Underworld" (Monday at 10 p.m., Discovery) plunges into "extreme subcultures" from home drugmaking to the sex trade. "Prison Diaries" (Thursday at 10 p.m., TLC) visits women on death row. "The Dead Files" (Friday at 10 p.m., Travel) follows a detective and a psychic who separately investigate crime scenes, then compare notes.
A CRACK STORY The drug's impact on pop culture is eyed in "Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation" (Sunday at 10 p.m., VH1), produced and narrated by Ice-T. Check it out at rockdocs.vh1.com.
THE PAST FUTURE Two old-time cinema visions that projected decades ahead are still classics decades later. Turner Classic Movies pairs 'em up -- Fritz Lang's silent-era visual feast "Metropolis" (Sunday night at midnight, followed at 2:45 a.m. by the documentary "Metropolis Refound") and H.G. Wells' prescient '30s epic "Things to Come" (3:45 a.m., all on TCM). In-depth at tcm.com/this-month.
FILM TRIBUTE Cliff Robertson, who died last Saturday, merits a TCM marathon. Monday's daytime salute starts with "Picnic" (Monday at 6 a.m.) and runs through "The Best Man" and "PT 109" (3:30 and 5:30 p.m., all Monday on TCM). More at tcm.com.
