Off the Wall TV: Channel surfing from 'Naked City' to 'Melrose Place'
Off the Wall dishes the dirt and the delirious.
New York City, circa 1960
It's a gritty place in "NakedCity" (Saturday 1 p.m.-Monday 7 a.m., ok Decades/2.2), an early police procedural that evoked an authentic feel by shooting at locations like the New York Coliseum (Saturday at 1 p.m.), the Staten Island Ferry (1:30 p.m.), and other public places. Half-hour episodes with James Franciscus air through 8 a.m., when subsequent hours starring Paul Burke take over. Episodes detailed at decades.com/schedule
More '90s nostalgia
It sure doesn't honor that recent one-season CW revival, about which you already forgot. "The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story" (Saturday night at 8, Lifetime) dramatizes backstage life on the 1992-99 Fox soap that starred Heather Locklear, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Marcia Cross, Kristin Davis and so many more. (Arrive early to catch a repeat at 6 p.m. of TV movie "The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story.") Sneak peek at mylifetime.com
Real-life hero
Teenage Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai appears on this week's "SuperSoul Sunday" (Sunday at 7 p.m., OWN) with Oprah Winfrey. More at oprah.com/own
Back for more
Acclaimed cable dramas start new seasons this week -- "The Walking Dead" (Sunday at 9 p.m., after encore continuing Saturday from 12:30 p.m., AMC); a new tale from "Fargo" (Monday at 10 p.m. on FX, after Season 1 encore Sunday 2 p.m.-12:15 a.m. on FXM); the atomic bomb chronicle "Manhattan" (Tuesday at 9 p.m., WGN America); martial arts family saga "Kingdom" (Wednesday at 9 p.m., DirecTV's Audience channel); marital study "Satisfaction" (Friday at 10 p.m. on USA, after encores Saturday 6 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and again 4:30 p.m.-3 a.m. on Cloo); and Clive Owen's stark drama of "modern" medicine in 1900, "The Knick" (Friday at 10 p.m. on Cinemax, after Saturday's noon-9 p.m. encore on HBO2).
Got get?
As in getTV, the Sony-run digital subchannel of Smithtown's UniMás affiliate WFTY. In addition to vintage films (including Monday 5:20 p.m.'s "Guess Who's Coming toDinner") and Saturday Westerns ("Whispering Smith,""Laredo," James Garner's "Nichols"), getTV is launching a Monday night variety flashback block. Featured series include 1963's star-filled "The Judy Garland Show" (Monday at 8 p.m.), plus long-running talk fest "Merv Griffin" (10 p.m.), this week with a 1967 stop by then-Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. In between come time-capsule specials like 1969's "Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey on Broadway" (9 p.m., all on getTV/67.3). Hook up that over-the-air antenna! Full lineup at get.tv/schedule
More fall fun
Two of TV's most offbeat hours keep pushing drama-comedy boundaries. Before the return of family-romance gem "Jane the Virgin" (Monday at 9 p.m., CW/11) comes the debut of the equally inventive "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (8 p.m., also on Ch. 11). Online star Rachel Bloom co-created this delight. She also stars as the nutty chick who stalks her long-ago crush cross-country, while making enemies, friends and big musical production numbers. It's totally weird -- not that there's anything wrong with that. More at cwtv.com
