Off the Wall: When silence was golden

Off the Wall enthuses: Hooray for Hollywood!

YOU THINK YOU KNOW MOVIES? You don't know movies. Not until you've seen "Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood" (Monday at 8 and 11 p.m., Turner Classic Movies), a smart new seven-part docuseries tracing moving pictures from their silent birth to their sound heyday. Even better, TCM is showcasing terrific titles from each chronological era, starting with Monday's 9 p.m.-6 a.m. overnight feast of footage going back 120 years - groundbreaking shorts from Thomas Edison ("The Great Train Robbery"), special-effects master Georges Melies ("A Trip to the Moon"), and original superstar Mary Pickford, plus seven silent Shakespeare shorts. Much more at tcm.com/moguls.

LA OPRAH DE LAS HISPANAS That could only be Cristina Saralegui, the blonde Univision talkfest hostess who says adios this Monday after 21 years, with the prime-time salute "La Gran Noche de Cristina" (Monday at 10 p.m., Univision/41). Click on the Cristina box at univision.com.

SERIES PREMIERES The real world just keeps on coming. "Running Russell Simmons" (Tuesday at 10 p.m., Oxygen) follows the team of assistants who keep the music mogul up to speed. "Circus" (Wednesday at 9 p.m., PBS/13) goes behind the scenes of the Big Apple Circus. "The Will: Family Secrets Revealed" (Wednesday at 9 p.m., ID) tells true-life tales of assets, heirlooms and contentious estate wranglings, starting with that of movie diva Joan Crawford. "MegaDrive" (Thursday at 10:30 p.m., MTV) watches comic Johnny Pemberton use and abuse all sorts of crazy/dangerous vehicles. More at mtv.com/ontv.

COME TO THE CABARET. "Dancing With the Stars" contender Jennifer Grey didn't come from nowhere. Daddy Joel Grey, the immortal star of "Cabaret," discusses his career on this week's "At the Paley Center" (Friday at 9:30 p.m., WNET/13). The Manhattan location of the Paley welcomes more guests in person this week at 25 W. 52nd St. - "The Big C" star Laura Linney talks about that Showtime series Monday at 7 p.m. and Louis C.K. talks about his FX series "Louie" Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Ticket info at paleycenter.org/events.

Halloween TV

SCARE CINEMA Shocktober! WPIX resurrects "Chiller Theatre" with Saturday night's "White Zombie" and "Bride of the Monster" (7 and 8:30 p.m.) and Sunday's "Dolls" and "Child's Play" (2 and 4 p.m., WPIX/11). Fairy tales get freaky in the new "Red: Werewolf Hunter" (Saturday night at 8, Syfy). Local TV goes loco with George Romero's 1968 creepfest "Night of the Living Dead" (Saturday night at midnight, WLNY/55/10; Sunday night at midnight, WNET/13), plus Roger Corman's "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Terror" (late Sunday night at 1:35 and 2:50 a.m., WNET/13). There's wall-to-wall horror on AMC, where highlights include "From Dusk Till Dawn" (Saturday night at 8, AMC) and the original "Halloween" (Sunday at 8 a.m., AMC). Also on Turner Classic Movies, where vintage chills like "Mad Love" (Saturday night at 12:45 a.m., TCM), "A Bucket of Blood" (Sunday at 12:15 p.m., TCM) and Lon Chaney's "The Phantom of the Opera" (Sunday night at 1:30 a.m., TCM). Other horror-heavy weekend lineups include Encore, FX and Fox Movie Channel.

COSTUME CAMP You get only 12 chances to watch "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (starts anew every 2 hours, Sunday 6 a.m.-Monday 4 a.m., Fox Movie Channel). And don't forget live coverage of this year's "Greenwich Village Halloween Parade" (Sunday 7-10 p.m., WPIX/11).

FRESH SERIES Kids get a sneak preview of R.L. Stine's new show "The Haunting Hour" (Saturday night at 8, Sunday at 5 and 10 p.m., The Hub). AMC premieres its adult graphic adaptation of "The Walking Dead" (Sunday at 10 p.m., AMC). Other choices include new episodes of "Desperate Housewives" (Sunday at 9 p.m., ABC/7) and "How I Met Your Mother" (Monday at 8 p.m., CBS/2).

DOCU/REALITY New investigations include "American Occult" (8-11 Saturday night, ID), "The Truth Behind Zombies" (Saturday night at 10, NatGeo), "Amityville: The Final Testament" (Sunday at 8 p.m., A&E), and a nightlong Buffalo live edition of "Ghost Hunters Live" (Sunday at 7 p.m.-1 a.m., Syfy).

OTHER STUFF There's always the Halloween party on "The Lawrence Welk Show" (Saturday night at 6, WLIW/21). Or revisit one of the 1950s' favorite fright film makers, "Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story" (Sunday at 8 p.m., Documentary Channel), after five Castle films on TCM Saturday afternoon.

VINTAGE SERIES Chill out to 24 hours of "Twin Peaks" (Saturday 6 a.m.-Sunday 6 a.m., Sleuth). Cast member Butch Patrick hosts a marathon of "The Munsters" (Saturday 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Hallmark). Also in marathon form: "The Addams Family" (Saturday night 6 p.m.-3 a.m., Hallmark), and Matthew Fox's "Haunted" (Sunday 6 a.m.-5 p.m., 5 p.m.-4 a.m., Universal HD). Best of all: Halloween episodes of "Roseanne" (late Saturday night 2-4 a.m., Sunday morning 6-7 a.m., late Sunday midnight-3 a.m., TV Land).