Try out a few stellar non-holiday gifts
STAR WARS (1977)
What can one possibly say? A game-changer, an industry and an obsession, it did what Hollywood has hoped for every summer since - generated many bucks and many sequels. All its offspring have been birthed in summer, and two - "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (1999) and "Episode III: Revenge of the Siths" (2005) - are among the top 20 all-time moneymakers. Go figure. Credit: AP
It still isn't Christmas, but plenty of people have had ho-ho-ho enough already.
Lucky for them, non-holiday viewing will run almost as rampant as seasonal excess in the next few days. Channels have lined up marathons of drama, comedy, movies, documentaries and reality TV to provide respite from yule overload.
MOVIES
"Star Wars" - The first three chapters start with "Phantom Menace" (Friday 9 a.m., 12:07 p.m., 3:20 p.m.; repeated 6:30 p.m., 9:37 p.m., 12:50 a.m., Spike). Then comes "Star Wars" and its two middle sequels (Saturday 9 a.m., 12:07 p.m., 3:15 p.m.; repeated 6:30 p.m., 9:37 p.m., 12:45 a.m., Spike).
Big '80s Weekend - Another Encore festival saluting Gen X's favorite decade (Friday 8 p.m.-Sunday night 2 a.m., Encore) features films like "The Karate Kid," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "The Breakfast Club." Full lineup at starz.com/promotions/big80s.
Shirley Temple - Hollywood's '30s child superstar gets a new profile, "The Shirley Temple Story" (Saturday at 6 a.m., repeats at 1 p.m., Fox Movie Channel), and a daylong marathon of cuteness (Saturday 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m., FMC).
"Rocky" - All the ones with numbers, from II to V, unreel in a first set (II-IV: Saturday 6, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Versus) and second set (III-V: Sunday 5, 7 and 9 p.m., Versus).
SERIES
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Saturday 6 a.m.-Sunday 6 a.m., Chiller) - Sarah Michelle Gellar stars.
"Freaks and Geeks" (Saturday 6 a.m.-Sunday 6 p.m., IFC) - Judd Apatow flashes back to 1980 teens with stars-to-be including Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini and James Franco.
Agatha Christie detectives (Saturday 6 a.m.-Sunday 6 a.m., WLIW/21) - It's a double dose of Miss Marple (Saturday 6 a.m.-noon, and 9 p.m.-3 a.m.) and Hercule Poirot (Saturday noon-9 p.m., and 3- 5:30 a.m.).
DOCUMENTARY
"Planet Earth" (Friday noon-Saturday 6 a.m., Animal Planet) - Acclaimed series explores water, forests, mountains, jungles and other parts of nature.
"Nature's Most Amazing Events" (Friday 11 a.m.-2 a.m., Planet Green) - Huge occurrences include Kalahari flood and more.
REAL WORLD
Love/hate - "Celebrity Rehab 4" (Friday noon-6 p.m., VH1), "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" (Saturday 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Bravo), "Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys" (Saturday 2-9 p.m., Sundance).
Outdoors/working - "Dirty Jobs" (Friday 7 p.m.-10 a.m., Discovery), "Fish Warrior"/"Hooked" (Saturday 9 a.m.-3 a.m., NatGeo).
Music - "Mariah Carey Takeover" (Friday 10 a.m.-Saturday 6 a.m., fuse), "That Metal Show" (Friday 2-6:30 p.m., Sunday 6 p.m.-2:30 a.m., VH1 Classic), "Behind the Music Remastered" (Saturday 10 a.m.-4 a.m., VH1 Classic).
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