Off the Wall: FMC's 'Cleopatra' marathon

Off the Wall already misses Liz.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR ALERT While Turner Classic Movies' 24-hour salute doesn't run till April 10, Fox Movie Channel jumps in Sunday with a marathon of the infamous 1963 Taylor-Burton "Cleopatra" (6 and 11 a.m., 3:30 and 8:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.). Already on the TCM schedule was Taylor's weird 1970 "Secret Ceremony" (late Friday night at 2 a.m., TCM). Watch TCM Remembers salute at tinyurl.com/4dny35b.

JOAN VS. KATE Well, not really. But you can compare, and certainly contrast, the approach to the same character by two actresses in two eras. First up: Joan Crawford in 1945's "Mildred Pierce" (Saturday night at 8, Turner Classic Movies), the classic noir that adds a murder mystery and more to James M. Cain's novel. Then comes Kate Winslet in director Todd Haynes' new miniseries "Mildred Pierce" (Sunday 9-11:05 p.m., HBO), which returns to the source novel's story of a Depression single mom forging a fresh path in business and love. Guy Pearce and Melissa Leo co-star as the story continues April 3 and 10. (Read more about this Long Island-shot miniseries in Sunday's Fanfare.) Behind-the-scenes video at hbo.com/ mildredpierce.

PHOTO PORTRAITS A famed celebrity shooter explains her art in "Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens" (Saturday night at 8, LOGO), while weather-impacted locales including Hawaii's Big Island dominate the new half-hour series "From the Edge With Peter Lik" (Thursday at 8 p.m., Weather). Meet nature-lover Lik at weather.com/tv.

200 AND COUNTING Hard to believe, but that's how many Syfy Saturday Original Movies they've made. Hitting the big mark: "Scream of the Banshee" (Saturday night at 9, Syfy), with Lauren Holly ("NCIS") and Lance Henriksen ("Millennium"). Celebrate at syfy.com/ movies.

REALITY PREMIERES The re-branded channel Playboy TV launches "a highbrow look at the very lowbrow world of adult entertainment" in "The Stash" (Saturday night at 10, Playboy), where host Rachel Perry satirizes it like "The Soup." Go inside the mines of "Coal" (Wednesday at 10 p.m., Spike) at a West Virginia start-up. "South Beach Classics" (Wednesday at 10 p.m., Discovery) spotlights Miami specialty auto dealer (and Long Island native) Ted Vernon. Video at discovery.com /southbeachclassics.

HOT SOUNDS Britney Spears' Tuesday album drop finds the pop pixie making music on "Good Morning America" (Tuesday 7-9 a.m., ABC/7) and in a 24-hour fuse takeover, including the premiere of "Mad Genius: Britney Spears" (Tuesday at 8 p.m., fuse). Songs even show up on a special musical episode of "Grey's Anatomy" (Thursday at 9 p.m., ABC/7). And the third-season premiere of "Live From the Artists Den" (Friday at 9:30 p.m., WNET/13; April 2 at 10 p.m., WLIW/21) showcases Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes at the New York Public Library. Preview at theartistsden.com.

APRIL FOOLS' DAY There's really only one place to commemorate this Friday -- the full-series marathon of "An Idiot Abroad" (Friday 2:30 p.m.-3 a.m., Science), where Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send hapless Karl Pilkington into uncomfortable situations around the globe. Lunacy online at sciencechannel.com/idiotabroad.