Innauguration takes the spotlight
Tom Hanks hosts “Celebrating America” (8:30 p.m., CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS (8 p.m.), CNN (8 p.m.) MSNBC, YouTube, Twitch, Amazon Prime and Fox’s NewsNow. As with many celebrations, public aspects of the inauguration have taken a back seat to COVID. Gone are the parades, crowds and balls.
That’s too bad. Inaugural balls are often big parties for the incoming team and a kind of high school prom for those who worked tirelessly on campaigns and plan (or hope) to work for the new administration. I recall the inaugural coverage in 1993, when C-SPAN simply parked cameras at the top of an escalator leading to a ball. You got to take in the glamour and gowns as well as the mundane aspects of it all.
“Celebrating America” is the culmination of five days of celebration. Tonight’s “show” will feature appearances and performances by Jon Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, Ant Clemons, Foo Fighters, John Legend and Bruce Springsteen, among others. Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington will introduce acts and pretaped segments during the spectacle. President Biden and Vice President Harris will offer remarks.
The arrival of a new president offers a bookmark of sorts in both history and pop culture. Glancing back at old columns, it’s interesting to note that on Saturday, January 20, 2001, most networks were following inauguration events, but ABC aired figure skating championships featuring Michelle Kwan, Sarah Hughes and Sasha Cohen.
The television schedule for Tuesday, January 20, 2009, included listings for “Fringe,” “The Mentalist” and the big enchilada of programming in the first decade of this century, “American Idol.” It’s no surprise to see “NCIS” on that schedule as well.
January 20, 2017, was well into the streaming era. Netflix was introducing a Canadian historical epic, “Frontier” starring Jason Momoa. The schedule contained
“Grimm,” “Rosewood,” “Emerald City,” “Sleepy Hollow,” and, it being a Friday, “Blue Bloods.”
› TCM salutes the new president with a daylong thematic marathon of movies linked by a single name. The list includes “Ode to Billy Joe” (6 a.m., TV-PG), “Polo Joe” (8 a.m., TV-G), “The Fabulous Joe” (9:30 a.m., TV-G), “The Story of G.I. Joe” (10:45 a.m., TV-14), “Joe Smith, American” (12:45 p.m., TV-PG), “A Guy Named Joe” (2 p.m., TV-G), “Pal
Joey” (4:15 p.m., TV-14) and “Mighty Joe Young” (6:15 p.m., TV-G). You might need a cup of joe to sit through them all!
› Columns compiled on future inauguration days may note today’s fifth season premiere of “Riverdale” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) and the return of “Nancy Drew” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) for a second season. Apparently, Jughead and Betty have been busy.