Peyton looks for history’s GOATs
The countdown to Super Bowl LVII is well underway. Almost certain to draw an audience north of 100 million viewers, it creates its own ratings ecosystem, inspiring programming from every corner of the schedule trying to grab a sliver of attention.
“History’s Greatest of All Time With Peyton Manning” (10 p.m., History, TV-PG) applies the sportscentric GOAT criteria to all manner of individuals, events and buildings from down the centuries.
In a promotional clip, Manning assures us that “Greatest” won’t be just about sports. Over eight episodes, Manning will consult with hundreds of experts to determine just who can be considered history’s greatest titan of industry or which popular candy can wear the GOAT wrapper. There’s a search for the world’s most amazing daredevil, the sportiest sportscar and the most fabled sports stadium.
That last question kicks off the proceedings and demonstrates the relative absurdity of the endeavor. I can’t imagine serious historians or architects comparing the relative merits of the Roman Colosseum and Chicago’s Wrigley Field. But I can picture a loud argument taking place in a sports bar, where customers tend to argue and gamble on the most arcane subjects. Name history’s most dynamic duo — and convince me it’s not Sonny & Cher!
Manning participated in four Super Bowls and twice emerged as a victorious quarterback. He retired from the NFL in 2016 and has since become a fixture in prime time. Since 2021, he has hosted NBC’s revival of “College Bowl,” with his brother Cooper as his sidekick. He and his brother Eli have also been hosting an ESPN2 alternative to “Monday Night Football,” offering color commentary reflecting years of on-field experience and sibling rivalry hijinks. Eli “only” played in two Super Bowls, but the Giants won both times, giving him as many rings as his big brother. So who is the greatest Manning quarterback of all time?
› Even “Independent Lens” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) anticipates the big game. Most known for documentaries of a personal and often political bent, “Lens” presents “Outta the Muck,” a film about the ability of football to transform students, coaches and a beleaguered community.
The “Muck” in the title refers to the rich soil in and around Pahokee, Florida, a town on the banks of Lake Okeechobee, that has seen its downtown decline, homes abandoned and businesses flee. It has also sent more than a dozen players to the NFL, inspired by coaches determined not to let hard times stand in the way of their students’ dreams.
› Acorn streams the second season of “Bloodlands,” starring Irish actor James Nesbitt as a Belfast detective whose beat includes a demimonde of criminals and killers with ties to the political terrorism that haunted the city’s not-so-distant past.
› Katharine Hepburn portrays Jo March in the 1933 adaptation of “Little Women” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-G), a role later played by June Allyson (1949); Winona Ryder (1994); Sarah Davenport (2018) and Saoirse Ronan (2019). There have been no fewer than eight television adaptations of “Little Women,” not to mention the reality series that borrows the title to explore issues of dwarfism. There were at least two silent adaptations of the Louisa May Alcott book that preceded this 1933 film, which was directed by George Cukor.