Blue Glow

Salon's TV picks for Monday, Dec. 20, 1999

By Joyce Millman

Pages 1

Dec 20, 1999 | Series

Anna Leonowens, the woman played by Jodie Foster in "Anna and the King" (and by Deborah Kerr in "The King and I"), is profiled on a new Biography (8 p.m. EST/9 PST, A&E). Julia Sweeney guests as a lonely co-worker who latches on to Susan on Suddenly Susan (8 p.m., NBC). The King of Queens (8 p.m., CBS) reruns last year's hilarious Christmas episode in which Arthur gifts Carrie and Doug with the world's smallest car. On back-to-back reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond (8:30 p.m., CBS), Ray and Debra can't find any time to be alone on Christmas, and an argument over a can opener becomes the Barones' "Rashomon." On this year's Christmas episode of Ally McBeal (9 p.m., Fox), Elaine finds an abandoned baby and goes to court to keep him. Great Performances (check local times, PBS) presents the American Ballet Theatre's production of "Le Corsair."

Specials

The two-hour documentary Twelve Apostles: History's Great Revolutionaries (9 p.m. EST/10 PST, History Channel) profiles Jesus' first 12 followers. Martin Sheen narrates.

Sports

Football:
Packers at Vikings (9 p.m., ABC)

Talk

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro
David Letterman (CBS) Tom Brokaw, Alex Kingston
Jay Leno (NBC) Norm Macdonald, Embeth Davidtz
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Roberto Benigni, Salma Hayek (rerun)

Recent Stories

Bedtime for "Gonzo"
Alex Gibney talks about his Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side" and his new look at Hunter S. Thompson, American hero. (Plus: Audio podcast.)
On the dopeness of "The Wackness"
In this interview and podcast, director Jonathan Levine talks about how Holden Caulfield met Rudy Giuliani and Biggie in the heartbroken, heat-stricken New York summer of 1994.
Japanese film's not-so-new new wave
Asia's greatest cinema power never really lost its mojo. But 10 years after Kurosawa's death, Japanese movies are hotter (and weirder) than ever.
Good night and good TV
"The Newsroom" does for the talking heads what "The Office" does for cubicle dwellers -- and may be the funniest TV show ever made about the news business.
"Hancock"
This story of a seriously flaked-out superhero shows us the limits of Will Smith's superpowers.

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