#Hallmark Salutes Betty White, Civil Rights Documentaries on TCM, NFL Wild Card, ‘NCIS’ vs. Terrorists

Betty White would have turned 100 today, and Hallmark Channel pays tribute with a Golden Girls marathon and a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Turner Classic Movies presents an evening of civil rights documentaries from the Chicago-based The Film Group. Arizona plays L.A. in the NFL’s final Wild Card game. NCIS takes on terrorists at sea.

The Lost Valentine

In honor of Betty White, who passed away New Year’s Eve just shy of what would have been her 100th birthday on Jan. 17, Hallmark celebrates her centennial with an epic 40-episode marathon of The Golden Girls starting at 12 am/ET and continuing through 5 am/ET on Tuesday. The laughs take a pause in the evening for some tear-jerking, courtesy of The Lost Valentine, a 2011 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie starring White as a WWII war widow whose interview with a TV journalist (Jennifer Love Hewitt) leads to news about the fate of her long-missing war-hero husband in the 1940s. Also honoring Betty White for her lifelong advocacy of animals: Nat Geo WILD, with a special presentation of 2013’s Betty White Goes Wild at 9/8c, 6/PT, in which she shares her love for big cats by visiting zoos in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute

In honor of the late civil-rights leader, TCM presents an evening of documentaries produced by The Film Group, a Chicago-based unit that shifted from industrial films and advertising to socially conscious documentaries after witnessing the turbulent events of the 1968 Democratic Convention. Highlights include 1969’s American Revolution 2 (8/7c), which includes footage of the protests and riots in Chicago, and 1971’s The Murder of Fred Hampton (10/9c), intended as a profile of Hampton and his leadership of Illnois’ Black Panther Party until his assassination midway through production. (These events also inspired the 2021 film Judas and the Black Messiah.)

Monday Night Football

Seems like old times for Monday Night Football to air ABC as well as ESPN (and ESPN 2, ESPN Deportes and associated live-streaming services), when the NFC’s #5 Arizona Cardinals take on the #4 Rams in Los Angeles to close out the holiday weekend’s Wild Card mania.

NCIS

There’s high action at sea when the NCIS crew heads to the North Atlantic to board a civilian research vessel that intercepted wounded Navy officers in a small boat. Once on board, they’re forced to take cover and head when they realize there are terrorists afoot. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for Agent Knight (Katrina Law) to bring aboard a paper doll to photograph for her niece’s grade-school class. Although depending on what condition it’s in after the dust settles, it could be perfect for show and tell.

Inside Monday TV:

• 30th Anniversary Bounce Trumpet Awards (8/7c, Bounce): Among those honored for their contributions to the African-American community: This Is Us star Courtney B. Vance, R&B star Tyrese Gibson, producer Stan Lathan (Def Comedy Jam) and Scripps National Spelling Bee winner Zaila Avant-garde.
• Urban One Honors (8/7c, TV One and Cleo TV): With the theme “The Soundtrack of Black America,” Grammy winners Ne-Yo (host) and Grammy-winning H.E.R. (opening act) help honor Jennifer Hudson (Entertainment Icon), Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Lifetime Achievement), Gamble and Huff (Living Legends), Timbaland (Music Innovation) and Tasha Cobbs-Leonard (Inspiration Impact).
• The Neighborhood (8/7c, CBS): Midlife crisis alert: With Dave (Max Greenfield) nearing his 40th birthday, neighbor Dave (Cedric the Entertainer) offers to help coach him for an amateur boxing tournament. Will there be a training montage?
• A Reckoning in Boston (10/9c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): Independent Lens lives up to its title with this insightful documentary about racial and economic inequality. When white filmmaker James Rutenbeck visited a Boston night school, he realized that the story would better be told by his subjects, who became producing partners for a revealing look at the political and social barriers facing low-income people of color.