Best-bets for Jan. 2: big bowls, big movies

1) Orange Bowl, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. The Texas A&M (shown here) players fumed when they were passed over for the four national-championship slots; ranked No. 5, they face North Carolina (No. 24). That ends an ESPN triple-header, with the Gator Bowl (North Carolina State and Kentucky) at noon and the Fiesta Bowl (Oregon and Iowa State) at 4 p.m. Also, ABC has the Outback Bowl (Mississippi and Indiana) at 12:30. Read more…

1) Orange Bowl, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. The Texas A&M (shown here) players fumed when they were passed over for the four national-championship slots; ranked No. 5, they face North Carolina (No. 24). That ends an ESPN triple-header, with the Gator Bowl (North Carolina State and Kentucky) at noon and the Fiesta Bowl (Oregon and Iowa State) at 4 p.m. Also, ABC has the Outback Bowl (Mississippi and Indiana) at 12:30.

2) “The Rookie,” 10 p.m., ABC. On the eve of this show’s long-delayed season-opener, here’s a rerun of the episode that sets it up. Nolan, the 40-something police rookie, is closing in on details of corruption by his mentor … but now he may become the suspect. We’ll learn more at 10 p.m. Sunday.

3) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Here’s a rerun of the episode – a good one – with John Mulaney hosting and The Strokes as music guests. That was on Halloween; eight weeks later, Mulaney – who has been frank about his alcohol and drug problems – checked into a rehab center.

4) “9-1-1” and “9-1-1: Lone Star,” 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. As the college-football season ends, Saturdays become more of a home for drama reruns. Tonight, that includes “Magnum” and “Blue Bloods” on CBS and these two on Fox: Fun ideas go bad at a gender-reveal party and on a little girl’s hot-air balloon ride. Also, bad ideas go worse: Someone steals a tree-trimmer truck and causes a black-out.

5) “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), 4 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Living up to its name, TCM offers three all-time classics today – films that have nothing in common except for talented directors from England. “Lawrence” is David Lean’s sprawling epic … “City Lights” (1931), at 8 p.m., is Charlie Chaplin’s sweet-spirited silent film … “Vertigo” (1958), at 9:45, is an Alfred Hitchcock adventure.

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