1) Figure-skating gala, 11:30 p.m. ET, NBC. Here’s one of the highlights of the winter games – no rules, no judges, just skilled skaters entertaining us. That includes the medal winners and, sometimes, others. We can expect to see the gold-medalists, including the French ice-dance duo (shown here) and Nathan Chen of the U.S.; we’ll also see the winners of the pairs finals, which air from 6-10 a.m. today on the USA Network. That will rerun in NBCs primetime (8-11 p.m. ET) … just before we see the medalists have gala fun.
2) More Olympics. It’s tie for the men’s hockey finals. The bronze-medal game is at 8 a.m. ET on CNBC, with the gold-medal game at 11:10 p.m. on USA. There’s more – mainly taped coverage – all day on USA. NBC is from 2:30-6 p.m. and from 8-11 p.m. ET, including live coverage of the four-man bobsled finals.
3) “In the Heat of the Night” (1957), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Sidney Poitier, who died last month at 94, had a great career. Now a 24-hour Poitier marathon starts with his biggest crowd-pleaser: “Heat” won five Oscars, including best film and best actor (Rod Steiger). It’s followed by “The Defiant Ones” (1958) at 10 p.m. ET, “A Warm December” (1972) at midnight, “Cry, the Beloved Country” (1952) at 2 a.m., and “Something of Value” (1957) at 4.
4) “The King’s Man” (2021), 8 p.m., HBO. There have already been two “Kingsman” movies, one (2014) well-done and the other (2017) overdone. Now we get a prequel, a fictional tale with Ralph Fiennes starting England’s secret service. That arrives (just two months after opening in theaters) on a good day for British spies. Sundance has a James Bond marathon from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m., led by “Dr. No” (1962) at 5 and 10 p.m. and “Goldfinger” (1964) at 7:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
5) “Attenborough’s Global Adventure,” 8 p.m., BBC America. Now for a real-life Englishman who matches the fictional Bond in longevity and worldwide adventures. In the visually splendid mid-section of a three-Saturday series, he ranges from a Borneo cave with a million bats to the Galapagos beaches, where giant seals lack their usual companions – tiny, fly-eating lizards.
— Mike Hughes, TV America