Super what?
Consider the alternatives
By Todd Leopold
CNN
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Some of the "Survivor" all-stars: (clockwise from top left) Rudy Boesch, Jenna Lewis, Ethan Zohn, Tina Wesson, Rupert Boneham and Jerri Manthey.
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ON CNN TV
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"Eye on Entertainment" talks about the weekend's happenings on CNN's "Live Today" between 10 a.m. and noon EST Thursday.
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(CNN) -- The beers are cold. The chips are out. The pizza's been ordered.
And, across America, as people watch the Most Boring Game of the Year -- some sitting in crowded living rooms at parties, others with just a handful of close friends -- they can't help but wonder: What else is on?
Oh, sure, nobody dares change the channel from the Super Bowl. After all, the Most Boring Game of the Year may actually be exciting this time around, although an admittedly unscientific poll reveals fully 69 percent of Super Bowls have been as boring as watching Chuck Noll chew gum.
C'mon, people. This game is taking place two weeks after the conference championships, always a momentum killer. One team will be up, the other will be down, and the next thing you know the score will be 30-9 and you'll be saying, "Not another smug Pepsi ad."
So: What else IS on?
Eye on Entertainment has your viewing guide.
Eye-opener
OK, first a word about this year's Super Bowl, No. XXXVIII by declaration of the NFL tribunes. (The game starts at 6:25 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS; the pregame coverage started last Tuesday.)
Both teams are capable of surprises. The New England Patriots have a good defense and a wily offense, the Carolina Panthers have ... well, I'm not sure what they have, but they're in the Super Bowl, so they must have something. So it could be an interesting game.
Yeah, right.
Anyway, ABC is showing an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (yes, it's still on) followed by the Hugh Grant-Julia Roberts movie "Notting Hill." NBC starts with a "Dateline NBC" and follows that with three hours of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."
Yes, that's why they call it counterprogramming.
You can always count on Fox for class, but instead of an "America's Most Rabid Animals" special, the network is copping out with a rerun of the movie "Independence Day." (Don't worry, later in the week there's a special called "That's Just Wrong.") The weird stuff is over on The WB, which is having a "Surreal Life" marathon.
All right, how about cable? MTV's running a "Cribs" marathon. TLC has a "Trading Spaces" marathon. Court TV has a "Forensic Files" marathon. A&E's got a "Murder, She Wrote" marathon. Bravo's got a "Gay Weddings" marathon. And I can't find it, but I'm sure somebody's probably got a "Law & Order" marathon, a "Star Trek" marathon, or a James Bond marathon.
HBO does have new episodes of "Sex and the City" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and there are plenty of movies (including Day 1 of Turner Classic Movies' "31 Days of Oscar," this night starring "Psycho" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"). And the "Lingerie Bowl" is still allegedly available on pay-per-view, despite sponsorship problems.
But the pickins do look slim. I guess we may as well sit back and watch the game.
(The WB, HBO and Turner Classic Movies are all divisions of Time Warner, for what it's worth.)
On screen
• There's always the movies. The Oscar nominees are either still in theaters or about to come back, and they'll be joined by "The Big Bounce," starring Morgan Freeman, Owen Wilson, Gary Sinise and Sara Foster in a film version of an Elmore Leonard book. On the other hand, despite the cast, the calendar says January, so it's likely this will be a dog. Opens Friday.
• A bunch of students -- including Scarlett Johansson -- try to game the system by stealing the SAT in "The Perfect Score." Allegedly, they're less concerned with their scores than the way the test will pigeonhole them. Hey kids, wait till you grow up. Opens Friday.
On the tube
• If the Super Bowl doesn't put you to sleep, CBS has a treat: "Survivor: All-Stars," featuring some of the most notable contestants of "Survivors" past. About 10:30 p.m. EST, Sunday, CBS.
Sound waves
• TLC was one of the biggest hit-making groups of the '90s. The trio's songs, including "Creep," "Waterfalls," "No Scrubs" and "Unpretty," will finally be available on a greatest hits album, "Now and Forever: The Hits" (BMG). Due Tuesday.
• Harry Connick Jr. croons again, this time some favorites from the '50s and '60s ("My Prayer," "For Once in My Life," "Save the Last Dance for Me"), on "Only You" (Sony). Due Tuesday.
Paging readers
• Every February, like clockwork, John Grisham releases a new book. His new one, "The Last Juror" (Doubleday), concerns a murderer who makes a dramatic promise and the small-town newspaper that makes a mint off his sensational trial. But the murderer gets out of jail nine years later, and he's looking for revenge. Due Tuesday.
• February 9 marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first appearance on "Ed Sullivan," and a lot of Beatles-related material is being timed to the date. One book, "Two of Us" (Houghton Mifflin), by Peter Smith, uses the Fab Four to trace the relationship between a father and son. Due Wednesday.
Video center
• Two Oscar-nominated films are due out on DVD Tuesday: "Lost in Translation," which earned nominations for director-screenwriter Sofia Coppola, star Bill Murray, and for best picture; and "American Splendor," starring Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis, which is up for best adapted screenplay.
