How soon is too soon? With the Iowa caucuses some three weeks away, the “Democratic Presidential Debate” (9 p.m., CNN) no longer seems premature. Last year’s endless and crowded debates seemed a tad early, but they did allow some serious long shots to claim their 15 minutes of fame.
Andy Warhol coined the phrase “15 minutes of fame” back when each day included some 30 minutes of network TV news. Before 1963, network news ran for only 15 minutes. No wonder things seemed more important back then.
Endless cable chatter and social media buzz tend to prove the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt. Or indifference.
Despite the availability of a gazillion media outlets, some candidates find themselves ignored and must attempt desperate measures to get “on TV.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard entered January 2020 by donning a wetsuit to go surfing in New Hampshire. It barely made a blip on the media radar. And it didn’t get her on tonight’s stage. Look for Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren live from Des Moines, Iowa.
Candidate Mike Bloomberg will not be on the debate stage, but will appear on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS).
— Over on PBS, “Frontline” (9 p.m., check local listings) wraps up its four-hour documentary look at “America’s Great Divide: Obama to Trump.”
The strangest things divide us. It’s been only three years since 2016 when whole swaths of the country seemed on the verge of civil strife over the all-female reboot of “Ghostbusters.” Seriously, it’s the little things.
More than a million people took time to “dislike” the movie’s trailer on YouTube. That’s before it was even released.
Much like a wildfire, the controversy over the movie seemed to pop up in different places all at once. Did people “hate” it because it “dishonored” the original? Or because of the gender politics of its casting? Were people who carped about Leslie Jones’s role in the movie expressing racism toward the actress? Or protesting what some perceived to be the racist undertones of her character?
Jones, who took the brunt of the “Ghostbusters” abuse, returns today with a Netflix special, “Leslie Jones: Time Machine,” her first comedy vehicle since leaving “SNL.”
The title refers to her routine, which examines life (mostly her own) from the vantage point of different decades. At one point she compares the prayers of a 23-year-old to that of her 52-year-old self. Many of the concerns are the same, but with nuanced changes in emphasis.
It seems strange to recall Jones and “Ghostbusters” in light of “important” subjects like the polarization of the country or a candidates’ debate, but irrational and divisive passions have a way of manifesting in the strangest ways.
TV-themed DVDs available today include the first season of “You” and the seventh and final season of “Veep.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The clock ticks on “The Resident” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Kevin’s quest for love on “This Is Us” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A safety deposit box holds vital secrets on “FBI” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A mother vents her rage at her son’s sentencing on “FBI: Most Wanted” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— The lockdown puts lives in danger on “New Amsterdam” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Piper puts her life on the line on “Emergence” (10 p.m., ABC).
CULT CHOICE
— A wiseacre Marine (Matthew Modine) undergoes a sadistic basic training and is shipped to Vietnam just in time for the Tet Offensive in director Stanley Kubrick’s epic “Full Metal Jacket” (7 p.m., IFC, TV-MA).
SERIES NOTES
After the crash of an F-18 fighter, the pilot vanishes on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Prizes galore on “Ellen’s Game of Games” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … The Paragons seek escape on “Arrow” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
Jersey Shore drama on “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell and Back” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … Track and field on “mixed-ish” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Rip Hunter to the rescue on “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Dre hovers over Junior on “black-ish” (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Tyler Perry, Yara Shahidi and Black Pumas on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Will Smith and Michael Cruz Kayne visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
