Weekend TV: 'CSI: NY,' Oscar 'Salute' and ceremony

by Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

Posted February 21, 2013

CSI: NY | CBS, Friday, 9 ET/PT

The dull stepchild of the CSI family comes to an early seasonal and, considering how many hits CBS has and how few open time slots it has available, possibly series finale. True, there aren't a lot of producers clamoring for a Friday time slot - but there certainly should be people fighting to put stars Gary Sinise and Sela Ward to better use than they are here. Ward, in particular, has been a brave soldier for CBS, stepping into this show when the network needed her. It's time for her to claim her reward.

TCM Oscar Salute | TCM, Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET/6:30 a.m. PT

TV's best movie outlet salutes the Academy Awards with a run of four Oscar-winning best pictures, mixed in with one loser people now prefer to the winner. The marathon kicks off in the morning with The Bridge on the River Kwai, followed by Lawrence of Arabia (12:30 ET/9:30 PT); Gandhi (4:30 ET/1:30 PT) and one of the now better-regarded films it beat, Tootsie (8 ET/5 PT); and Kramer vs. Kramer (10:15 ET/7:15 PT). All are worth watching - but you probably don't want to watch Lawrence on a tiny screen. It just won't do the cinematography justice.

The Academy Awards | ABC, Sunday, 7 ET/4 PT

The weekend's big event, of course, is the Oscars, which boasts a new host in Seth MacFarlane, new producers in Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, and a grander-than-usual lineup of musical performers, including Barbra Streisand, Adele, Shirley Bassey, Jennifer Hudson and Kristin Chenoweth. Last year, Oscar lost the most-watched-entertainment-program crown to the Grammys. We'll see if this year's more highly anticipated broadcast can reclaim it.