TV for those who remember the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s — and those who wish they could
If you haven’t seen the 1969 film “Monterey Pop” in awhile (or have never seen it), check out “Monterey 40,” (Saturday at 9 p.m. on VH1 and VH1 Classic), a new “Rock Docs” film chronicling the 40th anniversary of that landmark rock festival. The doc captures the event in all in its counter-culture grooviness.
Unlike Woodstock (two summers later), the June 1967 Monterey Pop festival — which featured bands from San Francisco (Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother & The Holding Company), Los Angeles (The Byrds, Mamas & Papas), England (The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and elsewhere (Simon & Garfunkel, Ravi Shankar, Otis Redding and Hugh Masekela) — was not the focus of major media attention.
It may have been big news on the West Coast, but I recall seeing no coverage of it any New York-area newspapers at the time nor was it even acknowledged at on WOR-FM, New York’s pioneering FM rock station.
There are too many incredible performances to list here, but check out this one by Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother & the Holding Company.
Warm up for “Monterey 40” with “Hippies” (Friday at 8 p.m., History Channel), a documentary about the folks we once called “flower children.” And if you really can’t get enough, there’s also “American Experience’s” “Summer of Love” rerun late Sunday/early Monday at midnight.
MOVIES
M*A*S*H (Friday, 8 and 11:30 p.m., FMC) — The dark 1970 comedy from Larry Gelbart that inspired the hit TV series. Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland and Sally Kellerman. Watch an interview with director Robert Altman here.
Reefer Madness (Midnight, late Friday/early Saturday, IFC) — Not made in the ‘60s, but this 1936 movie sure found a willing audience among counterculturalists who hooted at its over-the-top anti-pot message. Don't freak out when you see this.
All the President’s Men (Saturday at 10 p.m., WNET/13) -- Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman “follow the money” and help bring down the Nixon administration. It’s followed at 12:20 a.m. by “Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History,” with interviews with many key Watergate figures including Redford and Hoffman, I mean Woodward and Bernstein. At this point in time, you may click on the trailer to the 1976 film here.
The Exorcist (late Saturday/early Sunday, 1 a.m., FUSE) — Hey, any chance to see Linda Blair’s head spin again is cool, but what the hell is this movie doing on this music-video channel?
AND CHECK THIS OUT:
Sam Cooke: Legend (Saturday at Noon, WLIW/21) — No-warts portrait of the smooth-voiced singer of “You Send Me,” “Cupid” and many other hits. Sam performs "Blowin' in the Wind" in this rare clip from "Shindig" in 1964, a few months before his death.