UPDATE with OWN and TCM plans: Turner Classic Movies has scheduled a 24-hour film tribute to the late Debbie Reynolds for Friday, January 27, starting at 6 AM ET. Reynolds, who died Wednesday, one day after the death of daughter Carrie Fisher, became a sensation starring with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor in the MGM musical Singin’ In The Rain (1952) and received her only Oscar nomination for the title role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). Those films will air at 6 PM ET and 8 PM ET, respectively, during the 12-title marathon.
The network previously scheduled a nationwide big-screen showing of Reynolds’ breakout role in Singin’ In The Rain on January 15 and January 18 as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series, in partnership with Fathom events.
OWN also said today that on January 5 at 10 PM it will re-air a 2011 The Oprah Winfrey Show episode that featured Reynolds and Fisher. Topics discussed during hte hour-long episode included their relationship, the Elizabeth Taylor scandal, and Fisher’s battle with mental health issues. They also sang together.
PREVIOUS, December 29: HBO said today that it will re-air Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking at 9 PM on New Year’s Day on the main HBO channel.
Debuting in 2010, the feature-length adaptation of Fisher’s hit autobiographical stage production tells the intoxicating tale of Fisher’s life, combining her raucous one-woman stage performance, interviews with family and friends and archival footage. Produced and directed by World of Wonder’s Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, the special was nominated for two Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.
Fisher was developing a sequel to Wishful Drinking at the time of her death, Geffen Playhouse confirmed this week. Meanwhile,
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HBO is set to TV-debut early next year its documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. The HBO Documentary Films feature, directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens and executive produced by HBO’s Sheila Nevins and RatPac’s Brett Ratner, had its world premiere at Cannes in May.
Fisher died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack last Friday while flying back to Los Angeles from London; her mother, Reynolds, died Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Logo just announced that it’s re-doing its schedule for Friday and Saturday for tributes to Reynolds.
Beginning at 5 PM Friday, the network will present a seven-hour Will & Grace marathon, featuring episodes in which Reynolds appeared as the mother of Debra Messing’s Grace Adler character. That block will be followed by an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race in which Reynolds served as a guest judge, after which Logo will show a Roseanne episode that featured Reynolds and was written by Fisher. Episodes of Golden Girls will follow at 1:30-2:30 AM Saturday, including one featuring Reynolds. Logo will re-air the Will & Grace block at 8 AM ET.
