Monkey see, monkey do
"The Monkey's Paw" (8 p.m. Friday, Chiller), the short story that scared lots of us as kids, gets the small-screen treatment with C.J. Thomason ("Harper's Island") in the lead role as a man who learns a valuable lesson: If you get three wishes, use them all to acquire nothing more than ham sandwiches.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Forget who gets the hardware. "The 56th Annual Grammy Awards" (7 p.m. Sunday, WCCO, Ch. 4), as the Grammys have been in recent years, are all about the mash-ups. This year's unlikely pairings include pianist Lang Lang jamming with Metallica. Oh, there's also a couple of kids named Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr who may attempt to prove themselves.
Pro-active
The upcoming Winter Olympics and Super Bowl justify the existence of "SNL Presents: Sports All-Stars" (8 p.m. Saturday, KARE, Ch. 11), a collection of classic clips that will almost certainly include Michael Jordan getting coached by Al Franken's Stuart Smalley and Eli Manning standing up for bullied younger brothers.
Mighty matey
The pay channel that brought you "Spartacus" takes its blood-and-skin formula to the high seas in "Black Sails" (8 p.m. Saturday, Starz), a raw prequel to "Treasure Island" with the focus squarely on a gold-seeking Capt. Flint. See Saturday's Variety section for a profile on cast member and Carleton College grad Zach McGowan.
Neal Justin
