Did you know Jack Warner fired Robert Altman from a virtually forgotten 1967 space-race movie called “Countdown” starring Robert Duvall, James Caan, Michael Murphy and Ted Knight? Warner apparently didn’t like that Altman directed the actors to talk over each other’s dialogue.
Did you know Alfred Hitchcock gave Altman his first network TV job?
Did you know a broke Altman, on the brink of transitioning from TV to movies, used a horserace and a casino to turn his last $200 into $10,000?
Did you know that Daryl Zanuck’s European girlfriends convinced him to leave in all the bloodiest parts of “MASH”? Did you know Altman’s 14-year-old son wrote the lyrics for “Suicide is Painless”?
Did you know “MASH” was such a huge box office and critical success that Fox wanted Altman to direct “MASH II”?
Did you know Altman founded Lion’s Gate Films (which survives beside Paramount and MGM as one of the three owners of Epix)?
There’s a craft services truck full of interesting material in Epix’s “Altman,” including footage of Today Show critic Gene Shalit blasting “Popeye” as “a debacle.” We’re reminded that Altman directed 1971’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” and 1985’s “OC and Stiggs” and 1993’s “Short Cuts” and that the U.K. Lottery solved his budget problems for Julian Fellowes’ 2001 murder mystery “Gosford Park” -- and that Altman was able to get Lindsay Lohan to hold still long enough to make his final movie, 2006’s “Prairie Home Companion.”
You’ll learn a lot, but the big takeaway from this 95-minute documentary is that Altman was able to cram a lot of interesting filmmaking into 81 years.
8 p.m. Wednesday. Epix.
“Big Brother” spoilers lurk in the text invisible.
Christine Won The Power Of Veto and decided not to save either of her best friend Nicole’s nominees.
Either Zach or Jocasta will be the first out the door in Thursday’s big double-eviction episode. The Detonators is planning to blindside Zach, one of its own members.
Premiering tonight:
My Grandmother’s Ravioli (8pm Cooking)
Skin Wars (9pm GSN)
Top Chef Duels (10pm Bravo)
“Big Brother” matched its season Wednesday high, edging out a new episode of NBC’s Howard Stern-fueled powerhouse “America’s Got Talent.”
“Sharknado 2” did a lot better than “Sharknado 1,” emerging as last Wednesday’s top cable show. Part three is in the works.
The Syfy movie even edged out “Duck Dynasty,” which matched its all-time low last Wednesday.
Wednesdays, June 25-July 30, 2014
(adults 18-49; older weeks in parentheses; repeats in gray)
2.3 (2.3) (2.1) (1.9) (1.8) (2.3) Big Brother
2.2 (2.4) (1.3) (1.5) (1.4) (1.3) AGTalent
1.3 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Sharknado 2
1.2 (---) (1.4) (1.4) (1.3) (1.2) Duck Dynasty
1.1 (0.9) (1.1) (1.2) (---) (1.3) Criminal Minds
1.1 (1.1) (1.5) (1.6) (---) (---) Extant
1.1 (1.2) (1.1) (1.4) (1.0) (1.2) Modern Family
1.1 (1.1) (1.0) (1.2) (1.3) (1.4) SYTYCDance
1.1 (1.3) (1.3) (---) (---) (---) Teen Mom
1.0 (0.9) (0.9) (1.1) (0.9) (1.1) The Goldbergs
1.0 (1.0) (0.9) (1.1) (0.9) (1.1) The Middle
1.0 (1.0) (0.8) (0.9) (1.1) (1.0) Taxi Brooklyn
0.9 (0.9) (0.7) (0.7) (---) (0.8) Suits
0.7 (0.6) (0.8) (0.8) (0.6) (0.8) Motive
0.6 (0.6) (0.6) (---) (---) (0.5) The Daily Show
0.5 (0.5) (0.5) (0.7) (0.6) (0.7) Big Smo
0.5 (0.6) (---) (---) (---) (---) Bring It!
0.5 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Fool Us
0.5 (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (---) (0.5) Graceland
0.4 (0.3) (0.4) (---) (---) (0.4) @Midnight
0.4 (0.5) (0.6) (---) (---) (0.5) Colbert Report
0.4 (0.6) (0.4) (0.4) (0.5) (0.4) Hardcore Pawn
0.4 (0.5) (0.3) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) House Hunters
0.4 (0.5) (---) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) House Hunters Intl
0.4 (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.5) Property Brothers
0.4 (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.3) (0.5) Young & Hungry
0.3 (0.5) (---) (0.5) (---) (---) The Bridge
0.3 (0.5) (0.5) (---) (---) (0.5) Conan
0.3 (---) (0.4) (0.4) (---) (---) Drugs Inc.
0.3 (---) (0.4) (0.3) (---) (---) Love Thy Neighbor
0.3 (0.4) (0.5) (---) (---) (---) Virgin Territory
0.2 (0.2) (0.2) (---) (0.2) (0.2) The 100
