Some archetypes never fade away. Inspired by the shocking news that Elvis Presley had been drafted into the Army in 1958, the 1960 Broadway musical “Bye Bye Birdie” (10:45 p.m., TCM) was adapted for the screen in 1963.
The tale of a hip-swiveling heartthrob arriving in a small American town to plant “One Last Kiss” on the lips of an adoring fan (Ann-Margret) live on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” it was exceptional in its day for not treating either television or rock ‘n’ roll with fear or contempt.
Elia Kazan’s 1957 cautionary tale “A Face in the Crowd” featured an Arkansas guitar picker (Andy Griffith) using a TV showcase to usher in American fascism.
Up until “Birdie,” rockers were often depicted as scary leather-jacketed juvenile delinquents and TV was dismissed as “the boob tube” and described in 1960 as a “vast wasteland” by the chairman of the FCC.
Perhaps one reason for the difference in attitude is that the book for “Birdie” was written by Michael Stewart, a writer for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” and other TV showcases. A live series considered a precursor to “Saturday Night Live,” its writing staff would dominate movie, TV and Broadway comedies for a generation. Stewart’s colleagues included Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and others.
Very much a product of the late 1950s youth culture, “Birdie” would go on to endure as a fixture of countless amateur high school musical productions and inspire a 1995 TV adaptation (starring Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams), and perhaps even the Disney “High School Musical” franchise itself.
The film — and Ann-Margret’s performance — was such a cultural touchstone that it became a minor plot point in the “peak TV” period phenomenon “Mad Men.”
Curiously, much of the film’s appeal has nothing to do with teenagers, but concerns the grown-up romantic complications of characters played by Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Maureen Stapleton and Paul Lynde.
Bobby Rydell, the teen star who plays the jealous boyfriend in “Birdie,” died last year. How essential was “Birdie” to the very DNA of the high school musical? Rydell High, the school in “Grease,” was named for him.
— “POV” (10 p.m., PBS) presents “Aurora’s Sunrise,” a harrowing tale of Aurora Mardiganian, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 who escaped to New York. Her first-person account of mass murder was turned into a silent movie epic, “Auction of Souls,” one of the most popular films of its time.
While much of the original movie has been lost to history, “Sunrise” uses stills, brief clips, archival interviews with Aurora’s fellow survivors and extensive animation to recall one woman’s survival and a nation’s near disappearance.
— The Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies clash in Game 6 of the National League MLB playoffs (5 p.m., TruTV). This game is also available to stream live on Max. Max offers livestreams of sporting events from Warner Bros.-owned networks, including TBS, TNT and TruTV. The Sports option will cost Max subscribers an extra $10 per month. It runs as a free preview until the end of February. So, obsessing about March Madness will cost you.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers meet in Monday Night Football action (8 p.m., ABC, ESPN).
— An architect and a professional shopper meet in the 2022 holiday romance “Jolly Good Christmas” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— “30 Coins” (9 p.m., HBO TV-MA), a gothic horror series from Spain, returns for a second season.
— A senator’s daughter is slain on “NCIS” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Poker can be murder in “The Irrational” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
CULT CHOICE
Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin star in Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men” (7 p.m., Showtime). Jones and Jamie Foxx star in the 2023 legal thriller “The Burial,” streaming on Prime Video.
SERIES NOTES
“The Price Is Right at Night” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “Kitchen Nightmares” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “Loteria Loca” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Arlo Parks are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jacob Elordi, Julius Randle and Leslie Liao on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … John Oliver, Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
