Briefs for March 25-26, 2016

Season in Tyrol is back on the TCM schedule, for tonight at 7:41 PM, or following Watership Down (6:00 PM, 92 min). Other than the fact that this doesn't seem to have been filmed in widescreen and looks as if it is in need of a restoration, it's actually a pretty decent short, helped by the fact that its subject matter is just so darn picturesque.

A short that I've mentioned quite a few more times, Calgary Stampede, will be on tomorrow morning at 11:40 AM, following the Bowery Boys movie Master Minds (10:30 AM, 64 min). This one shows up every February on TCM during 31 Days of Oscar since it was nominated for an Academy Award. But if you haven't seen it during February, it's still worth watching.

Easter is this weekend, coming early due to vagaries in the calendar. TCM isn't doing anything until Sunday morning itself, when we get the sort of movis you'd expect TCM to air. FXM, of course, isn't doing anything either. ABC should be airing The Ten Commandments at 8:00 PM Saturday Eastern and Pacific. The movie is, according to IMDb 220 min, and ABC is running it in a slot that runs until 12:45 AM, or 285 minutes. Either that's quite a bit fewer commercials than normal, or ABC is cutting some stuff from the movie. The movie was also in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, so what's cropped from the sides shouldn't be that much worse than when an Academy-ratio movie would air in the old 4:3 days.

Earl Hamner, Jr. has died at the age of 92. Hamner wrote the material for Spencer's Mountain, which would later be reworked and made into the popular 1970s TV series The Waltons.