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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

91.7 Things To Watch Instead Of Ryan Seacrest and Bengals

MGM
Clips from Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor from "Singin' In The Rain" appear in "That's Entertainment!"

For those of you who don't want to watch Ryan Seacrest's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" or the Bengals last game of the season, here are 91.7 viewing suggestions for the New Year's weekend.

1-10. Harry Potter weekend: It's all Harry, all the time on Disney's Freeform, starting with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (7:30 a.m. Saturday),  followed by "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (10:30 a.m. Saturday); "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2:30 p.m.); "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (5:30 p.m.); "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (9 p.m.).They repeat Sunday along with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" (5:30 p.m. Sunday) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" (9:58 p.m. Sunday).

11. Purple Rain: VH1 salutes Prince, who died in April, with his 1984 film showcasing his music (4:30 p.m. Saturday, VH1).  

12. 2016 BET Awards:  Jennifer Hudson, Stevie Wonder, Tori Kelly, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Maxwell and Sheila E. performed Prince's greatest hits during the June awards show. (5:58-10 p.m. Saturday,  BET).

Credit MGM
"Wizard of Oz" highlights appear in "That's Entertainment!"

13. Ohio State vs. Clemson: Semi-final game for the national college football championship (7:10 p.m. Saturday, ESPN).

14-15.That's Entertainment!: See great clips from MGM musicals – including Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor in "Singin' in the Rain" and Judy Garland's "Wizard of Oz" – and with Bing Crosby, Liza Minnelli, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Michey Rooney, Jimmy Durante, Ava Gardner, Lena Horne, Ann Miller, Howard Keel, Hermione Gingold and dozens of other performers in "That's Entertainment!" (8 p.m. Saturday, TCM) and "That's Entertainment, Part 2" (10:30 p.m. Saturday, TCM).

16. Austin City Limits Hall of Fame New Year's Eve:  Ring in the new year on PBS with B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and Rodney Crowell (10 p.m. Saturday on WPTO-TV Channel 14; and 11 p.m. Saturday on WCET-TV Channel 48).

Credit ABC Television
Burt Reynolds

17-19. Smokey and the Bandit: Nothing like a lot of car chases to start the new year with CMTV' Burt Reynolds trilogy Sunday: "Smokey and the Bandit" (noon); "Smokey and the Bandit II" (2:30 p.m. Sunday, CMTV); and "Smokey and the Bandit 3 (5 p.m. Sunday, CMTV).

20-24. Hitchcock classics: Want more drama than the Bengals-Ravens (1 p.m. Sunday, Channel 12), two teams out of the NFL playoff picture? Catch Alfred Hitchcock's best on TCM Sunday: "Psycho" (1:30 p.m.); "Marnie" (3:30 p.m.), "The Birds" (5:45 p.m.); "Vertigo" (8 p.m.); and "Rear Window" (10:10 p.m.).

25. Apollo 13: Houston, we have a problem on the History Channel: Tom Hanks' "Apollo 13" (5 p.m.).

26. Now More Than Ever: The History Of Chicago: Does anybody know what time it is? Time to watch the new documentary about the rock band. (8 p.m. Sunday, CNN).

Credit Provided by Mark Dawidziak / CBS Television
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CBS Television
Rod Serling

27-91.7: The Twilight Zone: Syfy again ends and starts the year with Rod Serling's classic science-fiction series, "The Twilight Zone" (8 a.m. Saturday to Sunday midnight).

Or you could binge-watch marathons of "The Walkiing Dead (Saturday-Sunday on AMC), "Counting Cars" (Saturday on History), "Storage Wars" (A&E); or "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday on Nickelodeon).

Or you could listen to the radio, of course!

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.