Labor Day 2012: Our Guide to All the TV and Movie Marathons
Labor Day weekend is that one time of year when we get an extra day to kick our feet up on the coffee table and gorge on our favorite comfort foods, which is why it’s also the perfect time to enjoy a movie or series marathon on the tube.
The great thing about Labor Day marathons is that there’s virtually something for everyone to enjoy and they run all weekend long. The bad thing? There’s way too much out there, making it next to impossible to decide what you’re in the mood for. That’s where we come in.
To hopefully give some order to the swirl of TV and movie listings, we’ve put together the ultimate guide to all the best of Labor Day weekend, beginning with Saturday, September 1, and finishing at midnight on Monday, September 3.
Saturday
USA’s Bad Boy Movie Marathon: Finally, all your favorite “bad boys” from the big screen will be together on Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. However, the USA network seems to have a different idea of what a bad boy really is, considering Captain Jack Sparrow is part of this list.
- ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,’ 12:00 p.m.
- ‘Friday,’ 4:00 p.m.
- ‘Next Friday,’ 6:00 p.m.
- ‘Bad Boys II,’ 8:00 p.m.
‘Doctor Who‘: BBC reserved the entire day on Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to bring you a marathon of your favorite time traveling alien adventurer known as The Doctor. While you’re waiting for the much-anticipated season 7, catch up on some of the episodes you may have missed.
‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Star Wars’: Every night is ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Star Wars’ night on Spike TV Labor Day weekend. Starting on Saturday, the network will be airing ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Jurassic Park III,’ ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,’ ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’ all weekend.
- ‘Jurassic Park’: Saturday, Sept. 1, 3:00 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 2, 12:00 p.m.
- ‘Jurassic Park III’: Saturday, Sept. 1, 6:00 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 2, 3:00 p.m.
- ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’: Saturday, Sept. 1, 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 2, 5:00 p.m.
- ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’: Sunday, Sept. 2, 8:00 p.m.; Monday, Sept. 3, 5:00 p.m.
- ‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’: Monday, Sept. 3, 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Sunday
‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey’: Bravo wants you to forget all your problems and worries this Labor Day weekend by focusing on someone else’s. From 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, it’s all about your favorite table-flipping, sun bathing, rumor-starting, Garden State housewives.
‘How I Met Your Mother’ Marathon: Whether you love it or hate it, it’s comin’ no matter what. Barney, Marshall and the gang are taking over FX for a half-day of ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ going from 7:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
‘Law & Order: SVU’ Marathon: Can’t get enough of Stabler and Olivia? Well, the USA network is answering your prayers this Labor Day weekend by giving you an entire day filled with the duo solving the worst of crimes in ‘Law & Order: SVU.’ It may not be the best thing for kids to watch, so if some will be heading to your house on Sunday, avoid USA from 10:00 a.m. ’till 11:00 p.m.
‘The Andy Griffith Show’ Marathon: Even though Andy Griffith passed, we can still remember all his great TV moments when TV Land airs a mini-marathon of ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday
Superhero Movie Marathon: Encore Channel will be your go-to destination for re-watching your favorite superhero movies on Monday, September 3. From 12 a.m. to 12 a.m., Hulk, Superman, Batman, Spawn, Flash Gordon and the Green Hornet will be saving you from the dreaded family barbeque. Check out the complete list of movies below.
- ‘Flash Gordon’ (1980), 12:00 a.m.
- ‘The Shadow’ (1994), 2:00 a.m.
- ‘Spawn’ (1997), 3:50 a.m.
- ‘Dark Man’ (1990), 5:35 a.m.
- ‘Hulk’ (2003), 7:20 a.m.
- ‘The Green Hornet’ (2011), 9:45 a.m.
- ‘Superman’ (1978), 11:45 a.m.
- ‘Superman II’ (1980), 2:10 p.m.
- ‘Superman III’ (1983), 4:20 p.m.
- ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’ (1987), 6:30 p.m.
- ‘The Green Hornet’ (2011), 8:00 p.m.
- ‘Batman Returns’ (1992), 10:00 p.m.
Vampire Movie Marathon: Nothing represents the spirit of Labor Day more than those blood-sucking, skin-glimmering, onion-hating, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey‘-inspiring vampers. Syfy is dedicating all of Labor Day to the spacious archive of vampire movies. But don’t worry, ‘The Twilight Saga‘ will not be involved!
- ‘Prowl,’ 8:30 a.m.
- ‘Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,’ 10:30 a.m.
- ’30 Days of Night: Dark Days,’ 12:30 p.m.
- ‘True Bloodthirst,’ 2:30 p.m.
- ‘Stake Land,’ 4:30 p.m.
- ‘Blade II,’ 6:30 p.m.
- ‘Daybreakers,’ 9:00 p.m.
- ‘Stake Land,’ 11:00 p.m.
- ‘Dracula 3000: Infinite Darkness,’ Tuesday, 1:00 a.m.
‘The Real Housewives of New York’: If you think New Jersey housewives are crazy, wait until you get a load of the ones from New York. Oh wait, we already have and they’re not that different. Doesn’t really matter because the ladies of the Big Apple are coming to Bravo in a ‘Real Housewives’ marathon from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
‘Two and a Half Men’ Marathon: Following it’s mini-marathon of ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ FX will be airing a not-so mini marathon of ‘Two and a Half Men.’ If you’re planning on spending the holiday on your coach instead of partying it up, you can at least live vicariously through Charlie Sheen or Ashton Kutcher (or whoever is starring in this show nowadays) from noon to midnight.
‘Kill Bill’ Marathon: Aside from the long nine-hour marathon of ‘Cops’ going on all day Sunday, G4 wants you to take the law into your own hands… by watching a ‘Kill Bill’ movie marathon. ‘Vol. 1′ kicks off the hack-and-slash samurai action at 9:00 a.m., followed closely after by ‘Vol. 2′ at 11:00 a.m. Then the whole thing repeats itself between 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
‘NCIS’ Marathon: 2012 Labor Day weekend belongs to the cops. Aside from the ‘SVU’ marathon going on all day Sunday, USA is dedicating Labor Day itself to episodes of ‘NCIS‘ from 6:00 a.m. all the way to 8:00 p.m. when ‘WWE Monday Night Raw’ kicks off.
‘M*A*S*H’ Marathon: Is there a more American TV show than ‘M*A*S*H’? Probably not, which makes a marathon of it perfect for Labor Day. Courtesy of the folks at TV Land, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. is the time to ‘M*A*S*H,’ finishing with the 30th anniversary cast reunion, which starts at 4:00 p.m.