‘Bred Crumbs

TV

The Twilight Zone, "Time Enough at Last" (SciFi, Sat. 12.31, 7 p.m.; part of a weekend-long marathon) The ending of this one, in which Burgess Meredith’s bad luck gets worse, is renowned. But no one ever talks about how laughably phony the preceding 25 minutes are. Why on earth would any wife ever object to her husband’s reading? Because she has to to set up the twist, that’s why. And this was the Golden Age of TV?

12 oz. Mouse Marathon (Adult Swim, Sat. night 12.31, midnight) If Adult Swim’s New Year’s Eve programming choices are any indicator of the year to come, we are in for an incredibly lame ’06.

The Twilight Zone, "It’s a Good Life"* (SciFi, Sun. 01.01, 2 p.m.) This Twilight Zone, on the other hand — the "wish him into the cornfield" episode — is a full half-hour of dead-on creepiness.

Scrubs* (NBC, Tue. 01.03, 9 p.m., season premiere, two new episodes) NBC’s favorite doormat is allowed back on the air, filling the network’s gaping new Tuesday hole like a fine comedy caulk.

Rose Bowl (ABC, Wed. 01.04, 5 p.m.) Rose Bowl? On January 4? Was there a leap three days or something?

Smallville (WB, Thu. 01.05, 8 p.m.) A repeat of "Aqua," in which a hot-bodied Aquaman can’t act his way out of a water droplet. (I’ll admit it: "hot-bodied" = why we watched the first time.) You will not wonder why the role is being recast for the spinoff series.

Four Kings (NBC, Thu. 01.05, 8:30 p.m.; series premiere) In this surprising TV sequel, George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and the other guy try to overcome their Gulf War ordeal by forming a wacky sitcom household.

My Name is Earl* and The Office* (NBC, Thu. night 01.05, 9 p.m.) NBC throws Earl into the fire, but the excellent yet underwatched Office will probably be the one that gets singed. How come everyone in the world except NBC’s programmers understands that Scrubs would be a better timeslot companion for Earl?

DVD

Wedding Crashers (available Tue. 01.03) Still haven’t seen it, even though the "We only use 10 percent of our hearts" bit is one of the very best lines ever.