Widescreen: Not feeling the Oscars? Here are some Sunday night alternatives

I've often referred to Oscar Night as "my Super Bowl," but this year feels more like a Thursday night game between the Bears and the Jaguars. Sure, I'm interested in the outcome, but I don't exactly feel the need to watch every play.

I certainly didn't watch every movie, even though we all had plenty of time - and plenty of streaming access to the nominees - in this pandemic year. Many of the exciting releases originally pegged for 2020 still haven't seen the light of day: Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" was pushed to this Oct. 1, Tom Cruise's "Top Gun: Maverick" was pushed to July 2 (and then once more to Nov. 19), "A Quiet Place Part II" arrives May 28 and Marvel's "Black Widow" comes to Disney+ on July 9.

And let's face it: Television, in whatever form you consume it, is the dominant dramatic medium now.

So, to that end, here are some TV options to consider instead of the Academy Awards on Sunday:

• "The Handmaid's Tale," streaming on Hulu

Elisabeth Moss returns after an almost two-year hiatus when the fourth season of this Margaret Atwood adaptation premieres Wednesday, April 28, with three new episodes. Sunday night might be a perfect time to refresh yourself with the last two or three episodes of Season 3, which wrapped up in August 2019. Moss, whose June struggles against the totalitarian patriarchy of Gilead, also directed three episodes for the new season, including the third of Wednesday's offerings.

• "Sneakers" and "Primal Fear," streaming on HBO Max

These '90s gems are the movies we're talking about when we say "they don't make 'em like they used to" - smartly written, handsomely made, major-studio entertainments for adults. The former stars Robert Redford as a hacker who puts his skills to use as a security consultant. He and his cohorts, who include Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, Mary McDonnell and River Phoenix, run afoul of the government and a rival hacker played by Ben Kingsley. It's clever and fun, and has a most impressive guest star in its final scene. The latter stars Richard Gere as an attorney who defends an altar boy accused of murdering Chicago's archbishop. The defendant is played by Edward Norton in his very first screen role, earning him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win. Gere and Laura Linney spar in the courtroom and the bedroom, this year's Oscar nominee Frances McDormand figures heavily in the plot's resolution, and Norton becomes a movie star before your eyes.

• "Biography: 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper," at 7 p.m. Sunday on A&E

A two-hour profile of wrestling's most beloved heel. The kilt-wearing, wide-smiling Piper thrived alongside Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant in the 1980s and, like so many of his WWF - ahem, WWE - counterparts, parlayed success in the ring into a big-screen career. He died in 2015, but his hilarious line in John Carpenter's "They Live" will endure: "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick (butt). And I'm all out of bubble gum." You can stream that subversive sci-fi movie on Peacock, by the way.

• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor.