A Marathon Field for Celebrating 2003

The cable networks are hoping Americans greet the arrival of 2003 in that traditional way: glued to their TV screens.

In order to make that happen, the networks are offering marathons of everything from all 14 episodes of “Sex and the City” from this season, 46 episodes of the classic anthology series “The Twilight Zone,” eight episodes of the Japanese cooking series “The Iron Chef” and even several action-packed John Wayne movies.

Here’s an overview of the marathon fare on tap for this week:

“The Best of Comedy Central Stand-Up 2002”: From 3 to 10 p.m. today through Tuesday, Comedy Central will celebrate the New Year with episodes of the series “Comic Groove,” “Premium Blend” and “Comedy Central Presents,” as well as the original specials, “Jim Breuer: Hardcore,” “Tracy Morgan: One Mic” and “The World Comedy Hour.”

“The New TNN’s 007 Days of Christmas”: The cable outlet presents four consecutive James Bond movies beginning 3 p.m. today with “Never Say Never Again,” followed by “Octopussy,” “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Diamonds Are Forever.” The Bond fun continues Monday at 9 a.m. with “Dr. No,” followed by “From Russia With Love,” “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball.”

“ ‘The X-Files’ Chain Reaction Marathon”: Scully and Mulder go looking for the truth in this all-day marathon of Chris Carter’s long-running Fox sci-fi series, “The X-Files.” It starts at 7 a.m. Monday on the Sci Fi Channel.

“New Year’s Eve ‘Twilight Zone’ Chain Reaction Marathon”: Imagine if you will 46 straight episodes of Rod Serling’s classic sci-fi anthology series, starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday on the Sci Fi Channel.

“John Wayne New Year’s”: The Duke rings in the New Year with several of his popular westerns and World War II dramas, kicking off with “Dakota” at 8:30 a.m., followed by “The Fighting Seabees,” “Flying Tigers,” “True Grit, “The Longest Day,” “The Sons of Katie Elder” and “Donovan’s Reef.” Tuesday on AMC.

“Reality Check Marathon”: Court TV offers this big dose of reality TV, featuring episodes of “Big Easy Justice,” “Brooklyn North Homicide Squad,” “Memphis Homicide Squad” and “Cops,” Tuesday at 9 a.m.

“ ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ Marathon”: Grab a bottle of Stoli, sweetie darlings, to watch all four seasons of the raucous British comedy series about neurotic publicist Edina and her chain-smoking, sex-crazed best friend, Patsy. 9 a.m. Tuesday on BBC America.

“A Raven New Year’s Eve”: Disney Channel rings in 2003 with its fifth annual New Year’s Eve party featuring a full day of viewers’ choice programming. The results will be announced on air at 3 p.m. Tuesday and winners will be featured during the nine-hour party hosted by teen actress Raven, star of the upcoming series “That’s So Raven.”

“New Year’s Comedy Cure Movie Marathon”: TBS presents its annual comedy fest featuring such films as “The Wedding Singer,” “Coming to America” and “Stripes,” starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

“Degrassi New Year’s Lock-In Eve”: Noggin offers a three-hour marathon of the kids’ series “Degrassi,” hosted by the stars of the show from inside their school, beginning at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The evening culminates with a viewers’ choice episode.

“ ‘Sex and the City’ Marathon”: All 14 naughty episodes of this year’s “Sex and the City” will air consecutively, beginning at 10 p.m. Tuesday on HBO.

“ ‘Adult Swim’ New Year’s Eve Special Edition”: Cartoon Network offers a special edition of its popular late-night block of animation for adults, including episodes of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.” 11 p.m. Tuesday.

“New Year’s Eve With Dave Attell”: Comedy Central’s night owl Dave Attell features five episodes of his insomniac series set in New York and other cities across the nation, starting at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

“The Wiggles: A Wiggly New Year’s Morning”: Four-hour marathon of the Australian import kids’ series -- a mixture of live action and animation. 6 a.m. Wednesday on the Disney Channel.

“Whose Line Improva-Thon Marathon”: Comedy Central unleashes 27 episodes of the British version of “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“ ‘NYPD Blue’ Marathon”: Court TV presents the entire third season of Steven Bochco’s multi-Emmy Award-winning detective series, at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“ ‘Iron Chef’: Ultimate Upsets Marathon”: The Food Network’s cult Japanese import features an eight-hour marathon of the cooking show that pits one of the “men of iron” ultimate chefs against challengers. The marathon highlights shows in which the challengers reign supreme over the Iron Chefs. Battle fare includes sea bass, pork belly, lobster and fermented Japanese root paste. 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“ ‘Lizzie McGuire’: New Year’s Day With the McGuires”: The Disney Channel rolls out 12 hours of the popular “tween” series, starring Hilary Duff as 14-year-old Lizzie, starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

“World’s Best Marathon”: The Travel Channel showcases an evening of “world’s best” programming, including “Top 10 Natural Wonders of the World” and “Top 10 Hotel Pools,” at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“Bible Secrets Marathon”: The History Channel offers a four-hour exploration into the mysteries of the Bible, starting at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Cover photographs by D. Michaels (John Wayne), Mark Liddell (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Comedy Central (“Absolutely Fabulous”).