Movie about Enron deserves shredding

Here’s one last lesson we can learn from the Enron debacle: never try to turn an accounting scandal into a television drama. “The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron” (8 p.m., Sunday, CBS) just may be the dullest and least compelling business movie ever made.

“Crooked” follows the short, unhappy career of 26-year-old Brian Cruver (Christian Kane), a recent business-school grad hired by the Houston-based energy company when it was still on top of the world. He likens working for Enron to being “drafted to play infield for the New York Yankees.”

But as we quickly learn, working for Enron demanded total loyalty and a complete suspension of irony and common sense. The company seemed to pride itself on cornering energy markets and sticking it to less enlightened customers, like the nation of Guatemala and the state of California.

According to this movie, Enron hired strippers to keep employees amused, and kept workers indoctrinated with a propaganda-dispensing television in every elevator.

Cruver soon falls for Enron fever, much to the chagrin of his down-to-earth fiancee, Courtney (Shannon Elizabeth). He makes impressive-sounding deals, buys expensive toys and even learns to eat sushi without gagging.

Cruver only begins to have second thoughts about Enron when the company begins to implode.

So, while he’s supposed to provide a “rat’s-eye view” of the sinking corporate Titanic, he never gives us any reason why we should care about him. And in focusing on Cruver, “Crooked” takes little notice of some of the real drama of the Enron saga, including the tale of corporate whistle-blowing, or the desperate suicide of one of its key executives.

Today’s highlights

  • TV Land kicks off a 48-hour marathon of “Sanford and Son” episodes (5 a.m.).
  • The Green Bay Packers play host to the Atlanta Falcons in NFL wildcard playoff action (7 p.m., ABC), live from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
  • Hank Williams Jr. and his son Hank Williams III make a rare joint appearance on “Grand Ole Opry Live” (7 p.m., CMT) to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of their famous namesake in the back of a car on New Year’s Day, 1953.
  • Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly star in director Ron Howard’s 2001 drama “A Beautiful Mind” (7 p.m., HBO).
  • Cows fly in the 1996 special-effects thriller “Twister” (7:30 p.m., NBC).

Cult choice

Robert Redford and Paul Newman star in the 1969 classic comic western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (8 p.m., AMC) directed by the late George Roy Hill.

Series notes

  • An asteroid approaches on “Touched by an Angel” (7 p.m., CBS) … On back-to-back episodes of “Cops” (Fox), a backyard stabbing (7 p.m.), a motorcycle chase (7:30 p.m.) … Car-jackings follow a pattern on “The District” (8 p.m., CBS) … John Walsh plays host on “America’s Most Wanted” (8 p.m., Fox) … Dangerous doings in Afghanistan on “The Agency” (9 p.m., CBS).