Smallscreen News

Encore delivers Rocky Marathon for New Years, the details

By April MacIntyre Dec 17, 2009, 16:50 GMT

Only in America... Joe Jackson and Don King - © PRN / PR Photos

New Years' eve will see a cool marathon put on the air by Encore, as all five Rocky films are run sequentially in a 24-hour marathon.

Encore delivers this pugilistic film fest with host Don King, the flamboyant promoter whose hair is a story all on its own.

On his famous hairstyle, he told the Huffington Post in a past interview:

"My hair was kinky curly like any other black man. But when I came out of the penitentiary [in 1971, after a manslaughter conviction for beating a man to death who owed him $600 in gambling debts], I had a rumbling in my head. My hair began to pop up -- ping, ping, ping, ping, ping -- each hair reaching for the heavens, straight and strong, pristine and pure. It was something I had nothing to do with other than being chosen as God's child. I don't know how it happened -- all I know is I go in the shower, and as soon as I get out of the shower -- boom! -- it pops right back up again."

The Rocky marathon evening begins New Year’s at 12 midnight (et/pt) with the Academy Award®-winning Rocky, followed by Rocky II, III, IV and V.

The legend of "Rocky" was born in 1976 with a film written by and starring a relatively unknown actor named Sylvester Stallone.

A classic tale of redemption and chasing the American Dream, Italian-American Rocky Balboa is an uneducated but good-hearted mook in Philadelphia. He's an undisciplined club fighter whose day job involves collecting for a local mobster. Miraculously he gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship, and his South Philly life changes forever.

Also starring in Rocky are Talia Shire as “Yo” Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey, and Carl Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed.

The low budget film was shot relatively quickly (four weeks) and won three Oscars, including Best Picture. The film turned Stallone into a major star. It spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V and Rocky Balboa.

Donald "Don" King's career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle," the "Thrilla in Manila,” as well as orchestrating the ascent of Mike Tyson. King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Felix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Larry Holmes.

The schedule:

Rocky 12 midnight, 9:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m. (Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess