These days, it’s almost a mantra for me to complain that the best stuff is on cable TV. I won’t say that tonight, though. Tonight the best stuff is on pay-per-view — unless you’re sick to death of the whole Woodstock ’94 thing, in which case the best thing to do with TV tonight is to do without it.
* “Tales From the Crypt” (11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., WBFF, Channel 45) — The second of these two repeats, featuring Faye Grant as a housewife who is unnaturally inspired by her daytime soaps, is a very funny episode of “Crypt” — Alan Rachins of “L. A. Law” offers fine support. Fox.
Cable
* Woodstock ’94 (11 a.m. today, 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, PPV) — For those buying only the first half of the two-day Woodstock ’94 concert, pay-per-view gives you 14 continuous hours of live coverage beginning today at noon. That coverage is preceded by a one-hour countdown and followed by a 7 1/2 -hour package of taped highlights. (The action will resume tomorrow at 10 a.m. with another 14 or so hours of live coverage, followed by another highlights package.) Today’s lineup, scheduled to open with Joe Cocker, includes Blind Melon; Melissa Etheridge; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Salt-N-Pepa; Aerosmith and the Band. Bob Dylan will play tomorrow.
* “Woodstock ’94 Weekend” (noon-5:30 p.m., 8 p.m.-10 p.m., MTV) — As a “free” alternative to the pay-per-view extravaganza, MTV presents a compilation of live reports from the Saugerties, N.Y., concert site, snippets from some of the live performances and interviews with some of the artists. Too much promotional machinery surrounding the event? Scary as it seems, it’s not even close to reaching its climax. The “Woodstock ’94” album already has a release date — Nov. 8.
* “Real Sex 9” (11:30 p.m.-midnight, HBO) — This ninth edition of “Real Sex” has two standout segments: one profiling a Swedish TV host who does her cable show dressed in leather or not dressed at all, and the other taking cameras to a recording session for a sensual dialogue-and-sound CD.
