TCM has a lineup that's so nice to stay home with

If you have to be stuck at home, Turner Classic Movies may be the antidote you're looking for.

For the remainder of March and all through April, TCM has a lineup of movies, specials, birthday tributes and star-packed spectacles that will be so nice to stay home to. From tributes to a pioneer director, one of Hollywood's royal families and a Japanese superstar, to crime dramas steeped in black and white and tunefests in stunning Technicolor, TCM will keep you from getting bored. Here are some highlights.

A SALUTE TO ALICE GUY-BLACHE (March 24)

Timed for Women's History Month comes this celebration of Alice Guy-Blache, regarded as the cinema's first female director. The evening kicks off at 8 p.m. with Pamela B. Green's 2018 documentary "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache" which chronicles her beginnings in France and her trek to Hollywood, where she created one of the first studios and made more than 1,000 films. About 150 of her films survive and TCM will screen seven.

A MANKIEWICZ FAMILY WEEKEND (March 27-29)

TCM host Ben Mankiewicz turns 52 on March 25, but it's the other members of his illustrious family who are being feted in a big way. His granddad, Herman J. Mankiewicz, penned screenplays as diverse as the oddball 1932 W.C. Fields political farce "Million Dollar Legs" (8 p.m. March 27), 1933's all-star affair "Dinner at Eight" (9:15 p.m. March 27) and the 1941 Orson Welles masterpiece "Citizen Kane" (8 p.m. March 29). Great uncle Joseph L. Mankiewicz gets his turn in the spotlight on March 28 with the witty 1949 slice of marital life "A Letter to Three Wives" (8 p.m.) — for which he won Oscars for writing and directing — and the 1951 dramedy "People Will Talk" starring Cary Grant.

PLAY BALL (March 31)

The Mets and Yankees are benched for now, so TCM gets to throw out the first ball of the season with seven films about the Great American Pastime including four biopics — 1949's "The Stratton Story" (10:30 a.m.), "The Winning Team" (1952) with Ronald Reagan as Grover Cleveland Alexander (12:30 p.m.), "The Babe Ruth Story" (1948) with William Bendix as the Bambino (2:30 p.m.) and "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950) at 4:45 p.m. The real home run is the 1949 MGM musical "Take Me Out the Ballgame" with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra (6:15 p.m.).

HAPPY CENTENNIAL TOSHIRO MIFUNE (April 1)

Made in Japan 100 years ago, Mifune starred in a number of classics by acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa. Catch four of their collaborations starting with the 1956 sumo-western "Seven Samurai" (8 p.m.), followed by "Rashomon" (1950) at 11:45 p.m., the 1961 samurai adventure "Yojimbo" (1:30 a.m.) and the 1957 epic "Throne of Blood" (3:30 a.m.).

NEW YORK IN THE '70s (Thursdays in April)

TCM polishes up the Big Apple with 30 movies from the 1970s, starting with "Panic in Needle Park" (8 p.m. April 2) with a pre-"Serpico" Al Pacino. Later at midnight, Jane Fonda gives an Oscar-winning performance in "Klute" (1971). Other highlights include the Woody Allen double feature of 1977 Oscar winner "Annie Hall" and 1979's "Manhattan" (8 and 10 p.m. April 9); the blaxploitation hits "Shaft" (1971) starring Richard Roundtree and 1972's "Super Fly" (8 and 11:45 p.m., April 16); "The Sunshine Boys" (1975) with Walter Matthau and Oscar winner (and scene stealer) George Burns (10 p.m. April 23); 1976's "Network" (8 p.m. April 30) and 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon" (10:15 p.m., April 30).

BASIC BLACK AND WHITE (Various times)

In the mood for a moody film noir? TCM has some of the genre's premiere movies starting with John Huston's 1950 tense heist flick "The Asphalt Jungle" (4:15 p.m. March 26) with a star-making turn by Marilyn Monroe. Other noir must-sees include Otto Preminger's 1944 gem "Laura" (11:45 p.m. April 14 and 12:15 p.m. April 20), the 1947 scorcher "Out of the Past" (10:30 a.m. April 20), and the James M. Cain triple play of "Double Indemnity" (1944) (8 p.m. April 24), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) (3:45 p.m. April 25) and 1945's "Mildred Pierce" (3:45 p.m. April 30).

MUSICALS, GLORIOUS MUSICALS (various times)

We could all use a dose of those sunny MGM musicals, even if the weather in two of the best isn't all that sunny. Still, has there ever been a more joyful screen moment than seeing Gene Kelly dancing up a storm in the middle of a storm? Feel happy again with the 1952 cure for the blues "Singin' in the Rain" (6:15 p.m. April 13). And head down the Yellow Brick Road with Judy Garland and friends in the 1939 charmer "The Wizard of Oz." If ever we needed to dream about a place where trouble melts like lemon drops, it's now.