Big choice on TV for Friday night, my fellow 80s couch potatoes. On AMC, it's Escape from New York. Or on Bravo, it's Beverly Hills Cop. Both start at 8 p.m.

Which one to pick? I own them both on DVD, but I'm still a fan of the serendipity of coming across the movies on TV.

Time to battle it out.

LEAD CHARACTERS:
Axel Foley: Eddie Murphy is funny, foul-mouthed and ... well, I can think of any other F words that apply here. Still, I like Eddie more in "48 Hours" and "Coming to America."
Snake Pliskin: Kurt Russell's best 80s role? I'm thinking it is.
Advantage: "Call me Snake."

THE PLOT:
New York is a prison: Brilliant. Too bad it's set in 1997. By then, the city was cleaned up.
Eddie's a cop in Beverly Hills: "Is this the man who ... wrecked the buffet at the Harrow Club?" Hell yeah.
Advantage: "The super cop bit ... was working."

SUPPORTING CAST:
Beverly Hills: John Ashton and Judge Reinhold both know they eat too much red meat.
New York: Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton.
Advantage: "A-No. 1! The Duke of New York City!"

THE LINES:
Beverly Hills: "We're not going to fall for the banana in the tailpipe."
New York: "Call me Plisskin."
Advantage: "I don't smoke Lucky Strikes. I smoke King-Sized Kents!"

So it's a wash. What did you expect? Just Tivo one and watch it later.