Going outside is overrated. Why mess around with sunscreen when you can stay even safer from those harmful UV rays inside your home, by watching some great TV? And don’t worry, it won’t be the usual scary-because-it’s-awful daytime TV, at least not on three channels, because this year we have three terrific marathons to choose from.

Syfy will have provide our holiday with full coverage, because their semi-annual Twilight Zone marathon stretches from 8:00 in the morning on the 4th, all the way until 5:00 in the morning on July 5th. That’s full service!

Not to take anything away from the Science channel, who will showing every episode of Firefly in the correct order also starting at 8 am (5 am on HD in the west). They would, I’m sure, love to be showing more than 14 episodes, but’s that’s all any of us ever got. Don’t get us started on that little diatribe. Just relax and enjoy. In case you’re interested, my favorite episode, “Out of Gas,” airs at 4 pm. They will repeat a few of the episodes in a sort of random manner after they’ve played them all straight through, so that the marathon runs until 3 am on July 5.

Now you might think that BBC America might be just a touch peeved about the whole Independence Day thing, but not so! In fact, they are helping us to celebrate by offering up a Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon! While it joins its compatriots with an 8:00 am start time for the east coast, for us in the west who watch on HD, the marathon does not time-shift, so we get it at 5 am. Like Syfy‘s Twilight Zone marathon, the TNG marathon lasts until 5 am – or 2 am on HD in the west.

Don’t be completely taken in by BBC America, however; on their home page they suggest celebrating the 4th with some adorable mini chocolate DALEK cakes! I sense a hidden agenda…