Highlights of the Week

• This had to be a difficult film to put together. HBO’s Boy Interrupted is the story of a young boy’s struggle with bipolar disorder and depression, leading to his suicide at 15. His mother, the filmmaker, hopes to shed light on this difficult disease with painful honesty, to expose a very true reality. (Mon. 9pm)
• The Reege is back, clocking more TV hours with the tenth anniversary return of primetime Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for a special 11-night, two-week event. Airing Sunday-Thursday, starting August 3 at 8pm, and wrapping Sunday, August 23.
• If you’d rather get your dance on, or watch others do so, the two-night finale of FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance is here. Wednesday at 9pm for the performances, and the two hour extravaganza finale at 8pm, Thursday.
• But don’t worry; dance continues as by Sunday, the new season of Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew will be under away again. (Sun. 9pm, MTV)
• The team behind Slumdog Millionaire put together Bollywood Hero, a three-part mini-series over three consecutive nights, about a guy who failed to land a lead “heroic” role in the States, so took one in Bollywood. Will America follow? (Thu. 10pm, IFC)
• It’s been gone for a little while now, but TLC has a little show coming back. You may not have heard of it. It’s about this couple who have eight kids, a set of twins and sextuplets. Jon & Kate Plus 8 returns for awhile. (Mon. 9pm)
• It’s “Shark Week” over at the Discovery Channel, with shark-themed specials all week long. What more do you need to know. SHARK WEEK! Read the rest of this entry »

Just because most of your broadcast TV shows are gone for the summer, doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch. And you know we wouldn’t leave you hanging. So here’s a rundown of some of this week’s hotspots.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

• HBO has The Yes Men Fix the World, a rather odd documentary film featuring a couple of guys pretending to be big corporate bigwigs. They then propose ideas, like how to calculate the value of a human life against profits. So think Michael Moore with humor, maybe? (Mon. 9pm, MTV)
• Ty Pennington takes his special brand of makeover magic to England, to try and revitalize a town and their park project, in Ty’s Great British Adventure. Think of it as Extreme  Makeover: UK Edition. (Sun. 8pm, ABC)
• Sunday offers a couple of “best of” specials. First up is the Top 20 performances of all time, on a special America’s Best Dance Crew (9pm, MTV). And then later, stick around for Comedy Central’s Burned: The Roasts’ Most Outrageous Moments, looking at the best of their celebrity roast series (10pm). Read the rest of this entry »

I used to be a huge fan of The Apprentice back when the show was new and fresh. I’ve never been a big fan of Donald Trump, but I enjoyed the concept and the candidates. But then the show became more predictable and the candidates a bit more iffy. George and Caroline left and the Trumplets (Ivanka and Donald, Jr.) took over their duties. Nepotism, I say! Then came the disaster in Los Angeles which marked the end of the regular series.

Last season we were treated to The Celebrity Apprentice and I got hooked on the show all over again. So, it was a no-brainer that I’d be watching again this season, especially when folks like Joan Rivers, Dennis Rodman, and Clint Black are on the show.

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There’s one man reaping all kinds of benefits from reality television. Nah, I’m not talking Ryan Seacrest even though he seems to be everywhere. I think his everywhere bit is fading a tad these days. Nope, I’m not talking Simon Cowell, either. I’m talking about Randy Jackson. Yo, Dawg, check it out — he’s not only a judge on American Idol on FOX, but he’s the man with a dancing plan with Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV.

Both shows are on the air now, albeit American Idol is still in the rather unsettling audition phase shows. For my money (hey, I do pay for cable television!), ABDC is the more entertaining of the two shows. It’s kind of like So You Think You Can Dance gone ensemble. While I’m not a big fan of Dancing With the Stars, I’m a sucker for shows which feature street dancing routines. Randy’s show is the epitome of street theater!

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