Lights, camera and 'Project Greenlight'

Several things separate HBO's "Project Greenlight" from run-of-the-mill reality shows. Not least of which are Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. "Project Greenlight" (9 p.m. Sunday) is a documentary-style account of the contest sponsored last year by HBO and Miramax Films in which a rank amateur was awarded a contract to direct a feature film. More than 10,000 entrants submitted screenplays. The field was eventually narrowed to 10, and a jury made up of Miramax executives, Affleck, Damon and their "Good Will Hunting" producer Chris Moore chose the winner. The lucky director got a $1 million budget, marketing and distribution for his film. (I'm not giving much away by revealing that the winning entrant was a guy.) HBO sent its cameras to follow the winner as he learned the elaborate rituals of moviemaking. I've seen four episodes so far, and they're totally absorbing. The politics, the numbers-crunching, the daily humiliations, the endless checklist of worries ... they're all documented here and from various points of view. To the credit of all involved, especially the Miramax executives who are having an uncomfortable light shed on their usually secretive process, everyone seen in "Project Greenlight" speaks with surprising frankness. The first hour is about the contest, and Affleck and Damon get a lot of face time. Affleck, in particular, seems genuinely tortured by the thought of having to pick just one winner from a short list of finalists - many of whom remind him of himself a few years ago, tossing scripts over every transom. When the winner emerges, it is with an impassioned speech that is as surprising as it is convincing. Since when did "The Drew Carey Show" (8 p.m. Wednesday, ABC, Channel 9) become a UPN sitcom? Actually, that's unfair to the UPN sitcoms, many of which make me laugh. "Drew," which not so long ago was one of TV's more daring comedies, has become an unfunny shadow of its former self. Viewers apparently agree. The show's ratings this fall have been sinking like a stone. No wonder Fox (Channel 4) made a last-minute schedule change and put "The Bernie Mac Show" head-to-head with "Drew." It doesn't take a programming genius to figure out that given the choice, most people will watch the sitcom that's actually funny. It will be a little harder to decide between two shows squaring off during the last hour of the November ratings "sweep" period at 9 p.m. Wednesday. NBC's "Law & Order" (Channel 41) is always a smart choice, though I found myself poking holes in the story line about a rapper who's entangled in a nightclub shooting (it's inspired by the former Puff Daddy's dilemma). Meanwhile, on CBS, Garth Brooks completes his trifecta of televised specials with "Garth Brooks: Coast to Coast Live." The country-music legend was featured twice earlier in the month on CBS, though Channel 5 delayed one of those broadcasts for a locally produced special on terrorism. Later this week, Brooks starts to make good on his threat to stop performing music and pursue a new career as a TV and movie producer: His studio's first effort, "Call Me Claus," starring Whoopi Goldberg as a reluctant Santa, airs at 7 p.m. Sunday on TNT. The movie's soundtrack is by the not-quite-retiring Brooks. "Circumcision vs. AIDS in Africa" (9 p.m. Saturday on TLC) tells the story of a remarkable and little-reported discovery by researchers battling the AIDS epidemic in Africa. They are mystified that tribes living side by side have vastly different rates of HIV infection until the area's prostitutes supply the missing link. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com