What to watch this week
"Eyes on the Prize" returns and "Eureka" signs off (for now). Plus, the first hit show of the season and Michael C. Hall plays a weirdo ... no, this is not a repeat.
Remember ... all times Central.
The Showtime series “Dexter” debuts at 9 tonight on pay cable, wherein Michael C. Hall decisively answers the question: What role could possibly be creepier than the one he had on “Six Feet Under”? Based on the novels about a forensic specialist who hunts down serial killers in his off-hours, “Dexter” struck me as unbearably grim, almost fetishistic in its treatment of victims' corpses and not very well written to boot. But that's just me. Fans of “SFU” (which included me) and the Dexter books will sample it anyway.
Last year came the stunning news that “Eyes on the Prize,” the second most important program PBS ever aired after “The Civil War,” was in peril of never being seen again. The issue was rights fees: much of the news footage used in the 1987 series was too expensive to re-up for rebroadcast, let alone license for DVDs that could make this monumental history of the civil rights generation accessible for decades. Happily, money was found, at least for TV rights, and “American Experience” begins airing the 14-hour series at 8 p.m. Monday on KCPT and KTWU.
While watching that, set your recorder to capture “Heroes,” which looks like it's going to be the fall season's first new hit. The story of good-looking young people who discover they have superpowers, “Heroes” is derivative, at times maddeningly cryptic, but mostly a lot of fun to watch. Tonight's second hour (8 p.m., NBC, KSHB-41) ends with a bang and may stir controversy.
One of this summer's treats, the far-out dramedy “Eureka,” airs its season finale at 8 p.m. Tuesday on SciFi, which is treating viewers to the by-now-obligatory daylong marathon of “Eureka” episodes starting at 8 a.m. From a spoilers blog I had learned that this episode would involve time travel, but I was not expecting an hour as poignant and sweet as this. I'm sure fans of science fiction will be able to name half a dozen movies and short stories that dealt with this idea more satisfyingly, but I'm not into sci-fi and I loved this. Colin Ferguson, Joe Morton, Debrah Farentino and Matt “Headroom” Frewer star.
