TV Barn's TV Picks for May 25-28
I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE
Toward the end of the first season, CBS asked Hugh Wilson to make his series "WKRP in Cincinnati" more like which other show?
A) "Are You Being Served?"
B) "Barney Miller"
C) "Laverne & Shirley"
D) "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
E) "M*A*S*H"
[Baby, if you've ever wondered about the answer, it's at the bottom of the column.]
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TV Barn's TV Picks for Friday through Monday, May 25-28, 2007
by Tom Heald with Jon Delfin
All times Eastern
For PBS programs, check local listings
FRIDAY
7 p.m.
"Camp Lazlo" (Cartoon)
7:30 p.m.
"Take Home Chef" (TLC)
"Storm Hawks" (Cartoon; also 8)
7:55 p.m.
"Shorty McShorts' Shorts" (Disney)
8 p.m.
"Sherman's Total War Tactics" (History)
"It's All Geek to Me" (Discovery Science): iPods
"WWE Friday Night SmackDown!" (CW)
"My War Diary" (Military): "Taking Control"
"CMT Diary" (CMT): Gretchen Wilson
8:30 p.m.
"NOW: Enterprising Ideas" (PBS)
9 p.m.
Please let "National Bingo Night" (ABC) B gone.
"Bill Moyers Journal" (PBS)
"What Not to Wear" (TLC)
"Wife, Mom, Bounty Hunter" (WE)
9:30 p.m.
"Bandits vs. Smokies" (CMT)
10 p.m.
"The Soup" (E!) du jour: Shrek three bean.
In preparation for the fall lineup, "20/20" (ABC) adds a grim reaper. Oh wait, never mind, they have both Liz Vargas and John Stossel.
"Comedy Central Special" (Comedy Central): Bonnie McFarlane
"Animal Cops Houston" (Animal Planet)
"The Investigators" (Court): "The Black Widower "
10:30 p.m.
The Rock hosts the "2007 Taurus World Stunt Awards" (AMC) at which everyone's trophy seems to be shaped like a mid-size Ford.
11 p.m.
"Star Wars at 30" (G4)
"Best Week Ever" (VH1)
11:30 p.m.
"Basilisk" (IFC)
midnight
"Live at Gotham" (Comedy Central)
TALK TALK
* Sickos Ben Affleck, PJ O'Rourke, Rep. Ron Paul and Michael Moore spend quality time with Bill Maher (season finale).
* Rose: Al Gore
* "The Henry Rollins Show" welcomes Steve Buscemi and Billy Bragg.
* Jonathan Demme, Chick Corea and Bela Fleck press their pluck with Tavis.
* Kevin Spacey and Alexis Bledel are Dave's usual suspects.
* Dennis Miller, Ross "The Intern" Mathews and Dwight Yoakam are always late with their kisses for Jay.
* Dane Cook, Apolo Anton Ohno and Mando Diao are harmful if swallowed by Conan.
* Bob Saget, Jade and Albert Hammond Jr. are 3 vs. Craig.
* Andy Dick, Hi-Fidelity Barbershop Quartet and Silversun Pickups harmonize with Carson.
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SATURDAY
8 p.m.
The disease on "Pandemic" (Hallmark) is traveling from Australia to Los Angeles, not unlike the plane from "Lost." If Hallmark cared enough to make the very best, why are Faye Dunaway, Eric Roberts, French Stewart, Vincent Spano and Tiffani Thiessen in this "Airport '77" update?
"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (MSNBC) has nothing to do with Chuck Barris.
"My War Diary" (Military): "Second to None"
"The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time" (GSN): 32-25
9 p.m.
A scientist's malfunctioning weather machine creates a "Dark Storm" (Sci Fi). Because otherwise, it would be titled "Partly Sunny."
EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY
"Robin Hood" (BBC America)
"48 Hours Mystery" (CBS; also 10)
"The Real Deal" (TLC)
"America's Cutest Puppies" (WE)
"America's Most Wanted" (Fox)
9:30 p.m.
"The Andy Milonakis Show" (MTV2)
"Adventures in Doggie Daycare" (WE)
10 p.m.
"Jackpot Diaries" (A&E)
"Wild at Heart" (BBC America)
"Pillsbury Bake Off" (Food)
10:30 p.m.
"Chopper Down" (CNN)
"The States" (History): Florida, Indiana, Washington, Utah, Rhode Island
"My First Home" (TLC)
MOTHRA VS. FATHRA ON CARTOON NETWORK
"Yu-Gi-Oh! G/X" (7:30 p.m.), "Bobobo-bo Bo-Bobo" (8:30), "Naruto" (9), "One Piece" (9:30), "Mar" (10), "The Prince of Tennis" (10:30), "Bleach" (midnight), "Blood Plus" (12:30 a.m.)
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SUNDAY
5 p.m.
DRIVE, HE SAID
NASCAR: Coca-Cola 600 (Fox)
6 p.m.
"When Fried Eggs Fly" (Starz Kids & Family)
7 p.m.
Russian twins are adopted on "Dateline" (NBC). But just what life do these Americanized bundles of joy leave behind?
"60 Minutes" (CBS) shows off Andy Rooney's tan lines.
7:55 p.m.
"Minuscule" (Disney)
8 p.m.
Joe Mantegna, Gary Sinise, Natalie Cole, Dianne Wiest, Gen. Colin Powell, Josh Turner and Charles Durning salute the soldiers (and apparently A-list stars) who couldn't attend the "National Memorial Day Concert" (PBS).
Crufts Dog Show 2007 (Animal Planet)
"Emeril Live" (Food): "Kansas City BBQ"
"Young Lords of Chaos" (MSNBC)
8:30 p.m.
"Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge" (Nickelodeon)
9 p.m.
In the mid '80s, Martin Mull won both Cable ACE and Writers' Guild awards for his satiric specials on "The History of White People in America" and its companion books. Spoofing "Roots," Mull looked into the habits of the suburban white middle class and their culture (or lack of it). If you haven't noticed by my photo, I'm not just Caucasian, I'm very Caucasian. But not so much that I'm not willing to learn what I don't know about any of the other cultures.
I knew the name/phrase, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" (HBO) (albeit from the Indigo Girls song of the same title), but I wasn't readily familiar with Dee Brown's book, upon which the film is based. Other names worth noting from the TV-movie are J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson in the "Spider-Man" flicks), Anna Paquin ("The Piano" and "X-Men" 1-3), Aidan Quinn ("An Early Frost"), former U.S. senator, actor and possible presidential candidate Fred Thompson, and executive producer Dick Wolf of NBC's "Law & Order(s)."
When the best-selling book came out in 1970, it was considered "the first history from an Indian perspective." Its epic saga with eyewitness accounts of White Man's brutality against Native America offered eerie philosophical parallels with the Vietnam War, and its filmmakers/adapters three decades later find similar touchstones in the current gulf conflict.
The teleplay has been distilled down to the stories of three characters: Charles Eastman (Beach), an Ivy League educated mixed-race doctor with Sioux and Santee bloodlines; Massachusetts senator Henry L. Dawes (Quinn); and Custer nemesis, Chief Sitting Bull. The focus is mostly on the 1880s, rather than the full three decades of the West's colonization in the book, from Custer's Last Stand through the Massacre of Wounded Knee.
While Eastman (né Ohiyesa) and his betrothed attempt to improve conditions of reservation life, Dawes sets forth the architecture of the nation's Indian affairs policy, and Sitting Bull and his people defend themselves against the removal of their land, tribal identities, culture, traditions and human dignity.
Executive producer Dick Wolf explains, "The aim here from the very beginning was to do a movie that reflected accurately the Indian experience.... Then it came down to representing it in a dramatically impactful way. Because when you're dealing with history, you have the responsibility to present it accurately, but it can't be a history lesson."
It is a long overdue "Roots" treatment on the subject matter, and its Kunte Kinte is Eastman. His father (seemingly knowing best) sends him off to learn the ways of the white man, a decision that doesn't necessarily leave him better off in the long run.
Of course, you'd be hard pressed to convince Senator Dawes of this, as he uses Charles, his "apprentice," for his own political benefit, and at least in Dawes' mind, the betterment of the entire Indian race. The "savages" of the sacred Sioux lands, led by the stubborn, and at times tragically foolish, Chief Sitting Bull, just don't know what's best for themselves. (Or, for that matter, their Black Hills, where it just so happens "there's gold in them thar'.")
A history lesson not to be found in John Wayne or Clint Eastwood's one-sided Westerns, "Bury My Heart" has several moments when you can feel the hearts of its protagonists breaking once they realize what they've lost.
CLEAT REPEAT
"Friday Night Lights" (NBC) moves into its summer home.
"Iron Chef America" (Food): Bobby Flay vs. Peter Kelly
"Celebrity Fit Club: Men vs. Women" (VH1)
9:30 p.m.
"Airgroup 16: We Came to Remember" (PBS)
10 p.m.
"Snapped" (Oxygen)
"All Star Grill Fest: South Beach" (Food)
11 p.m.
"Talk Sex With Sue Johanson" (Oxygen)
BLASPHEMY ON CARTOON NETWORK'S ADULT SWIM
"Saul of the Mole Men" (midnight), "Moral Orel" (12:15 a.m.)
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MONDAY
7 p.m.
"Falcon Beach" (ABC Family)
8 p.m.
The 18 finalists' short films are shown "On the Lot" (Fox), which is only airing 13 nights a week.
A psychic and a country bumpkin make the "Wife Swap" (ABC).
IT MUST NOT BE SWEEPS
"The Real Wedding Crashers" (NBC; new time)
"Waking the Dead" (BBC America; season finale)
"Star Wars Tech" (History; see also 9)
"Divine Canine: With the Monks of New Skete" (Animal Planet)
"Little People, Big World" (TLC; also 8:30)
8:30 p.m.
"It's Me or the Dog" (Animal Planet)
9 p.m.
Did you "Miss Universe 2007" (NBC) actually has an official brand of blue jeans? Neither did I.
TELE-GEBRA
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" - Paul Lynde x "The View" = "The Ex-Wives Club" (ABC) with Shar Jackson, Marla Maples and Angie Everhart.
"The Best Of: The Girls Next Door" (E!) starts at 9. Then, at 9:02, ....
"My Name Is Sarah" (Lifetime)
"News From Home/News From House" (Sundance)
"Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed" (History)
"The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" (Cartoon)
"Big Medicine" (TLC): "Living Large"
"Challenge" (Food): "Build a Better Burger 3"
"WWE Monday Night RAW" (USA)
"High Stakes Poker" (GSN)
10 p.m.
"The Riches" (FX) get a surprise visit from a close friend of Doug's. And we all know what that means.
"The Simple Life Goes to Camp" (E!; season premiere) and/or prison.
WHO COULD HAVE IMAGINED?
"More Swimsuit Secrets Revealed" (WE)
"Metric: Live at Metropolis" (Starz Cinema)
"Be Real" (Logo)
"Supernanny" (ABC)
"Stunt Junkies: Go Big or Go Home" (Discovery): "Rhino Jump"
"Run's House" (MTV; also 10:30, season finale)
"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (Food): "BBQ"
"'Til Death Do Us Part" (Court)
10:30 p.m.
TELE-GEBRA
"Blow Out" x "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" = "Sunset Tan" (E!)
TALK TALK II
* Rose: Warren Buffett
* Tavis presents "Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward," Part 1: Brandon Darby, Antoinette K-Doe, Pastor Mel Jones
Everybody else is taking the week off.
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EXCEEDING 90 DEGREES
Told to write the show more like C) "Laverne & Shirley," Wilson put Herb Tarlek in a giant fish costume as the WKRP "Carp," had Venus and Johnny get drunk, and took his name off the episode.
-- posted by Jon Delfin
