What to watch

July 24, 2008

The focus of the final chapter of the documentary series Black in America is on all facets of the African-American man. The producer, Mark Nelson, says it's a more balanced presentation than usual. "The black man, I believe, has had an inordinate amount of bad press against him," Nelson said. "We don't hear too many stories about the successes and about the struggles that they've overcome. Those became very, very important to us in telling the story of the black man, and the black woman and family as well, but specifically the black man." Soledad O'Brien anchors (9 p.m.-11 p.m., CNN).

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• What to watch

  July 22, 2008

  A second season starts tonight for How to Look Good Naked, the reality show in which Carson Kressley tries to make bigger women feel more satisfied with the way they look. Enough with the crash diets and disappointments. It's time to celebrate who you are, the show seems to say. But for Kelly Park, the subject of tonight's first episode, they might have instilled her with too much go-girl confidence. Though Park was happy to take part in a lingerie fashion show and a nude photo shoot for the show, she kept going along this exhibitionist line even after the cameras left, Cressley told critics at TV press tour last week. "She was so transformed, she actually walked into work the next morning in her bra and underwear," he said. "We weren't there. It wasn't for us. It wasn't for our benefit, but literally, she was like, 'This is who I am!' And she walked into a regular staff meeting." (10 p.m.-10:30 p.m., Lifetime)

• What to watch

  July 21, 2008

  Host Justin Timberlake is a self-described "sports junkie," but you don't have to be one to get a kick out of the 2008 ESPY Awards, a star-studded bash that celebrates the year's best athletic achievements in highly entertaining style. Joining Timberlake on stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles will be a wide array of Hollywood heavyweights, including Ashanti, Kristen Bell, Zac Efron, Samuel L. Jackson and Kate Walsh. Fan voting will determine the winners in categories that honor individuals, as well as teams. Also, Olympic track legends Tommie Smith and John Carlos will be presented with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award (8 p.m., ESPN2).

• What to watch

  July 19, 2008

  If the anti-terrorist thriller The Kingdom had been released in 2004, it might have helped John Kerry win the presidential election. It adopts the same message that brought ridicule on Kerry: The fight against terrorism should be a massive police action, not a war. In director Peter Berg's film, suicide attackers slaughter and wound hundreds of oil-company employees at a Western residential compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the FBI maneuvers its way into the city to nail the killers. Fighting merciless bombers means taking politics out of the problem-solving equation and not settling for easy initial victories. The movie, which stars Danny Huston, Jamie Foxx and Jason Bateman, is involving (8 p.m., HBO).

• What to watch

  July 18, 2008

  The unexpected death in April of Stanley Kamel, the actor who played the therapist on Monk, must have thrown the show's production into a spin. He didn't appear often on the show, but he was a crucial touchstone for Tony Shalhoub's Adrian Monk, the detective bedeviled by mourning and obsessive compulsive disorder. The seventh-season premiere of the show deals straightforwardly and tenderly with the loss - of the actor and the character, Dr. Charles Kroger - even as it moves quickly to find a new therapist (9 p.m.-10 p.m., USA).

• What to watch

  July 17, 2008

  Reality Bites Back is a reality show. No, Reality Bites Back is a satire. You're both right! Comedy Central presents its first unscripted competition series, with 10 comedians vying for supremacy in parodies of some of TV's most popular reality shows. Among the spoofed are American Idol, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance (re-imagined here as So You Think You Can Dive, with contenders getting 24 hours to become Olympics-worthy champs). With Michael Ian Black as host, Reality Bites Back airs after the revival of The Gong Show, which features offbeat acts evaluated by celebrity judges. Comedian Dave Attell hosts (9 p.m.-11 p.m., Comedy Central).

• What to watch

  July 16, 2008

  The latest person to step into the Cosby family sitcom model via reality TV is ex-boxer George Foreman, who introduces his brood on the new Family Foreman. All his sons are also named George Foreman, but otherwise, the kids all seem pretty normal, which keeps the show from being as entertaining a look at an upper-middle-class black family as, say, Run's House on MTV, which begins its sixth season tonight at the same time (10 p.m.-10:30 p.m., TV Land).

• What to watch

  July 15, 2008

  Benjamin Bratt (remember him?) returns to series television tonight with The Cleaner. He plays a recovering heroin junkie who now devotes his life to rescuing others from their destructive lifestyles. Based on the real-life work of Warren Boyd, who serves as co-executive producer, Bratt heads up a strong cast that includes Kevin Michael Richardson, Grace Park, Esteban Powell, Amy Price-Francis, Brett DelBuono and Liliana Mumy (10 p.m.-11 p.m., A&E).

• What to watch

  July 14, 2008

  A week of new episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender ends with a two-hour finale on Nickelodeon. A cartoon series in the anime style, Avatar centers on Aang, a fun-loving 12-year-old who must forgo a normal life to lead the fight against the hostile Fire Nation. The conclusion of Book 3 rolls out nightly at 8 p.m. starting tonight; followed by an hourlong installment Wednesday. Then on Saturday, four back-to-back half-hours (titled Sozin's Comet) wrap up the saga (8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon).

• What to watch

  July 12, 2008

  Try not to drool all over your TV screen during the South Beach Food Fest. The program has Food Network stars, including Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis gathering at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival to share recipes and give cooking demonstrations. Highlights include Rachael Ray hosting a burger bash and Paula Deen hitting the poker table (9 p.m., Food Network.)

• What to watch

  July 11, 2008

  Yes, there is life for scripted network series in the summer, or at least one filmed in Canada (and also airing there). CBS' Flashpoint tracks strategic response unit officers in Toronto whose typical workday might include rescuing hostages, busting up gangs, defusing bombs and scaling tall buildings at a single bound and rescuing suicidal teenagers. They're master negotiators, to boot. The show, starring Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars, Just Shoot Me), debuts tonight. It represents a homecoming and more for Colantoni, who hails from Toronto and whose brother retired from the city's real-life task force as a sergeant detective after three decades (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13).

• What to watch

  July 10, 2008

  It's easy enough to put on a pair of sneakers for a run, do a little repair work around the house and then reward yourself with a beer. But understanding the history and intricacies of everyday items like athletic shoes, power tools and a tall cold one takes more: It takes The Works, a new History Channel series, which promises the kind of fascinating "Did you know?" facts that will provoke amazement and head-scratching. Robotics expert Daniel H. Wilson guides viewers through the maze of knowledge. Tonight, he tracks the average 102 tons of trash tossed by each person in his or her lifetime, where it ends up and where it might go in the future (10 p.m.-11 p.m., History).

• What to watch

  July 9, 2008

  30 Rock's Tracy Morgan enters as the hands-off host of the prank show Scare Tactics pretending that it isn't the same mean-spirited show once hosted by 90210 diva Shannen Doherty. Working at this or that temp job, the victims are suddenly faced with bizarre (yet somehow familiar) events: A woman gives birth to the spawn of Satan, a bad boss throws workers in the wood chipper, a hot-line operator faces a nut with a knife. When the victim says, "Yes, I'm scared," the lights come up and everyone has a good laugh (10 p.m.-11:04 p.m., Sci-Fi).

• What to watch

  July 8, 2008

  The operative word in the title Baldwin Hills is the "Hills," of course. The second season of the quasi-reality series following the parties, haircuts and coupling of upper-middle-class black teens in California has scenes that seem a bit forced and contrived for the camera, but that's also in The Hills' tradition. In its season premiere, Gerren lashes out at Moriah while Justin attempts to rise above with his checkered past (10 p.m., BET).

• What to watch

  July 7, 2008

  Being compared to van Gogh is an impressive start for a young artist, and it was the welcome that greeted neo-expressionist Chuck Connelly when he joined the art scene in New York in the 1980s. Connelly sold $1 million-plus of his work and was represented by a top art dealer. But the story lacks a fairy-tale ending, at least so far, according to The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale, a documentary that debuts tonight. According to the film directed by Jeff Stimmel, Connelly became known for alienating collectors and gallery owners with his attacks on what he saw as the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the art world (9 p.m.-10:15 p.m., HBO).

• What to watch

  July 5, 2008

  News that the CW is developing a remake of Beverly Hills 90210 has us wondering what Luke Perry is up to these days. Turns out he's getting saddle sores in a new made-for-TV movie called A Gunfighter's Pledge. Perry (John From Cincinnati) plays a former sheriff, Matt Austin, who's seeking vengeance on a vicious outlaw named Tate, who murdered Austin's wife and child. With Austin and Tate itching to settle their scores, this isn't gonna end peacefully (9 p.m.-11 p.m., Hallmark).

• What to watch

  July 4, 2008

  It's time to celebrate America's birthday. And if you can't make it to a local pyro-fest, television has your back. Among the specials airing tonight are A Capitol Fourth (8 p.m., MPT, Channels 22/67), a 90-minute gala from Washington, hosted by Jimmy Smits. Performing with the National Symphony Orchestra will be, among others, Huey Lewis, Taylor Hicks and Jerry Lee Lewis. Also on tap are the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular (9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11), a show from New York featuring Natasha Bedingfield, Kenny Chesney, Jordin Sparks, and Katharine McPhee, and the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular (10 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13), which has the Rascal Flatts joining the renown orchestra.

• What to watch

  July 3, 2008

  It's easy to be dismayed by the flimsy offerings of summer TV, such as, say, Wipeout, and even more dismayed by the public's reaction to it. But there is also something to cheer. The engrossing and dramatic cinema verite series Hopkins, about the day-to-day workings of Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital, also attracted a large audience for its premiere last week - tops in its time slot. Its audience of 5.84 million wasn't huge, but it was better than the original scripted shows on competing networks. This bodes well for the five remaining chapters of Hopkins. In tonight's episode, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Brian Bethea tries to save a woman's lungs even as his own marriage shatters around him (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2).

• What to watch

  July 2, 2008

  When it rose in popularity between the Jazz Age and the advent of rock 'n' roll, big band music was aided by dovetailing nicely with the movies being made at the time. Turner Classic Movies takes advantage of this convergence Wednesdays this month with Big Bands in the Movies. First up is the 1937 Busby Berkeley-directed Hollywood Hotel, featuring a young Benny Goodman. Then comes 1941's Las Vegas Nights with Tommy Dorsey and the 1943 Ann Miller vehicle Reveille with Beverly, featuring Duke Ellington (8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., TCM).

• What to watch

  July 1, 2008

  Last summer, six rare mountain gorillas were found shot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park. Who was responsible for the senseless killing of these creatures? National Geographic Channel's Explorer: Gorilla Murders investigates, unraveling a web of corruption in the park as it examines the charges brought against the man accused of the crimes - the park's former chief warden. But Virunga National Park and its endangered primate residents remain caught in a deadly crossfire between militia groups and the Congolese Army, a bloody conflict heightened by the pressures of a surging refugee population and an illegal charcoal trade devastating the park and further threatening the gorillas' lives. Is any hope in sight? (10 p.m.-11 p.m., National Geographic).

• What to watch

  June 30, 2008

  The conventional view of the 20th century traces a terrible trail of wars involving the United States. Historian Niall Ferguson sees this stretch of recurring violence as a single, unrelenting "war of the world" that began with Japan's invasion of Russia in 1904, continuing through World War II and the Korean War all the way to what he dubs a continuing "Third World's War." Ferguson is the host of the three-part PBS series The War of the World, which explores the notion that such a new broad-based conflict could replay itself in the 21st century (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WETA, Channel 26).

• What to watch

  June 28, 2008

  It's both a very cool and a very sad thing that Saturday Night Live this week will re-air its first episode ever because it was hosted by George Carlin. The sad part, of course, is that Carlin died June 22 of heart failure. NBC is bringing out the 1975 show that started it all as both a tribute and a bid for ratings. You have to believe that Carlin, student of irony that he was, would have appreciated the move, for all its reasons. He was also the perfect guy to join the SNL bunch 33 years ago when he, NBC and the Not Ready For Prime Time Players took a leap of faith to try something then startlingly new for TV (11:29 p.m.-1 a.m., WBAL, Channel 11).

• What to watch

  June 27, 2008

  The death last week of the striking actress-dancer Cyd Charisse at 86 will be marked by some of her best movies tonight on Turner Classic Movies. It begins with Singin' in the Rain (8 p.m.), in which she came close to stealing the show in the "Broadway Melody Ballet" number. Then comes Vincente Minnelli's The Band Wagon, in which she is paired with Fred Astaire, who also joins her in Silk Stockings, the musical adaptation of Ninotchka that also featured Janis Paige and Peter Lorre (8 p.m.-2 a.m., TCM).

• What to watch

  June 26, 2008

  In a summer choked by reality programming in a race to be the most ridiculous, Hopkins brings a reality show more in the tradition of the best documentary filmmaking. A sequel of sorts of Hopkins 24/7 from 2000, ABC News returns to Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital to look at the day-to-day work of its doctors. It features quite a remarkable bunch: a former illegal migrant worker turned top-notch brain surgeon, a doctor who made it through his residency but maybe not his marriage, and the hospital's first female surgeon in urology. And that's just in the first of the series' six episodes (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2).

• What to watch

  June 25, 2008

  In The Baby Borrowers, premiering tonight, five young couples, ages 16 to 19, provide round-the-clock care to kids of various ages, a challenge that forces them to face dirty diapers, sleep-deprived nights and temper tantrums. Before you speed-dial Child Protective Services, keep in mind that the real mothers and fathers monitored the experiment from a neighboring house, and professional nannies served as silent security guards. Borrowers appears to be genuinely sincere about its mission: Showing teenage viewers that parenthood is a very grown-up grind (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11).

• What to watch

  June 24, 2008

  Once again the entertainment lineup for the BET Awards '08 is of the blow-the-roof-off-this-joint variety. Among the scheduled performers are Alicia Keys, Nelly, Kanye West, Usher, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Rihanna. Hosting the event, which honors black stars in television, movies, music and sports, is funny man D.L. Hughley. Among those feeling the love will be singer Al Green, who will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award (8 p.m.-11 p.m., BET).

• What to watch

  June 23, 2008

  In 1991, Jill Eikenberry and husband Michael Tucker were co-starring on the hit drama L.A. Law when they bought land from artist Emile Norman in Big Sur, Calif. As his neighbors, then his friends, the couple became fascinated with his life and work. Now they have co-produced a documentary portrait of Norman, a versatile and playful creative force still at work at age 90. Emile Norman: By His Own Design captures the artistic spirit of a man who, as he celebrated nature and the world around him, also had to deal with prejudice against his homosexuality. The film, by Will Parrinello, explores what drives him and fills him with joy (10 p.m.-11 p.m., MPT, Channels 22/67).

• What to watch

  June 21, 2008

  Tonight, Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter,a reality show that pits professional mixed-martial arts fighters against one another for a six-figure contract, wraps up on Spike TV. Amateur fighter Amir Sadollah and CB Dollaway, a former All-American wrestler, will battle it out from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Mixed-martial arts allows fighters to employ the skills of judo, jiujutsu, wrestling, kickboxing and boxing, creating some violent action in some bouts. The success of cable's Fighter has even lead CBS to develop its own series of mixed-martial arts shows. (9 p.m.-midnight, Spike TV).

• What to watch

  June 20, 2008

  Will Camp Rock be another Disney tween sensation a la High School Musical? The hottest teen band in the land - the Jonas Brothers - star in the song-filled show, which debuts tonight. In the film, Demi Lovato plays Mitchie Torres, a musical prodigy who can't afford a prestigious music camp filled with snooty rich kids until her mother gets her a break on the tuition by landing them both jobs in the kitchen. Once there, Mitchie is hounded by the rich girls, particularly after she's outed as a kitchen worker, until one of them (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle) comes to her side (8 p.m.-10 p.m., Disney Channel).

• What to watch

  June 19, 2008

  Most Americans may not understand the game of hockey, but they sure grasp sleazy soap opera. And something tells us these hockey players will be hot and hunky - and have all their teeth. The new weekly sudsfest MVP: He Shoots, She Scores opens with the team captain's earthly demise and team owner's grab for the insurance money, then moves on to a player who, "haunted by his dead wife and child," turns to "seducing beautiful women and videotaping their encounters" (says the news release). What's not to wallow in? (11 p.m.-midnight, SoapNet).

• What to watch

  June 18, 2008

  Maybe you're haunted by the thought of your next billfold-busting visit to the gas station. In any case, oil is surely on your mind these days. So the timing is right for TV's latest twist on tough-jobs-for-tough-guys: Black Gold, which drills into the quest for oil in west Texas. Billed as "an unfiltered look at lives on the line," this series also happens to have game-show elements: The oil reserve must be tapped within 50 days. And there are three rival rigs, each with its hearty team of "roughnecks" - each competing just a few hundred yards from the others (10 p.m.-11 p.m., TruTV).

• What to watch

  June 17, 2008

  It's another movie-countdown special, as AFI's 10 Top 10 focuses on the top 10 films from 10 classic film genres. Jessica Alba counts down the Top 10 romantic comedies, Kirk Douglas the Top 10 epics and Clint Eastwood the Top 10 westerns. Cuba Gooding Jr., still milking his Oscar role, counts down the best sports films. Other category assignments: Jennifer Love Hewitt, animation; Sigourney Weaver, sci-fi; Quentin Tarantino, gangster films; Sean Astin, fantasy; and Gabriel Byrne, mystery. And courtroom dramas are covered by James Woods (8 p.m.-11 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13).

• What to watch

  June 16, 2008

  Wendy Watson is a 22-year-old art school grad sharing an illegal sublet and struggling to stay afloat in a succession of dead-end temp jobs. Then, much to her surprise, she is recruited by a mysterious, squeaky-clean superhero to assist in his crusade as The Middleman. Well, it's a job. And she'll get to help fight monsters, aliens and other forms of comic-book evil! That's the premise of a new ABC Family series called, yes, The Middleman. Matt Keeslar stars in the title role, with Natalie Morales (CSI: Miami) as Wendy, Brit Morgan as her roommate, Lacey, and Mary Pat Gleason as the cranky, disapproving robot Ida (8 p.m.-9 p.m., ABC Family).

• What to watch

  June 14, 2008

  John Goodman and Billy Crystal give voice to a couple of working stiffs who happen to punch the clock at Monsters, Inc., the corporate headquarters for things that go bump in the night. Kids' screams, it seems, can be converted to clean-burning fuel to power their world. But these monsters are as afraid of kids as the kids are of them. James Coburn, Steve Buscemi and Jennifer Tilly also lend their voices to the animated comedy from the creators of Finding Nemo and Cars (8 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2).

• What to watch

  June 13, 2008

  The popular tween sitcom iCarly features a show-within-a-show: It tracks its characters on- and off-Web cam as they create a Web cast - and grapple with everyday tween problems. In the special episode "iCarly Saves TV," Carly (Miranda Cosgrove) and her friends are thrilled when they are summoned by a big-time broadcaster to adapt their Web show for TV. But when the TV honcho tries to remake them to attract more viewers, they are alarmed. As they clash with the clueless execs, they find themselves struggling to save iCarly (8 p.m.-8:35 p.m., Nickelodeon).