Show of the week
As Sex and the City begins its third season, nothing essential has changed. Columnist Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her circle of New York City singles still want men but find them wanting. Gazing at the Manhattan skyline in the June 4 opener, lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) muses, "Who would've thought an island that tiny would be big enough to hold all our old boyfriends?" There may not be 8 million stories in the city of the often naked, but Sex is showing more creative staying power than I expected. It seems every eligible male New Yorker has a flaw or kink that disqualifies him as Mr. Right. Publicist Samantha (Kim Cat-trail), who'll happily accept Mr. Hot-For-Tonight, gambles on a short-term gain with the vertically challenged manager of a "very successful hedge fund." The contrast between his stallion-like performance and jockey-like appearance is the comic highlight of the June 11 episode. The best laughs of June 4 come when art dealer Charlotte (Kristin Davis), yearning for a romantic rescuer, finds a white knight whose code calls for punching out less mannerly men. As for Carrie, she meets a divorced politician (John Slattery) in the season premiere and raises hopes for an adult relationship that might even last the summer. But on June 11 the candidate sullies his image as the show indulges an unfortunate tendency to dive too low in the taste department.
Bottom Line: Still a pretty hot date
NBC (Tuesdays, 9:30 p.m. ET)
NBC publicity has slapped the catch-phrase "cutting edge" on this single-camera quasi-sitcom, which begins a limited run June 6. But M.Y.O.B. (as in "mind your own business") is only the latest in a line of series featuring a jaded, media-savvy teen who talks directly to the audience and makes frequent mention of other TV shows. The references to NBC's Law & Order, Just Shoot Me and Frasier are sarcastic, but network executives undoubtedly don't mind as long as the titles come through loud and clear.
Riley (Katharine Towne) is a sneering 16-year-old runaway who comes to a small town in search of her birth mother and winds up moving in with her Aunt Opal (Lauren Graham), a rigid high school administrator. The wary characters have an interesting way of testing each other's defenses, but it's not a good sign that Riley's skill at sexual blackmail is a key element in the first two episodes. Did she learn this from TV?
Bottom Line: Too tube-conscious
TBS (Sun., June 11,8 p.m. ET)
You can criticize this TV movie about a sinkhole threatening to suck down New Orleans's French Quarter during Mardi Gras (très inopportune). You can say it follows the shopworn disaster-flick formula in which an honest expert warns of the danger but the powers that be refuse to listen. You can mention that former Northern Exposure cool guy John Corbett gives an indifferent performance as the lone truth-teller, geologist Matt Andrews. (Frankly, Matt's not persuasive enough to talk the politicians into putting safety first.) You can note the near-total absence of New Orleans accents—an aural reminder that the thing was shot almost entirely in Canada. But do not disregard mitigating evidence that the filmmakers were having a bit of fun with genre clichés. At least nine times, someone says, "Oh, my God!" on seeing a sign of impending doom. And some of this dialogue can't be funny by accident. "This is Mardi Gras—Fat Tuesday!" sputters one civic leader. "That means you can't have it on a Wednesday or a Friday!"
Bottom Line: Not worth getting hostile
>Sunday, June 11 GOLD DIGGERS: THE SECRET OF BEAR MOUNTAIN ABC (7 p.m. ET) Christina Ricci channels Nancy Drew in this 1995 treasure-hunting film.
Monday, June 12 THE 1900 HOUSE PBS (9 p.m. ET) Outside London, a family beats the Y2K blues by spending three months partying like it's 1900.
Tuesday, June 13 WILL & GRACE NBC (9 p.m. ET) Will's ex-boyfriend's back, and there's gonna be trouble (hey la, hey la).
Wednesday, June 14 E-TERROR A&E(10 p.m.ET) Cybercriminals get the third degree in an Investigative Reports look at Internet security.
Thursday, June 15 FRASIER NBC (9 p.m. ET) Christmas is less than seven months away. Start preparing with this holi-day-themed repeat.
Friday, June 16 PLUTONIUM COPS Discovery Channel (9:30 p.m. ET) A look at the attempt to stop "nuclear smuggling" in the former Soviet Union.
Saturday, June 17 THE 2000 ALMA AWARDS ABC (9 p.m. ET) Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez are among the winners at a shindig honoring Latino entertainers.
>Dana Reeve
Dana Reeve has become a pro at speaking to reporters about her husband, Christopher, who has been paralyzed since a riding accident five years ago, but she wasn't prepared for life on the other side of the Q&A. "It's not as easy as it might seem," says Reeve, who co-hosts the Lifetime talk show Lifetime Live each afternoon with 20/20's Deborah Roberts. "I'm not comfortable asking people personal questions. There's a little trigger that goes on in my mind that says, 'This is intrusive.' That's not a natural reporter's instinct!"
Still, Reeve, 39, is thrilled to have the Lifetime job, which lets her spend plenty of time at her suburban New York City home with Christopher, 47, and their son Will, 7. "My son is still young enough where it matters to him that I'm home after school," she says. "And it matters to me, too, because there's only going to be a couple more years of that."
Reeve's favorite guest to date has been her husband, whom she predicts "will definitely have return of function at some point." Until then he has incorporated Lifetime Live into his exercise regimen. "He uses that hour to work on his breathing," she says. "He likes the show, although he gets bored with the nail polish segments."
- Contributors:
- Jason Lynch.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
