All in all, was resurrection worth it?
Monster-masher Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was killed in 2001 at the end of her fifth season on The WB. She returned to the world—feeling depressed—a few months later when the show switched to UPN. Now, with the grand series finale set for May 20, even cultists have to ponder whether the show overstayed its time.
Not that Buffy has lost the sense of humor that makes it worth watching. The May 13 episode finds Buffy and rival slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) reflecting somberly on their difficult relationship, until Faith lightens the mood with "Thank God we're hot chicks with superpowers." Some of the jokes, though, only underscore the show's played-out feeling. "If you die, I'll just bring you back to life," Buffy's pal Xander (Nicholas Brendon) assures her, trying wanly to sound chipper since a fiend gouged out his left eye in an April scene of unnecessary gore. A corps of novice slayers has been running around lately like refugees from MTV's Sorority Life, but the newbies haven't cured the series' inevitable case of tired blood. The bell tolls for Buffy, so let it go.
BOTTOM LINE: A good run but too long
PBS (Sun., May 11 and 18, 9 p.m.ET)
Though it deals with serious issues of cultural identity, there's an infectious exuberance to this Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Zadie Smith's 2000 novel about intertwined families in multiracial north London. The spirit of the miniseries is summed up by an early shot of Clara (Naomie Harris), a lapsed Jehovah's Witness from Jamaica, joyously tossing apocalyptic leaflets from the back of her young English boyfriend's speeding motorcycle.
Clara careens into marriage with a middle-aged milquetoast, Archie (Phil Davis), whose old friend Samad (a superb Om Puri) is a Bengali Muslim tortured by his infidelity to his flinty wife (Archie Panjabi). Samad has twin sons (both well played by Christopher Simpson), one an Anglophile scholar and the other a marijuana dealer turned Islamic militant.
The complications pile up so high that White Teeth seems intoxicated with its own cleverness. But it leaves you feeling more alive.
BOTTOM LINE: Something to smile about
ABC (Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET)
Andrew Firestone, superrich great-grandson of tire-company founder Harvey Firestone, is the spouse-seeker on the third go-round of this reality series, which will have its season finale in a special Sunday time slot, May 18 at 9 p.m. But Firestone is so slick and glib that he could easily take over the host's duties from Chris Harrison. The eminently eligible bachelor sounds as if he's announcing a sports event in which he's the most valuable player.
"This date is huge!" Firestone says before visiting the Wisconsin home of one of the women vying for his favor. "This is getting down to crunch time!" he points out as the moment nears when they'll finally do some serious smooching.
First he says he's falling for one contestant, then he professes to feel the same way about another. Every minute Firestone seems fully aware that he's putting on a show. "Honestly, I can't fake it," the bachelor avers. He's the perfect embodiment of the idea that on reality television, what's real is beside the point.
BOTTOM LINE: Break up with it
NBC (Mon., May 12, 9 p.m. ET)
Of the original Three's Company stars, only Joyce DeWitt had a hand in this middling TV movie about offscreen turmoil at the hit sitcom of the late 70s and early '80s. DeWitt, credited as a coproducer, serves as a narrator of sorts while lookalike actress Melanie Deanne Moore portrays DeWitt in her younger years as steady, pleasant and professional.
DeWitt's old colleagues, John Ritter and Suzanne Somers (see story on page 131), are depicted less favorably. Ritter (Bret Anthony) seems nice but weak, and Somers (Jud Tylor) goes on an ego trip that hurts the show and herself. It's a fairly diverting tale of success gone sour, but at this point in time who cares?
BOTTOM LINE: So-so tube history
Sunday, May 11 SURVIVOR: THE AMAZON CBS (8 p.m. ET) The winner emerges in a two-hour finale, followed by an hour-long reunion of all 16 castaways.
Monday, May 12 BOSTON PUBLIC FOX (8 p.m. ET) Here's a plausible way to end the season: Whitney Houston sings at the high school prom.
Tuesday, May 13 DATELINE NBC (10 p.m. ET) Anchor Jane Pauley gets a farewell tribute.
Wednesday, May 14 STAR SEARCH CBS (8 p.m. ET) Arsenio Hall crowns the winners as the talent contest concludes.
Thursday, May 15 FRIENDS NBC (8 p.m. ET) The gang closes the season with a getaway to Barbados, and David (guest star Hank Azaria) may propose to Phoebe.
Friday, May 16 DAYTIME EMMYS ABC (8 p.m. ET) Wayne Brady is host on soap stars' night to shine.
Saturday, May 17 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE NBC (11:30 p.m. ET) One of SNL's greatest, Dan Aykroyd, returns as host, with songs by Beyoncé Knowles.
In a show airing May 8, Tulsa teacher Nancy Christy became the first woman to win $1 million on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Here's how...
$125,000
Girl detective Nancy Drew made her debut in the 1930 book titled The Secret of the what?
a) Haunted Museum b) Lost Diamond c) Ancient Treasure d) Old Clock
$250,000
On the California coast, what kind of fish is known for coming ashore and laying its eggs on the beach?
a) Pupfish b) Loach c) Grunion d) Sawfish
$500,000
In 1957, Jorn Utzon won an international competition to design what architectural landmark?
a) Sears Tower b) Sydney Opera House c) Seattle Space Needle d) Pompidou Center
$1,000,000
Who did artist Grant Wood use as the model for the farmer in his classic painting American Gothic?
a) Traveling salesman b) Local sheriff c) His dentist d) His butcher
Answers: d, c, b, c.
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!
