BY TOM GLIATTO
DRAMA
The crush of May finales, as crammed as partyers trying to strain their way through a revolving door, is over. During this lull comes Windfall, quiet and slight and, even though its characters are united by a celebratory event, lacking in effervescence. This ensemble drama stars Luke Perry as a working-class family man who happens to be one of 20-odd people, mostly friends at a party, who kick in a few bucks for lottery tickets and hit the $386 million jackpot. They're liberated zillionaires—a pizza-delivery girl who can't pay the rent, a teenager eager to break free of his father. "It's like we're our own species now," says one woman. Well, yes, the rich are different from you and me, but they never stop being human. Everyone here will be tripping up on potholes of drama. It's a gauge of how much reality programming has changed TV that I kept thinking that Mark Burnett could come in, push some situational hot buttons and produce a better show—a winner, even.
[STARS 2]
USA Network (Sundays, 9 p.m. ET)
SCI-FI
Invasion, ABC's wonderful drama about extraterrestrial infiltration of coastal Florida, is as dead as an alien corpse in a Roswell morgue. Luckily, the third season of this smart sci-fi series is starting up. Last season concluded with what's left of the so-called 4400—people abducted and just as abruptly returned by a mysterious force—honing their strange new powers and spinning off a revolutionary cell. (A suspicious government hasn't been too kind to them.) Now the infant of one of the abductees has overnight turned into an adult woman (Megalyn Echikunwoke), and her mother has suffered a transformation too.
The show isn't rich on atmospherics—it looks as if it were shot in an industrial park—but the writing is good, with the plot developments intriguingly full of ambiguous signals. And Joel Gretsch, as the agent trying to understand it all, has a sandy-haired stalwartness.
[STARS 3]
FOX (June 7, 9 p.m. ET)
REALITY
Dance is back for a second season with the same exuberant parade of hip-hoppers, trained dancers and crazy dreamers. There's one significant change: Hosting duties, handled by Lauren Sanchez in Season One, have been handed to British TV presenter and personality Cat Deeley, 29 (right): She's blonde, seems to interact well with contestants and in general is as delectable as a sugar wafer.
Oh, one other change to the show (which occasionally will air Thursdays): The prize is a yearlong dancing gig in Celine Dion's Vegas show. Ooh!
[STARS 3]
CBS (Thursdays, 8 p.m. ET)
REALITY
CBS's attempt to steal a little of the success enjoyed by NBC's Deal or No Deal is a counter-evolutionary boo-boo. Like other recent game hits, notably Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Weakest Link, Deal or No Deal has a linear, modern-looking neatness that acts as a coolant even as contestants panic or undermine their dignity. Marathon, hosted by Ricki Lake and airing two nights a week before settling into a regular slot June 15, pools together a few lesser celebrities (Leslie Nielsen, Lance Bass) and has them play at old-fashioned games like Beat the Clock and Let's Make a Deal. (That was the one hosted by Monty Hall. Contestants would turn up in cornball costumes, as if they were lunatic courtiers trying to win the favor of the king.) The prizes all go to the stars' favorite charities, which is the one good thing. Otherwise, these shows have no retro chic, and they don't evoke nostalgia. Marathon feels like some awful way to pass the time at a sales convention.
[STARS 1]
He left behind teen-dream roles as he graduated from Beverly Hills, 90210.
Chris Anderson
A cop in the movie Normal Life (1996).
Reverend Cloutier
An inmate on HBO's Oz (2001-02).
Jeremiah
Futuristic hero in the titular TV drama (2002).
Aaron
A gay bird-watcher on Will & Grace (2005).
MTV Movie Awards (MTV, June 8, 9 p.m. ET) Someone finally nominated Steve Carell for The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Jessica Alba hosts, and Justin Timberlake presents.
Queer Eye (Bravo, Tuesdays, 10 p.m. ET) New season. The boys hit Vegas: They plan a wedding and style an animal magician who shares his home with 109 doves and a wife.
Big Love (HBO, June 4, 10 p.m. ET) Dandy season wrap-up to the show about polygamists in Utah. Poison, boardroom war and more.
The ALMA Awards (ABC, June 5, 9:30 p.m. ET) Eva Longoria hosts a salute to Latino stars including Marc Anthony and Andy Garcia. Gloria Estefan sings.
Meerkat Manor (Animal Planet, Fridays, 8 p.m. ET) Surprisingly fun nature series about a colony of desert mongooses—you know, the Nathan Lane thing in The Lion King.
SMALL-TIME CROOKS Unless the June 4 finale delivers an episode with sufficient firepower to bookend the riveting March 12 opener, this comeback season has to be judged a letdown. It seemed ludicrous enough to have Ben Kingsley playing himself and taking pitch meetings in Hollywood with Christopher (Michael Imperioli), but then Christopher actually mugged Lauren Bacall—for a celebrity swag bag. The show has lost ratings, but that sort of nuttiness isn't going to win anyone back. BROKEBACK VITO A lot of time was devoted to Vito Spatafore (Joe Gannascoli, above), the tragic plus-size gang member who found short-lived gay fulfillment with a volunteer fireman in New England. The story was done with a surprisingly tender mix of pathos and fish-out-of-water humor, but it always seemed like a forced trek far afield of Tony Soprano's turf. In the end, Vito's fate sparked a murderous argument over masculinity that seems likely to serve as a catalyst into the very last eight episodes this winter.
Patricia Arquette, 38, plays psychic Allison DuBois on the NBC drama Medium (nabbing her an Emmy last year). Prediction: Season 1 will be released on DVD June 13.
WHY HAS MEDIUM BEEN A HIT?
People are interested in relationships. The show [picked up for a third season] speaks to the normalcy of marriages, forgiveness and letting go. As far as death goes, there is justice, and love makes it that no one ever dies.
EVER HAD A PSYCHIC EXPERIENCE?
No, and the news is psychic talent is a burden to people. We deal with how these gifts can complicate your life.
HAS MEDIUM CHANGED YOU?
I used to hold grudges. Glenn Gordon Caron's scripts inject humor, and that's rid me of my grudgy holding on.
WHAT'S IN YOUR FUTURE?
Allison said I'd live a very long time. If she said I was dying tomorrow, I'd quit this job and be with my kids [Enzo, 17, and Harlow, 3].
GETTING MARRIED SOON?
My fiancé, Thomas Jane, and I will both have to ask Allison.
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!
