REALITY
With Oprah Winfrey as executive producer and occasional on-air presence, Big Give is rife with big emotions, big money, big names—Oprah operates on a scale that would exhaust a pharaoh. Ten contestants pair off on a philanthropic mission to assist worthy cases: a widow in danger of losing her home, a med student whose college debts hamper his desire to help poor kids, etc. The contestants, enlisting under the impression that this is something like The Amazing Altruistic Race, don't know that Oprah will bestow a $1 million prize at the end. The show (with future appearances by Jennifer Aniston and John Travolta) is stoutly, predictably good-hearted. But the best moment in the premiere comes when one team wastes a day locating the person they're meant to help. The joy of do-gooding gives way to snippiness.
What's On This Week
SUNDAY, MARCH 2
HERE COME THE NEWLYWEDS
ABC | 10 P.M.
Reality contest with seven couples fresh from the altar. The photo shows a driving test, by the way, not a hostage situation.
DIRT
FX | 10 P.M.
Courteney Cox Arquette returns as a ruthless tabloid editor. In the premiere, she bounces back from being stabbed by an actress. Ask your physician if gossip is right for you!
MONDAY, MARCH 3
THE ROYAL FAMILY
ABC | 8 P.M.
Barbara Walters hosts a two-hour special, filmed across more than a year, about the Windsors' daily lives. That queen, she's a workhorse with a tiara.
THE SECRET LIFE OF A SOCCER MOM
TLC | 10 P.M.
Premiere of a reality series that lets stay-at-home moms live out their fantasy careers for a week. Tracey Gold hosts.
TUESDAY, MARCH 4
DELIVER ME
10 P.M. | DISCOVERY HEALTH
New documentary series about three women who run an OB-GYN practice. Tears, crises and birth wails.
THURSDAY, MARCH 6
CRIME 360
A&E | 10 P.M.
This new series applies fancy computer visualizations to the solving of gritty real-life crimes. Like a down-home CSI.
CELEBRITY REHAB WITH DR. DREW
VH1 | 10 P.M.
Finale of the grimly fascinating show about minor stars in major trouble. Reunion airs March 13.
FOX, March 4, 9 p.m. ET |
DRAMA
The premise is preposterous, like Law & Order retooled as romantic fantasy: Way back when—1642!—John Amsterdam was a Dutch soldier in colonial New York. After saving the life of a Native American woman, he was blessed (or cursed) with eternal life and unwithering male-model looks that will last until he meets his soulmate. At which point he becomes mortal and can maybe cash in on the pension from his current job, NYPD detective. Luckily, the pilot is directed by Lasse Hallström and has some of the slow melancholy of his movies (The Cider House Rules). And it stars a cleanly handsome Dutch actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who hits the right note of ruminative longing as he hunts both for perps and his mythic dream love. You try that out on the mean streets.
FOX, March 2, 9:30 p.m. ET |
COMEDY
The Farrelly brothers (Dumb and Dumber) are executive producers of this sitcom about the dating misadventures of four single friends—three guys, one girl—and occasionally a fleck of their amiable gross-out humor will splot against you like a spitball and stick. A gorgeous blonde, for instance, is a complete turnoff to Jack (Craig Bierko) because of a skin tag on her back. It looks like a small, peeled shrimp. The show comes close to clicking, and I like Rashida Jones's style—no shrillness, no fuss. But this is generally like a coarser, less anxious Seinfeld.
THE PROJECT RUNWAY FINALE
Yes, Christian, it was fierce. After all the draping, denim and drama, the top designers debuted their collections Feb. 8 at New York Fashion Week (March 5 on Bravo). PEOPLE's Rennie Dyball got the backstage scoop.
CHRISTIAN SIRIANO Even the favorite can get butterflies. "I kind of gave up backstage," he says. "I wanted to win so bad that I second-guessed myself. On the show I'm confident, but it's more to be funny. I never thought I'd make it to the end." Still, seeing his show on a monitor, he admits, "I was like, 'This is fabulous!'"
JILLIAN LEWIS "I couldn't believe I made it all," says Lewis of her clothes. "I was really satisfied." But one thing threw her: "I was nervous about the microphone. With public speaking, I usually say something stupid!"
CHRIS MARCH As his show began, "I just wanted to sit down by myself and explode," he says. "But Tim Gunn grabbed me and made me watch it. He said, 'Take this all in—it's fantastic.'"
RAMI KASHOU "Being backstage felt like you were in a crowded elevator ... a lot of sensory overload," says Kashou. "I was so tired after 1.5 hours of sleep. It was like an out-of-body experience."
No more writers' strike! The star of How I Met Your Mother (which returns to CBS on March 17) talks about getting back to the set—and why he's dreading a hot tub scene
THE STRIKE'S OVER! I am—how do the kids today say it?—wicked psyched. It was months of a holding pattern, just circling, waiting to be able to land.
HAVE YOU READ NEW SCRIPTS YET? I have no idea what's going on. The only thing I asked them was to try to keep me with a shirt on for at least an episode or two so I can go back to the gym. I didn't want to read on page one, "Barney in a hot tub." To [go from] Thanksgiving into Christmas into not working—I could afford to lose a couple.
YOU PIGGED OUT? I've been going to lots of fancy restaurants. I'm becoming a foodie. I'm a big fan of fresh, homemade foods prepared well.
DO YOU COOK? I make a mean guacamole. And [during the strike] I worked on my wine collection. Went to Napa for a few days—dangerous. I stopped [buying] based on cost and started going on types of wine I like. Little boy's growing up!
