SUNDAY, AUG. 17
IN PLAIN SIGHT
10 P.M. | USA
U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack, right) is seriously compromised by a suitcase full of drugs in the trunk of her car. Season finale.
THE TWO COREYS
10 P.M. | A&E
Will the awful, toxic tensions between actors Corey Feldman and Corey Haim resolve in the season 2 finale? Wouldn't bet on it.
ARMY WIVES
10 P.M. | LIFETIME
Guest star Marsha Mason plays the mother of Claudia Joy (Kim Delaney), whose family is still coming to terms with Amanda's death.
TUESDAY, AUG. 19
THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER
8 P.M. | ABC FAMILY
With her grandmother's help, Amy (Shailene Woodley) makes some resolutions regarding her pregnancy.
TORI & DEAN: HOME SWEET HOLLYWOOD
10 P.M. | OXYGEN
A wrap-up episode of season highlights—recalled while actress Tori Spelling and her young family take a vay-cay.
THURSDAY, AUG. 21
GLAM GOD WITH VIVICA A. FOX
10 P.M. | VH1
Last seen as a Katrina refugee on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fox (left) hosts a new reality contest to launch a celebrity stylist.
TABATHA'S SALON TAKEOVER
10 P.M. | BRAVO
Shear Genius vet Tabatha Coffey (near right), sleek and tough and blonde, takes charge of foundering salons in this reality-show debut.
The Hills
MTV, Aug. 18, 10 p.m. ET
NEW SEASON!
REALITY
By now, Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port, Audrina Patridge and Heidi Montag must wish they could hire actors to play themselves in this hit show's depiction of their daily lives. That would free them up to pursue their more genuine existences as celebrities. Watching Lauren and Audrina's friendship unravel last season, you wondered if the two of them were just too bored to play-act such a humdrum story: What we got was a limp war of passive-aggression as Audrina slunk in and out, avoiding Lauren. Meerkats grooming themselves are more exciting. And yet these girls keep on, languid, young, pretty. In season 4, MTV informs us, Audrina still hasn't finished with goofball boyfriend Justin Bobby. Lauren dates an old Laguna beau. And Heidi and Spencer Pratt have reunited to create anew their special loathsome magic. I've enjoyed the show, but it could still use a jolt or two—if anyone can find time in their schedule.
VH1, Aug. 21, 11 p.m. ET |
NEW SEASON!
REALITY
Margaret Cho is a funny comedian/actress—raucous, stinging, over-the-top. She's something like Kathy Griffin, only without the Marcia Cross hair that gives Griffin that lunatic touch of Hollywood-lady glamor. Now, like Griffin, she's venturing into reality to see if she can find a TV format loose enough to accommodate her humor (her last vehicle was the 1994 sitcom flop All-American Girl). Well, the shocks are there from the start, with a bleeped-out stand-up line about Laura Bush, but the show is as predictable as it is outrageous. In the premiere we meet her entourage and follow her as she receives a Korean-American image award: The banquet crowd accepts her—even after she stuns them with a joke about the Virginia Tech murders—and she feels validated. Still, if we are to have reality shows, better Cho than Lohan.
www.hulu.com |
ONLINE ORIGINAL!
MUSICAL
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon shot this whimsical, bittersweet charmer (also available on iTunes) during the recent writers' strike. It's a small-scale musical, 40-odd minutes long, about a would-be supervillain (Neil Patrick Harris) who can't quite balance his plans for world domination with his crush on Penny (Felicia Day), a girl from the laundromat. Penny, in turn, is swept up in the arms of a properly stalwart superhero, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). Yet she has a troubling sense that his virtues don't quite make up for his dumb narcissism. It's like a hummable Heroes.
• The adventurer is off on the trail of mankind's big mysteries (including Noah's Ark) for his new Discovery series Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein, premiering Aug. 18.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE EXPLORATIONS ON THE SHOW? There's two. The first is answering the question, could life exist on Mars? We're working with cutting-edge scientists who have a lot of knowledge about the universe. The other story is living with the Anga in Papua New Guinea. Watching them resurrect a secret tradition was mind-blowing.
WHAT SCARES YOU? I have a pretty broad comfort zone. I love to climb, to hike, to rappel, to dive. I'm not a fan of bungee jumping.
AND HOW DID YOU LIKE BEING ONE OF PEOPLE'S SEXIEST MEN? I was out of the country for a lot of that—I'm always gone. But my mom thoroughly enjoyed it.
• India provided the ride of a lifetime for the 23-year-old singer-actress. The Cheetah Girls One World premieres on the Disney Channel Aug. 22.
YOU WERE ON AN ELEPHANT FOR THIS MOVIE! We were on that elephant for three hours, and we didn't want to get down because it's really scary to get on.
FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE SHOOT? We were at this place called the Monsoon Palace. It's up on this huge hill. By the time we got out of hair and makeup the sun was rising and you could see all of Udaipur.
YOU WERE A HIT ON DANCING WITH THE STARS LAST FALL. [Fans] tell me I was robbed and they were so upset. It's so sweet.
WOULD YOU DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN? I totally would! Mark [Ballas] and I would be back with a vengeance, like, "Here we are! We're taking it this time!"
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!
