Best of Seven: July 5 – July 11

Your weekly Best of Seven is here!  Here’s what’s happening on TV this week:

Monday

9PM: Last Comic Standing, NBC.  Craig Robinson (The Office) hosts the 7th season of the search to find America’s next big stand-up comedian.

11PM: The Daily Show, Comedy Central.  Guest Denis Leary joins Jon Stewart to talk about the 7th season of his show Rescue Me, plus all of the usual snarky political commentary.

Tuesday

9:45PM Revenge of the Nerds, Encore.  This juvenile college sex comedy is 1984’s American Pie, but much funnier.  With Robert Carradine as Adams College’s nerdy hero.  80s nostalgia galore!

11PM: Louie, FX. Comedian Louis C.K.‘s latest show is getting great reviews, so don’t miss this opportunity to check out the 2nd episode at 11PM, with the premiere replaying at 11:30.

Wednesday

8PM: Con Air, Encore.  It’s not exactly clear why this over-the-top Nicolas Cage vehicle is so awesome: the classic Jerry Bruckheimer action, the witty dialogue,  John Cusack… but this is pure summer popcorn at its best.  Director Simon West’s action-thriller proves that a little self-conscious absurdity often goes a long way in a big blockbuster.  Especially when your action star is as incomparable as Nicolas Cage.

10PM: Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, Bravo.  The latest reality show from Bravo features 14 artists competing for a solo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum and $100,000 cash prize.  I was skeptical at first that an art-based reality competition could work, but this show is surprisingly entertaining, especially if you’re interested in modern art.

Thursday

11:15PM: Spy Game, Starz.  Tony Scott directs in one of my favorite movies of all time.  With Robert Redford as a CIA agent who has to work a little harder than expected on his last day of work before retirement when his former protege (Brad Pitt) gets captured on a rogue mission in China.

Friday

7PM: Seinfeld, TBS.  In “The Comeback,” George goes to great lengths to come up with a now-classic comeback, Jerry learns his tennis instructor’s terrible secret, and Elaine begins a tragic romance with a video rental employee who shares her taste in movies. 

8PM: Oceans 13, USA.  Steven Soderbergh‘s third outing with George Clooney and his merry band of thieves find’s Danny Ocean (Clooney) going up against casino owner WIlly Bank (Al Pacino) when he double-crosses one of the original eleven, Reuben Tishkoff.  The best ‘Ocean’ film after Oceans 11.

Saturday

8PM: American Gangster, TNT.  Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe co-star in director Ridley Scott‘s strong contender for entry into the gangster movie canon.  Centers on the rise of drug lord Frank Lucas’ heroin empire in 1970s New York and the cop who’s devoted to taking him down.

11PM: Comedy Central Presents: Donald Glover, Comedy Central.  Donald Glover (Troy on NBC’s Community) proves he’s funny on and off the set in this half-hour stand-up comedy special.

Sunday

7:30PM: Wedding Crashers, Comedy Central.  Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn co-star as a pair of womanizing divorce mediators who crash weddings in their spare time.  But their old shtick starts to fall apart when one of the men falls for a Senator’s daughter (Rachel McAdams) at a Washington wedding.  One of the funniest comedies of 2005.

10PM: The Bourne Supremacy, TNT.  Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) finds himself the target of the CIA once again in this smart sequel to the 2002 thriller The Bourne Identity.