Our day-by-day breakdown of the week’s TV lineup–because your on-screen guide has its limits. Included this week: the season-four premiere of MTV’s The Hills and the closing ceremony at the Summer Olympics.
MONDAY, AUGUST 18
OMG! OF THE WEEK
The Hills (Season Premiere) — 10/9c on MTV
Lauren, Heidi, Audrina and the rest of the actors–oops, I mean reality TV subjects–are back for The Hills’ fourth-season premiere. Expect LC to face the most drama this season, of course, but neither Audrina nor Speidi will escape contrived-conflict free. Meanwhile, family members will enter the fray more than ever before, with Stephanie Pratt and Holly Montag especially factoring in. Congratulations go out to the fans who survived three-plus months on a Hills-less diet; condolences to those who sadly did not.
ALSO…
Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House — 9/8c on HBO
HBO’s documentary series continues with a long-overdue glimpse into the life and times of Helen Thomas, the venerable White House reporter who’s been asking the tough questions for six decades. Veteran documentary filmmaker and legit Kennedy family member Rory Kennedy directed Thank You. [PAGEBREAK]TUESDAY, AUGUST 19
Making of ‘True Blood’ — 8:15/7:15c on HBO
HBO serves up an inside glimpse of its hush-hush but shrewdly promoted new series True Blood, which marks writer-director Alan Ball’s (American Beauty) return to the network following the burial of Six Feet Under in 2005. It’s only 15 minutes long, but every second of insight counts when it comes to this sure-to-be-weird vampire drama.
ALSO…
Making the Band (Season Premiere) — 9/8c on MTV (Re-Airs at 11/10c)
Season 3 of Making the Band 4 opens with the Diddy-mentored groups Danity Kane and Day26 going out on tour–a theme that MTV seems to be touting as rather groundbreaking. [PAGEBREAK]WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20
Family Foreman (Season Finale) — 10/9c on TV Land
Reality TV isn’t quite as easy as slapping your name on a grill, now is it, George?! We kid the boxer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-reality wannabe, even though his transition from infomercials to reality TV hasn’t quite been a seamless one. But even the imperfections of Family Foreman’s rookie season were semifunny, so the finale should at least be good for a couple o’ chuckles.
ALSO…
Man vs. Wild — 10/9c on Discovery
Bear Grylls keeps it simple tonight, reviewing his survival essentials that can be used in various harsh environments around the world. Interesting stuff, sure, but that means he won’t be consuming any bugs or animals in this episode, which is a damn shame. [PAGEBREAK]THURSDAY, AUGUST 21
Glam God with Vivica A. Fox (Series Premiere) — 10/9c on VH1 (Re-Airs at 11:30/10:30c)
Vivica A. Fox–glad to see she’s using the middle initial again–becomes the latest C-lister to fall victim to reality TV, with VH1’s Glam God. It’s more Project Runway than Denise Richards: It’s Complicated, though: Vivica leads a team of judges (including Us Weekly’s Melanie Bromley) who dole out unwanted and unappreciated advice/criticism to aspiring celeb stylists.
ALSO…
The Cho Show (Series Premiere) — 11/10c on VH1
Stand-up comedian Margaret Cho’s new Show immediately follows Vivica A. Fox’s, and is essentially a less-funny version of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List–which explains why it’s on VH1 and not Bravo.
ALSO…
Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew (Season Finale) — 10/9c on MTV
A winner is chosen in the second-season finale of Dance Crew, and that winner is…Randy Jackson, because he can now focus exclusively on the upcoming season of American Idol. [PAGEBREAK]FRIDAY, AUGUST 22
The Cheetah Girls One World — 8/7c on Disney
This almost-as-popular-as-High School Musical franchise at least beats HSM to its third installment. The threequel finds Chanel (Adrienne Bailon), Aqua (Kiely Williams) and Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan) traveling to India after being cast in a new Bollywood movie. Prob’m is, there’s only one room for one Cheetah girl in the movie. Uh… catfight? (Sorry, I had to.)
ALSO…
Who Are You Wearing (Series Premiere) — 10/9c on TLC
TLC continues its trend of airing shows with the word “wear” in their title with this new competition series, featuring would-be designers who hope land celeb clientele. [PAGEBREAK]SATURDAY, AUGUST 23
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (TV Debut) — 8/7c on HBO
The latest Adam Sandler lowbrow fest–which is actually older than it looks, because it sat on the shelf for quite a while–is probably the crassest movie of his career, but Jessica Biel elevates it to decency. And not because of her acting…
ALSO…
The Comebacks (TV Debut) — 10/9c on Cinemax
It makes such perfect sense to premiere The Comebacks tonight: Football season is just weeks away, the movie is about football, and it’s directed by Tom Brady. Not that Tom Brady, but go with it! [PAGEBREAK]SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
MANDATORY VIEWING OF THE WEEK
Olympics: Closing Ceremony — 7/6c on NBC
Thanks to NBC’s astonishing 3,600 hours of coverage, we were never without something to watch on TV over the past two-plus weeks. But thanks to the athletes, there were plenty of compelling storylines to follow seemingly each time we tuned in, namely U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps’ (above) historic run. Tonight it all comes to a close, the Olympic torch sadly extinguished and the cauldron shipped off to London, site of the 2012 games. Let the Olympics withdrawals begin–at least until fall TV starts up!
ALSO…
Generation Kill (Series Finale) — 9/8c on HBO
Of all the war dramatizations and documentaries we’ve seen on TV and in theaters over the past couple of years, Generation Kill was probably the best and most real, but it still elicited the same reaction as its numerous recent predecessors: enough already!
