Post by Forever Xena on Sept 24, 2005 10:25:51 GMT -6
'Commander in Chief' Set to Make Debut
Friday September 23 1:06 PM ET
The fall season continues with three new shows taking their bows this week:
_ "Sex, Love & Secrets" is a delightfully sudsy updating of "Melrose Place" housed in a cluster of bungalows near Hollywood in hip Silverlake. Denise Richards, Eric Balfour, Lauren German and Omar Miller are among those who play the mostly hot, mostly hot-looking twentysomethings who mix and match and keep the party going. The title was changed over the summer from "Sex, Lies & Secrets," which might have been more accurate. But the important thing about this melodrama still holds true: "secret" even among friends is often just another word for betrayal. It's good, if guilty, fun, premiering 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday on UPN.
_ At the same time over on ABC, Geena Davis takes the oath of office as the first female president on "Commander in Chief." But Mackenzie Allen is not entirely welcome in the Oval Office, since her ascension from vice president goes against the wishes of even the dying chief executive, who wants her to step aside and let someone "more appropriate" (a man?) take his place. That would be Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton, a political veteran played by Donald Sutherland who will lead the opposition against the Allen administration. Hail to this fascinating new drama!
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_ And at 9 p.m. Thursday on ABC, "Night Stalker" returns from the grave. The original "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" aired for a single season in the 1970s, yet gained a cult following. Now Carl Kolchak is back, with Stuart Townsend starring as the haunted crime reporter whose wife was killed 18 months ago in an otherworldly fashion and who now bears suspicion from the FBI for murdering her. Naturally Kolchak is obsessed with uncovering what really happened, and with solving the subsequent ghoulish crimes that constitute what he sees as a pattern.
Other shows to look out for:
_ Millions have crossed the Mexico-U.S. border in search of a job. And of the migrant workers in the United States right now, an estimated hundreds of thousands are kids. In "Nick News Special Edition: Harvest of Hope," host Linda Ellerbee follows four of these youngsters as they migrate with their families across the U.S. for work. From Mission, Texas, 16-year-old Mary Elen, her 15-year-old brother Manuel and sister Claudia, 12, travel with their parents 2,000 miles to North Dakota to weed sugar beets all summer. "Sometimes I feel like, why do I have to work?" Claudia says. "But I know that if I work, I'm gonna get a good payoff." In fact, if all goes well, the family will have money to install central AC back at home and build Claudia her own bedroom. This eye-opening program airs 8:30 p.m. Sunday on Nickelodeon.
_ For a century, musicians have gathered in the name of human rights to fight war, hunger, corruption, oppression, AIDS and other pressing problems. Activists from Joe Hill to Bob Geldof have spoken up by singing out. On the heels of this summer's worldwide Live 8 concert event organized by Geldof, "Get Up, Stand Up" serves as a reminder of the role music has played in a hundred years' worth of political protest. The two-hour documentary traces the birth of protest songs to the American union movement and explores the impact of pop culture on politicizing the baby boomer generation during the Vietnam era. It also delves into the history of politics and protest in black music. Host and narrator is Chuck D. The film airs 9 p.m. Wednesday on PBS (check local listings).
_ "Pieces went flying," recalls Don Dooley, the sole surviving witness in his first on-camera interview. It was 50 years ago Friday Sept. 30, 1955 that screen legend James Dean died in a terrible crash in his brand-new Porsche Spyder race car. Driving with his mechanic, Dean collided with a Ford Coupe at a Y-intersection while en route to compete in a race in Salinas, Calif. He was just 24. But is there more to the story? Was Dean at fault? Was he driving recklessly and at blazing speed? Was Dean even at the wheel? To shed some light on these mysteries, National Geographic Channel premieres "Crash Science: James Dean's Death," investigating the causes of the tragedy and what could have prevented it. While it makes no earthshaking discoveries, the one-hour special offers an interesting look back at an unforgettable figure and the moment that sealed his place in history. It airs 9 p.m. Thursday.
___
Friday September 23 1:06 PM ET
The fall season continues with three new shows taking their bows this week:
_ "Sex, Love & Secrets" is a delightfully sudsy updating of "Melrose Place" housed in a cluster of bungalows near Hollywood in hip Silverlake. Denise Richards, Eric Balfour, Lauren German and Omar Miller are among those who play the mostly hot, mostly hot-looking twentysomethings who mix and match and keep the party going. The title was changed over the summer from "Sex, Lies & Secrets," which might have been more accurate. But the important thing about this melodrama still holds true: "secret" even among friends is often just another word for betrayal. It's good, if guilty, fun, premiering 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday on UPN.
_ At the same time over on ABC, Geena Davis takes the oath of office as the first female president on "Commander in Chief." But Mackenzie Allen is not entirely welcome in the Oval Office, since her ascension from vice president goes against the wishes of even the dying chief executive, who wants her to step aside and let someone "more appropriate" (a man?) take his place. That would be Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton, a political veteran played by Donald Sutherland who will lead the opposition against the Allen administration. Hail to this fascinating new drama!
ADVERTISEMENT
_ And at 9 p.m. Thursday on ABC, "Night Stalker" returns from the grave. The original "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" aired for a single season in the 1970s, yet gained a cult following. Now Carl Kolchak is back, with Stuart Townsend starring as the haunted crime reporter whose wife was killed 18 months ago in an otherworldly fashion and who now bears suspicion from the FBI for murdering her. Naturally Kolchak is obsessed with uncovering what really happened, and with solving the subsequent ghoulish crimes that constitute what he sees as a pattern.
Other shows to look out for:
_ Millions have crossed the Mexico-U.S. border in search of a job. And of the migrant workers in the United States right now, an estimated hundreds of thousands are kids. In "Nick News Special Edition: Harvest of Hope," host Linda Ellerbee follows four of these youngsters as they migrate with their families across the U.S. for work. From Mission, Texas, 16-year-old Mary Elen, her 15-year-old brother Manuel and sister Claudia, 12, travel with their parents 2,000 miles to North Dakota to weed sugar beets all summer. "Sometimes I feel like, why do I have to work?" Claudia says. "But I know that if I work, I'm gonna get a good payoff." In fact, if all goes well, the family will have money to install central AC back at home and build Claudia her own bedroom. This eye-opening program airs 8:30 p.m. Sunday on Nickelodeon.
_ For a century, musicians have gathered in the name of human rights to fight war, hunger, corruption, oppression, AIDS and other pressing problems. Activists from Joe Hill to Bob Geldof have spoken up by singing out. On the heels of this summer's worldwide Live 8 concert event organized by Geldof, "Get Up, Stand Up" serves as a reminder of the role music has played in a hundred years' worth of political protest. The two-hour documentary traces the birth of protest songs to the American union movement and explores the impact of pop culture on politicizing the baby boomer generation during the Vietnam era. It also delves into the history of politics and protest in black music. Host and narrator is Chuck D. The film airs 9 p.m. Wednesday on PBS (check local listings).
_ "Pieces went flying," recalls Don Dooley, the sole surviving witness in his first on-camera interview. It was 50 years ago Friday Sept. 30, 1955 that screen legend James Dean died in a terrible crash in his brand-new Porsche Spyder race car. Driving with his mechanic, Dean collided with a Ford Coupe at a Y-intersection while en route to compete in a race in Salinas, Calif. He was just 24. But is there more to the story? Was Dean at fault? Was he driving recklessly and at blazing speed? Was Dean even at the wheel? To shed some light on these mysteries, National Geographic Channel premieres "Crash Science: James Dean's Death," investigating the causes of the tragedy and what could have prevented it. While it makes no earthshaking discoveries, the one-hour special offers an interesting look back at an unforgettable figure and the moment that sealed his place in history. It airs 9 p.m. Thursday.
___