July 13, 2007

What to Watch: Coming Up on Cable

Tube Stake: Programming Reviews by Seth Arenstein

MONK'S BIGGEST FAN: Sarah Silverman is back.

• FRIDAY JULY 13

Monk, season 6 premiere, 9pm, USA.

Monk celebrates its new season by reprising Sarah Silverman’s role as Marcie Maven, private detective Adrian Monk’s biggest fan. Silverman is perfect as an obsessively annoying admirer obsessed with Mr. Monk. Although initially repulsed by Marcie’s encyclopedic knowledge of him—she wears pants he discarded, has some old carpeting from his home and even knows the scent of the shampoo he uses—Monk slowly begins to enjoy the adulation. We’ll not give away more details of Marcie’s shtick except to say that this is one of the least complicated crimes that Monk has encountered. And the episode’s a delight.

A Model Life With Petra Nemcova, series premiere, 10pm, TLC.

Hand it to TLC, its reality series have a distinct feel to them. They’re more controlled than reality series on network television, not a bad thing. This 8-part series begins in that controlled mode. Gorgeous supermodel (and tsunami survivor) Petra Nemcova is less a host here than a den mother to six young models, some not even 20 years old, as they attempt to make their way into the big leagues, aka the modeling scene in New York City. Unlike most reality shows, the young contestants are coddled. If you need help with anything, the models are told, don’t hesitate to ask.

The best one of the 6, and it’s not obvious who that will be, will win a contract with the NEXT agency in New York. While Nemcova is articulate and seems intelligent, the series’ pilot does little to defeat the stereotype that models are beautiful airheads. The young ladies are asked to do basic tasks, like show up at the correct address and get there on time. One of the most striking in this den of prettiness is 16-year-old Beatrice, of Brazil. The camera follows her as she repeatedly fails to find the address where her first photo shoot is to take place. Besides gazing at these beauties, Beatrice’s geography problems may be the most dramatic bit in the pilot.

Once the Beatrice’s shoot begins it seems that modeling isn’t quite as simple as it’s made out to be. Beatrice and Australian-born Valeria, two of the most beautiful of the bunch, are told they didn’t do well in their first shoot, although this might not be apparent to most viewers. They’re too stiff, they don’t move the right way, they lack the proper attitude, says the photographer who took the photos. A pair of NEXT representatives conveys those messages plainly and adds that Beatrice must lose weight. And all we saw was beauty.

• SATURDAY JULY 14

Doctor*ology, 8pm, Discovery Health.

A fascinating primer about several fields of medicine, like neurology (tonight), cardiology, otolaryngology (ears, nose and throat). The material is so strong that it’s not clear why Discovery Health decided to deploy a gimmick. The gimmick is Leslie Nielsen, goofing around between serious segments. It’s not a natural mix.

STATE OF MIND: Lili Taylor's character gets into Barry White (right).

• SUNDAY JULY 15

Side Order of Life, 8pm; State of Mind, 9pm (back to back series premieres), Lifetime.

If you assume that Lifetime is presenting light entertainment for women, then these are a pair of solid series that attack an important topic for women from different sides.

Women viewers likely will envy Side Order’s Jenny McIntyre (beautiful Marisa Coughlan of Boston Legal fame), whose fiancé is the rich, handsome and extremely emotionally responsive Ian Denison (Jason Priestley). When Jenny’s friend Vivy (Diana Maria Riva) tells her that her cancer has returned and it is terminal, Ian rushes to Jenny’s side instantly. Without a word, he agrees to drop plans for their wedding so that Vivy’s friends can use the church to hold a celebration of her life before she dies. Of course, this wake-up call from Vivy prompts Jenny to reevaluate her life, which, we are told, will be the basis of the rest of the series. The secondary lesson: Good men can be found, and better yet, they can look like Jason Priestly.

In State of Mind, the stronger series of the two, Lifetime returns to more familiar ground, i.e., men really are dogs. The protagonist, Lili Taylor as psychiatrist Ann Bellowes (yes, Major Nelson, it’s Dr. Bellows), heads to an appointment at her marriage counselor only to find that her husband, also a psychiatrist, is having sex with said marriage counselor. Later, Ann discovers that at least one of her (male) colleagues knew her husband was cheating. Her husband, you see, shares office space in a Victorian home with his now-ticked-off wife and several psychologists, who share a psychiatric counselling practice. So they all know Ann’s husband and they all know the marriage counselor he bedded. Naturally Ann proposes they boot her husband from the Victorian home. The replacement? A young lawyer named (get ready for it) Barry White.

While this plot doesn’t sound like much, the beauty of the show is the collection of ensemble characters in the Victorian house and the fact that they are therapists. At times the therapists are as quirky as their patients. This makes for unusual situations with a strong emotional component. Naturally, two of the therapists are romantically involved and, we’re guessing here, Ann will eventually sleep with Barry White, which might move him to say, “It’s ecstasy when you lay down next to me.” We can hope.

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All times ET/PT unless otherwise noted.