TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Thanks To These Goodies, We Don't Have To Say There's Nothing To Watch On Weekend

ADVERTISEMENT

By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

Those cute Meerkats return. Burly old men skid on ice. HGTV picks a new star. Military wives rule. A universe-hopping detective swings into action. And a female race car driver burns rubber.

Those are just some of the choices for couch potatoes stuck inside on this hot weekend.

KAT FIGHT: The Animal Planet's most popular series about furry desert critters with cute faces returns at 9 tonight with a new name and host.

"Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation," narrated by Stockard Channing, continues the struggle for survival for the ill-fated Whiskers clan. The action picks up after the demise of the series' beloved damsel Flower.

SPACE MAN: The Sci Fi Channel didn't provide a screener copy of "Charlie Jade," but it sounds cool.

This Canadian-South African series, debuting at 8 tonight, stars American actor Jeffrey Pierce as a rogue detective who travels across three parallel universes - from a pristine world to one that looks like it belongs in "Blade Runner."

Jade is trying to thwart evil corporate types from the grubby world who want to plunder the pristine world. There's a "green" message here about stopping global pollution before it's too late. The 21 episodes were produced in 2005.

HGTV STAR: HGTV promises that the third season of "Design Star" will be bigger, better and more competitive than the first two.

"This cast is the most talented we've had; every one of them is good enough to host a show," says James Bolosh, head of event programming at HGTV.

It kicks off at 9 p.m. Sunday with 10 new competitors and the returning judges: interior designer Vern Yip, designer and author Cynthia Rowley and InStyle executive editor Martha McCully.

Previous winners were former New York hairstylist Kim Myles, star of "Myles of Style," and former Miami designer and Ringling College of Art and Design graduate David Bromstad, star of "Splash of Color."

Bolosh says thousands auditioned for a chance to be on this show, in which contestants are given challenges that test their creative skills.

"Unlike most other reality competitions, this one is not mean-spirited," Bolosh says. "There are some tears, but that's because the contestants are passionate about their work."

He says to win the competition, a designer has to be a triple threat - with the talent to create, the chops to get the job done and a telegenic quality that wins over the viewers.

SLICK ROADS: "Ice Road Truckers" is both the hottest and the coolest series on History. A second season gets under way at 9 p.m. Sunday, with some of the same rough-and-tumble drivers from last year back behind the wheel.

This time, they are driving up a frozen river and over a frozen sea in a race to deliver supplies to natural gas drilling rigs in the Arctic Circle. Battling blizzards and cracking ice, they're racing one another and the clock to get the goods delivered before the ice melts.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL: The Lifetime network's most popular drama, "Army Wives," returns for another summer season at 10 p.m. Sunday. The ensemble show, whose stars include Catherine Bell, Kim Delaney and Sally Pressman, is based on Tanya Biank's book "Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives."

•"The Circuit," at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC Family, stars Michelle Trachtenberg ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") as a rising star on the stock car racing circuit. She is in competition with her estranged father (Billy Campbell), a fading race car legend.

•"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (9 p.m. Sunday, USA): The crime procedural that got its start on NBC continues its seventh season. See Mr. Big (Chris Noth) in a different role.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

Doctor Who, 9 p.m., Sci Fi Channel
The Doctor gets a daughter, cloned from his DNA, while yet another alien force threatens human existence.

Naked Brothers Band: Polar Bears, 8 p.m., Nickelodeon

The Naked Brothers, Alex and Nate, close out their season with four new songs and a message about global warming on this kid comedy-rock mockumentary.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT