'Boston Med' is actually good reality TV

At last, there is a series that gives "reality TV" a good name. "Boston Med," debuting at 10 tonight on ABC, takes viewers on an intense eight-hour journey through three of American's greatest hospitals - all located in Boston.

Cameras follow doctors, nurses, interns and patients at Massachusetts General, Brigham and Women's, and Children's Hospital Boston.

Producer Terence Wrong spent four months tracking heroic and tragic cases and then edited the footage into a series of inspiring, amazing, sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, stories.

During the filming, cameras captured a face transplant, only the second in the United States. The episode, airing Aug. 12, details the operation, which involved two dozen surgeons and nearly a hundred additional doctors and nurses.

The patient, James Maki, was disfigured in 2005 when he fell onto an electrified rail at a subway station. The donor was Hollywood marketing executive Joseph Helfgot, who died while waiting for a heart transplant.

There are similar stunning, sometimes bloody, stories on every episode - gunshot wounds, stabbing victims, critically ill toddlers, auto accident victims, a teenage girl who needs a heart transplant, a newborn with a heart defect.

Tonight's opener features a simultaneous triple transplant - a heart and two lungs - that could save the lives of three patients, and the story of a 32-year police officer and Iraq War veteran clinging to life after being shot in the face while investigating a taxi robbery.

The personalities and personal lives of the caregivers are fleshed out, as are the hopes and fears of the patients.

Among the medicos are Pina Patel, who is seeking respect and a love life; hotshot surgeon Daniel "Dr. D" Dibardino; William Curry, a young black brain surgeon who is unfazed by people telling him that he looks like President Barack Obama; and ER nurse Amanda Grabowski, who jokes, "There's no McDreamy or McSteamy here, but there is McDumb and McDud."

KOREAN WAR: Turner Classic Movies commemorates the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War (Friday) with a 24-hour marathon of films beginning at 8 tonight. Included will be the rarely seen 1951 documentary "This is Korea," directed by John Ford.

Other films include "The Steel Helmet" (1951); "Men of the Fighting Lady" (1954); "Men in War" (1957); "Tank Battalion" (1958); and "Hell in Korea" (1956).

BIDEN TIME: Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will play herself on the Aug. 15 episode of Lifetime's "Army Wives." In the episode, she visits Fort Marshall to kick off a road race and obstacle course that raises money for a summer camp for children of military families. She also visits with military spouses to discuss challenges they face while loved ones are deployed. Several real Army wives will be in the episode.

Biden, a 29-year educator, has made supporting military families one of her top priorities.

RAISING SIX: The Mache family sextuplets turn 2 on the second-season debut of "Raising Sextuplets" at 10 tonight on WEtv. In addition to a few "ahhh" moments, there is "terrible 2s" frustration for parents Bryan and Jenny as the family appears on the "Today" show and Bryan considers a move from Arizona to Florida (oh, please not Tampa!).

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"Futurama," 10 p.m.,

Comedy Central

Matt Groening's offbeat sci-fi comedy never got the respect that his "Simpsons" enjoyed but it had loyal fans. Launched in 1999, it was canceled by Fox in 2003. It returns with new adventures for Fry, Leela and Bender.