TV Party for Friday, August 19th

Beatlemania rules this summer Friday night…well, on KIRO anyway, and only after the football game is over. Preseason NFL action continues tonight starting at 5 as the Vikings take on the Jets. Following the game, KIRO is filling the Friday night airwaves with two episodes of an Australian Beatles documentary, The Beatles: A Long And Winding Road. At 8 it’s an episode titled Hamburg & Herr Epstein, covering the years from 1960 – 1962. Sex drugs and rock'n'roll rear their lovely heads as four young lads from the port city of Liverpool found themselves in the biggest red-light district in Europe, with nothing to do but live out the ultimate music industry fantasy. The players in this story are a who's who of the seamier side of the early rock'n'roll era. The pimps, gangsters, strippers and early rockers who shared the nightime world of this city of sin, were all an integral part of this history of the world's most famous band. It was also the place that ultimately led them to the one person whose belief in their talents would be enough to make them a worldwide phenomenon, a Liverpool record store owner named Brian Epstein. The crucible of Hamburg was the proving ground where the Beatles honed their skills and became real musicians and the playground that would make them men.

At nine it’s time for Beatlemania to take root as the Fab Four explode across the world between 1963-1966. We’ve all heard Ed Sullivan’s famous line, “And now here they are, THE BEATLES!!!!" the words that unleashed the greatest musical group in history upon citizens of North America. Within one short year the Fab Four had gone from being a strictly British pop group, to being a worldwide phenomenon. The world had never witnessed anything like the storm that engulfed the Beatles in those heady days, nor would it witness its like again, however much Oasis or Coldplay think of themselves.

Finally, at 10 how about an hour of escapist obsessive-compulsive detective work with USA Network’s “Monk”? Tony Shaloub is masterful as the quirky genius Monk, and in tonight’s episode he turns his neatnick eye to stop a killer from spoiling the wedding of his assistant’s brother. Will he succeed? Or will Monk himself spoil the wedding by re-arranging the flowers and napkins 57 times? You’ll have to tune in to see, because I’ll never tell.

That’s your TV Party for Friday, August 19th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken

TV Party for Thursday, August 18th

Thursday is Poker Night on Bravo, with the sixth tournament of “Celebrity Poker Showdown” starting tonight at 8, and the first game is all about the reality, baby. Yes, if you didn’t get enough reality stars yesterday on “Battle of the Network Reality Stars”, tonight you can feast your senses on the poker-playing ability of the Amazing Race’s Charla Faddoul, The Real World and Surreal Life’s Trishelle, The Bachelor’s Andrew Firestone, Survivor: Pearl Islands’ Johnny Fairplay, and everybody’s favorite whiny annoying bad girl, Omarosa from The Apprentice and the Surreal Life. The winner of tonight’s first round goes on to play winners from later rounds, possibly an actual celebrity like Meat Loaf, Alex Trebeck or Rosie O’Donnell.

If you’d rather immerse yourself in historical reality rather than poker TV reality, head down to KCTS for “Battlefield Britain”, the series that explores the key battles in the history of Britain and their effects on the country’s history. Tonight is episode 7 in the series, Culloden – 1746. In the final battle of the Jacobite rebellion, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his exhausted army were slaughtered in the boggy ground of Drummossie, thus cementing the English and Scottish crowns together.

At 9 stay on KCTS for Spy, a British reality show where civilians learn if they have what it takes to be a secret agent. In tonight’s episode, Crossing the Line, the six remaining recruits explore the core work of an intelligence officer, the art of cultivating an agent. They team up in pairs and take temporary jobs at a barber shop, a gym and a clothing store. Their fellow employees are unaware that their new coworkers are spies. After working undercover cultivating and befriending a complete stranger in order to turn them into their agent, it is time for the recruits to complete their mission. They will have to manipulate their target and get them to cross the line of morality, by persuading them to lie, sign a fake document or help them in a legally questionable way.

Finally, at 10 head to TLC for “Jackpot! Overnight Millionaires” Take a look at the dramatic differences in the homes and lifestyles of lottery winners before and after they hit jackpots. This reality-based special features seven lottery millionaires; from a former convict to a single mother living in a one-room hotel. I’m hoping that one of them loses all their money in a series of bad investments and crazy gambling sprees, but that’s just ‘cause I’m jealous.That’s your TV Party for Thursday, August 18th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken

TV Party for Wednesday, August 17th

Tonight you have a rare opportunity in tv…a chance to see a truly bad movie. A movie so bad it’s laughable. A movie so bad that it’s good, in a very, very bad way. Yes, tonight at 8 VH1 brings you the pleasing pain that is Paul Veerhoven’s “Showgirls”. Yahoo’s TV guide sums up “Showgirls” like this: A dancer becomes understudy in a Las Vegas show, sleeps with the boss and pushes the star down some stairs. Adult Situations; Graphic Language; Nudity; Violence; Strong Sexual Content; Rape. But “Showgirls” is so, so much more. It’s one of those rare movies where you can truly revel in someone else’s failure. The failure is so complete, on every level – from the script, to the direction to the acting – that it’s hard to believe that it’s not all an act, that they weren’t setting out to make the worst film ever.

At 9 take a break from the Showgirls train wreck and head up to Bravo for a whole different kind of wreck, Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Whoever decided that reality show contestants are deserve a second, third, or fourth 15 minutes of fame really should be taken behind the woodshed for a few licks with a hickory switch. And they should never be let back in the boardroom.

Those of us who grew up in the 70s remember the original “Battle of the Network Stars” in which teams of TV stars from the 3 major broadcast networks compete against each other in physical challenges. The Stars included Mister Kotter, Richie Cunningham, Farrah Fawcett, Kojak, Meathead, Kurt Russell, Alice, Wonder Woman, and that kid who said “Dynomite!” among many others. You know, stars. People you looked up to.

Well, apparently someone at Bravo decided that the people we look up to, or at least want to look at, are Reality TV stars. And they’ve gathered them all together for "Battle of the Network Reality Stars," a merging of 70s kitch with new millennium Reality.

And they’re not only recycling the name, it sounds like they’re recycling the costumes and the competitions. The reality junkies will compete in a joust, navigate a kayak race, and battle it out in the famed tug-of-war, among other challenges. And in a nod to today's reality shows, twists and turns along the way force team members to vote each other off, create alliances, and generate unending drama and tears. Because that’s what we’re looking for, drama and tears.

That’s your TV Party for Wednesday, August 17th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken

TV Party for Tuesday, August 16th

Well, you’ve made it. This is the day you’ve been waiting for all summer, ever since the hosts were announced back in June. All that waiting, reading Tiger Beat and Seventeen to find out what everyone was going to wear have finally paid off. So fluff up the bean bag chair, pop some popcorn, and settle in for a night of TV delights as Fox airs the 2005 Teen Choice Awards. Dude, it’s like totally going to rock and stuff. Seriously!

In case you’ve like been under a rock or something for the last two months, the awards are being hosted this year by that hot chick from those movies…what’s her name? Oh yeah, Hillary Duff. And she’s got that old guy who does those movies about that gigglyoh guy, Rob Schneider. And if you need more reasons than that, well, Simple Plan are set to perform at the show, and they’re only like the coolest band in the whole world. And include Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria, Jessica Alba, Ryan Seacrest, Rachel Bilson, Wilmer Valderrama, Eva Mendes, Jesse McCartney, Jesse Metcalfe, Ashlee Simpson, Emma Roberts, Tyler Hilton and more super cool celebrities are going to be there. Oh, and they’re going to hand out some awards to some actors and stuff too.

At nine it’s time for the highlight of the week, Teen Choice Awards notwithstanding. Yes, it’s time for “Tommy Lee Goes to College”. Rock star Tommy Lee from "Mötley Crüe" at last finds time for college after living the fast life for two decades. We all know that Tommy's former loves include Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson, but how will he fare with the college coeds? Lee enrolls at The University of Nebraska at Lincoln and struggles just like any other (famous rock star) student to balance academics with extra-curricular pursuits, his new roommate Matt and a distractingly attractive tutor named Natalie. Whether Tommy makes time with the tutor will likely depend on whether she’s seen his famous sex tape…

Finally, at 10:30 – you get a half hour off tonight to brush your teeth and wash your face – it’s time for my new favorite show, MTV’s The 70s House. We’re up to episode seven, the group is getting smaller, and the kids remaining in the house are really starting to get into it. I’m hoping that the last few will adopt 70s style as their every-day wear after the show and spawn a resurgence of 70s fashion, if only so I can get some use out of those velour shirts I’ve still got in a box in the basement.

That’s your TV Party for Tuesday, August 16th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken

TV Party for Monday, August 15th

Well, like I said last Friday, it’s mid-August and that means it’s Football Season. Kick your night off with Monday Night Football at 6 on ESPN, as the Eagles take on the Steelers in a game no one cares about except people in Pennsylvania.

After the game, flip over to ABC for “Remember the Titans”, which is apparently not about the NFL team in Tennessee. Instead, it’s the true tale of a Virginia school that hires a black high-school football coach after it undergoes integration in 1971. Denzell Washington plays Coach Herman Boone, hired over a successful white coach to run the football program at the newly integrated T.C. Williams High School and must overcome both the player’s and parents’ resistance to the new changes brought on by integration.

If football isn’t quite your thing, how about some old-school spy work, Lazenby style? Tonight at 8 AMC brings you “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” the only Bond appearance by Australian model George Lazenby, who was cast in the role when Sean Connery refused to play Agent 007 again after doing five Bond films in as many years. The lovely and talented Emma Peel…sorry, that’s Diana Rigg…is the requisite love interest and the only of the many Bond girls to end up with the name “Mrs. Bond.” Kojak’s Telly Savalas plays SPECTRE head Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the master criminal intent on destroying the world's agricultural economy. The film features that classic 60s Bond action you know and love, with a face you don’t see nearly as often as the other Bonds. And hey, it’s not every day you get to see 007 get married, now, is it?

Finally, at ten head to OLN for the first episode of “Survivor: Australian Outback.” OLN just finished running the original “Survivor” series, and are now moving on to season two. And while this isn’t the episode where the guy falls in the fire, it’s still sure to be a good one, as I believe one of the tribe’s camp is washed away in a flash flood. Or maybe someone’s baby is eaten by a dingo. One of those.

That’s your TV Party for Monday, August 15th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken

TV Party for Friday, August 12th

It’s mid-August, and that can mean only one thing…yes, Football season is here. Tonight at 5 KONG is broadcasting the Seahawks first pre-season game live from New Orleans. Get your first look at the new players the Hawks added in the off season, and begin placing your bets on which defensive player will be the first to sustain a season-ending injury. The regular season starts in early September, but the pre-season is fun to watch as well, if only so you can use the names “Seneca” and “Taco” at work and not sound like you’re talking about what to eat for lunch.

If pre-season football isn’t full-contact enough for you, ESPN 2 has your back with four straight hours of K1 fighting. What is K1? It’s a martial arts fighting sport which fuses centuries of tradition from martial arts such as karate, kung fu, tae kwon do and kickboxing (the "K") into a thoroughly modern and electrifying spectator sport, to determine the single best stand-up fighter in the world (the "1"). K-1 rules allow fighters from many different disciplines to compete, and the elaborate production values of K-1 events make these extravaganzas a veritable feast for the senses. Since its introduction in 1993 under the direction of founder Master Kazuyoshi Ishii, K-1 has become one of the world's fastest-growing sports. Why, you ask? Because in the words of K1 fighter and former UW Lineman Bob Sapp, “we only score points when we do damage.”

If you’d rather not see grown men beating the hell out of each other, then the Disney Channel is the place for you at 9 as they air “Monsters, Inc.” the story of the monster world, where power is generated by the screams of frightened children, yet the monsters themselves are scared silly of the kids. When top scarer Sulley – voiced by John Goodman – and his assistant Mike Kowalski – voiced by Billy Crystal – accidentally let a little girl in to the monster world, they begin to uncover a monstrous plot that will shake the very roots of Monsters, Inc. It’s a fun film, the Pixar animation is amazing as always, and if nothing else it’ll make you a little less afraid of the dark.

That’s your TV Party for Friday, August 12th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken

TV Party for Thursday, August 11th

Tonight’s selections come from two channels, so you won’t have much surfing to do and you can give your thumb a rest. We start out with the local favorite, KCTS. At 8 it’s another episode of Battlefield Britain, the show that chronicles key battles in the history of the British Isles and explores their effect on the history of the country. Tonight it’s the 1690 Battle of The Boyne, where the Protestant King William of Orange fought the Catholic King James II for the throne. One of the consequences of this battle was the eventual division of Ireland, a situation which still haunts the rulers of Britain today.

At 9 it’s time for “Spy”, a British reality show wherein normal, non-spy people like you and me see if they have what it takes to be a secret agent. Tonight’s episode, Safe as Houses, finds the recruits faced with their first 36-hour mission. They have to mount a surveillance operation on the occupants of two target houses, and do all those things that look so easy in the movies: break into target properties, plant secret cameras and bugs and fix tracking devices to cars. Split into teams, the recruits’ relationships are put to the test as they share cramped and claustrophobic living conditions for the duration of their stake-out.

Finally, at 10 the show P.O.V. presents 'Wattstax,' a 1973 film documenting the 'Black Woodstock,' a benefit concert in Los Angeles attended by more than 100,000. Hosted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and with performances by the Staples Singers, the Emotions, the Bar-Kays, Isaac Hayes and a young Richard Pryor, the concert film is a snapshot of the height of the Black Power movement.

Your other option is 3 hours of World War 2 history on the Discovery Channel. At 8 it’s Unsolved History: Pearl Harbor: Death of the Arizona The destruction of the U.S.S. Arizona by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 was the defining moment for America's entry into World War II. Rarely-seen footage shows the entire sequence of events, and a National Park Service dive team explores the wreck. And don't worry...there's no sign of Ben Aflek or Cuba Gooding Jr. in this one.

At 9, take a look at Ghosts of Bataan. Eight hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, American forces in the Philippine islands came under attack from the Imperial Army of Japan. After months of intense fighting without reinforcements, American and Filipino forces surrendered on the Bataan Peninsula and the prisoners were sent on the now famouse "Bataan Death March".

Finally, at 10 we look at Hirohito: Emperor of War. Was Japan's Emperor Hirohito a ruler afraid of his generals, or the despot who started WWII? The world has long blamed him for Pearl Harbor and the horrors of the second World War. Now, based on recently discovered documents his culpability is revealed.

That’s your TV Party for Thursday, August 11th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken