Matt Damon and more: 7 TV shows to watch this week (May 20 to 26)
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television
MONDAY MAY 20 American Masters: Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (PBS, 9 p.m.) Were you aware Mel Brooks has won more major awards than any other living entertainer? Over a career spanning six decades, Brooks has collected an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Tony and is still going strong at 86. This glowing profile tracks the Brooklyn native’s formative years on live television in the fifties and covers his later film successes with comedies like Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and The Producers, which later still became one of the most successful musicals in Broadway history. There’s also ample screen time devoted to Brooks’ 41-year marriage to actress Anne Bancroft and reflections on the great man from the likes of Nathan Lane, Rob Reiner, Joan Rivers and Tracey Ullman. Note: If you’re unable to watch tonight, the DVD release of Make a Noise (from Shout! Factory) is in stores tomorrow.
TUESDAY MAY 21 Ron James: Manitoba Bound (CBC, 8 p.m.) What’s this, a night with no playoff hockey? CBC fills the void with this standup special by the funniest man on the payroll. First broadcast in 2008, the program features the pride of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, captivating a Winnipeg audience with his unique brand of observational humour. His takes on composting and moose encounters are clever, but James is even funnier when he sets his sights on former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whom he describes as “a right-wing-born-again-creatonist-uber-mom-neo-fascist-redneck-wet-dream-run-amuck.” Think of James as the Canadian version of Garrison Keillor.
WEDNESDAY MAY 22 Masterchef (Fox, CTV, 8 p.m.) You know summer is here when Gordon Ramsay begins bellowing at amateur chefs. Back tonight for a fourth season, this series is slightly more civilized than Hell’s Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares, mostly because Ramsay is forced to share the culinary critiquing duties with restaurateur Joe Bastianich and Chicago chef Graham Elliot. There’s also more time spent screening the contestants, who include a student, a firefighter, a paralegal and an archaeologist. As before, the participants are required to bunk together for the two-month long boot camp and the fun begins tonight with each chef challenged to prepare their “signature dish” for the judging panel.
THURSDAY MAY 23 Rookie Blue (ABC, Global, 10 p.m.) The hot cops are back. Returning for a fourth summer season tonight, this filmed-in-Toronto crime drama has found a loyal viewing on both sides of the border, most probably because most of the police officers in the series look like they stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine. In tonight’s season-opener, the central character of cop Andy McNally (former fashion model Missy Peregrym) and partner Nick (Peter Mooney) are still working undercover and have infiltrated a methamphetamine pipeline. Joining the cast this season is Priscilla Faia (yes, she used to be a model, too!) as new rookie Chloe and Rachael Ancheril as training officer Marlo. Let’s be careful out there.
FRIDAY MAY 24 I Found the Gown (TLC, 10 p.m.) Since launching two months ago, this reality series has become one of the most-watched shows on TLC, so we should probably expect a second-season renewal in the near future. The show is filmed at Vows Bridal Outlet in Watertown, Mass., which caters to the cheap and sensible. Toward that noble cause, owners Rick and Leslie DeAngelo scour the country in search of warehouse events, liquidation clearouts and even yard sales to get customers the best possible price for their frock. And naturally, all the brides-to-be are demanding to the point of near-lunacy. In tonight’s first new episode, a client named Jen wants a fantastically fancy gown but doesn’t want to pay full price. In the second show, a lady wants a specific Vera Wang wedding gown, but it has to be in denim. Classy!
SATURDAY MAY 25 Joan Rivers: Don’t Start with Me (Comedy Network, 10 p.m.) It’s a safe bet Joan Rivers didn’t get into the comedy business to make friends. The tiny comedy doyenne, who turns 80 in two weeks, has built her entire career around her shrill putdowns of famous people and she’s in top form in this standup taped last year at Chicago’s Arcada Theatre. Ms. Rivers starts the show off with a bang by announcing her intent to offend every single person in attendance. She begins with a Michael Jackson joke that is mildly offensive and then immediate shifts into shocking rants against Asians, fat people, the handicapped, Anne Frank and several other targets that the average comedian would dare go after. The really strange part: You’ll find yourself laughing for the full 90 minutes.
SUNDAY MAY 26 Behind the Candelabra (HBO Canada, 9 p.m. ET) For those viewers who don’t already spring for premium cable service, get it in time to watch this new movie that premiered last week at Cannes and will be released theatrically outside North America. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film documents the relationship between the late celebrity pianist Liberace–played with mincing glee by Michael Douglas–and his much-younger lover Scott Thorson, played by Matt Damon. Based on Thorson’s tell-all book, the film charts their rocky six-year relationship, which ended with Thorson suing Liberace in a much-publicized palimony suit. Both Douglas and Damon are solid in the film, but the real scene-stealer is Rob Lowe as plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Startz, whom Liberace commissioned to turn his boy toy into a younger version of himself.