Gordon Ramsay and more: 7 TV shows to watch this week (May 6 to 12)
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television
MONDAY MAY 6 Jew-Bashing: The New Anti-Semitism (VisionTV, 9 p.m.) Written and produced by veteran war correspondent Martin Himel, this new four-part series documents the frightening rise of anti-Semitism that is slowly gathering pace around the world. In tonight’s opener, Himel and his undercover team travels to Pakistan, Egypt, Iran and the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip to interview clerics, journalists and other opinion-makers, all of them whom do not hesitate to express their intense hatred and distrust of the Jewish people. The program includes a visit to a Gaza school where children are being taught that both the Holocaust and 9/11 were orchestrated by the Jews in order to destroy the Muslim faith. Watch and learn.
TUESDAY MAY 7 Body of Proof (ABC, Citytv, 10 p.m.) Still going strong in its third season, this no-frills medical drama has finally elevated Dana Delany from support player to leading-lady status. The former Desperate Housewives regular is perfectly cast as the no-nonsense neurosurgeon Dr. Megan Hunt, whose surgical career was cut short by a car accident, after which she took on her new role as a Philadelphia medical examiner. In tonight’s new show, a plane crash knocks out the power in the downtown city core and Dr. Hunt is forced to conduct autopsies on the victims during a total blackout. Everything is going to plan until one of the bodies goes missing. Former Beverly Hills, 90210 mainstay Luke Perry guest-stars as a visiting physician.
WEDNESDAY MAY 8 My Crazy Obsession (TLC, 10 p.m.) What’s going on in the TLC programming department these days? Following remarkable ratings success for the reality series My Collection Obsession and My Secret Addiction, this new series takes a lighter tone in profiling people with unique obsessions bordering on the bizarre. Tonight’s first new episode introduces viewers to the Smiths, a seemingly normal couple with more than 200 stuffed animals scattered around their home. Things get really weird in the second show focusing on Bob and Lizzie, who take inordinate pride in their huge collection of inflatable love dolls. They even drive around town with the dolls in the backseat!
THURSDAY MAY 9 Community (NBC, Citytv, 8 p.m.) Is this the last hurrah for Community? Primetime’s quirkiest sitcom wraps its fourth season tonight and if ratings still determine the success or failure of a network series (and they do), there’s little chance viewers will see a fifth campaign. In tonight’s closer, the pivotal character of Jeff (Joel McHale) finally achieves enough credits to graduate from Greendale Community College and he’s not very comfortable at the prospect of venturing out into the real world. And everyone else? They’re busy revisiting the “darkest timeline” all over again (if you watched Community, you’ll know what that’s all about).
FRIDAY MAY 10 Kitchen Nightmares (Fox, 8 p.m.) Never underestimate the appeal of an angry Englishman with a sharp knife. Fox has tested this reality series on nearly every night of the week and wherever the show goes, viewers follow. In format terms, the program still faithfully follows the efforts of Gordon Ramsay to revamp struggling American restaurants in less than a week. In tonight’s fifth-season closer, Ramsay rolls into scenic Scottsdale, Arizona, to perform a rescue mission at the local eatery Amy’s Baking Company. The kitchen is clean as a pin but patrons are constantly griping about the food and service. In fact, owners Amy and Samy are known to shriek at any customer who dares to complain! Watch the sparks fly when the stubborn restaurateurs meet the mad English chef.Capture
SATURDAY MAY 11 Al Madigral: Why is the Rabbit Crying? (Comedy Network, 9 p.m.) Does the name Al Madigral ring a bell? Best known for his pithy reports on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the affable Madigral originally made his name on the comedy-club circuit and acquits himself admirably in this hourlong standup special. In his trademark casual manner, Madigral pokes fun at his Mexican/Italian/American ancestry, his constantly inquisitive children and the real reasons why L.A. gang members get tattoos. He’s like Bill Cosby and George Lopez and Ray Romano rolled into one comedian!
SUNDAY MAY 12 Long Island Medium (TLC, 9 p.m.) The spirits are about to speak, again. Back tonight for its fourth season, the freakishly popular reality series revolves entirely around the brassy mom Theresa Caputo, who works as a professional medium when she isn’t trying to raise a family in the pastoral suburban enclave of Hicksville, New York. Wisely, the show’s producers split the screen time evenly between Theresa’s daily clairvoyant duties and her wacky domestic situations. Case in point: In tonight’s season opener, her daughter Victoria makes a surprise visit home from college and shocks the entire family with a huge announcement; and then, Theresa conducts a somber séance session with a young boy looking to talk to his dead sister.