Seven Days of Television: June 2 to June 8
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television
MONDAY JUNE 2 Mistresses (ABC, CTV, 10 p.m.) Looking to put a little sizzle in your viewing this summer? May we recommend this saucy remake of a U.K. series starring Alyssa Milano as Savannah Davis, a top-ranked attorney with a fantastically complicated personal life. The show’s second season begins with Savannah getting reflective in the wake of her recent brush with death and giving birth to a new son. The soapy tableau is rounded out with glimpses into the lives of her fabulous confidantes: younger sister Joss (Jess Macallan), best pal Karen (Yunjin Kim) and widowed single mother April (Rochelle Aytes) – each one looking for love in all the wrong places.
TUESDAY JUNE 3 Celebrity Wife Swap (ABC, 10 p.m.) Still going strong in its fifth season, this creative spin on the traditional Wife Swap formula remains compelling (if occasionally horrific) viewing. As before, the watch-factor stems entirely from the diametrically-opposed celebrities who agree to the experiment in which two matriarchs switch domiciles for a week. Tonight: Former baseball superstar David Justice swaps mates with Dweezil Zappa, the son of late rock legend Frank Zappa. Justice lives on a sprawling estate with wife Rebecca and their three kids and is accustomed to getting breakfast in bed each morning; Dweezil resides in a humble abode with hippie wife Megan and they won’t let their teen daughter have a cell phone.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 4 Owning Mahowny (Bravo!, 9 p.m.) Based on real-life events, this dark drama was tapped by the late Roger Ebert as one of the top 10 films of 2003. In a performance foreshadowing his 2005 Oscar win for Capote, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers a remarkable turn as Dan Mahowny, a nebbishy Toronto bank employee who responds to a promotion by doubling down on his gambling addiction. In short order, Mahowny is skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from his employer and leading a double life as a high roller at an Atlantic City casino. British actress Minnie Driver is appropriately witless as Mahowny's long-suffering girlfriend.
THURSDAY JUNE 5 OMG! EMT! (TLC, 9 p.m.) Life is like a box of chocolates for emergency medical technicians: They never know what they’re going to get. Filmed in various California locales, this unscripted series provides viewers with a behind-the-scenes look into the unpredictable lives of rescue professionals – and naturally the show doesn’t focus on the easily-fixed scenarios. Case in point: Tonight’s episode profiles three cases of people in need. In the first call, an elderly woman with a nasty attitude comes out swinging at the EMTs. In the second, the EMTs try to get past a snapping dog to assist a patient. And in the third, the team responds to a medical emergency in which a group of college dudes discover they really aren’t invincible. Bless ‘em all.
FRIDAY JUNE 6 Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta (TLC, 9 p.m.) You can't have a storybook wedding without the perfect dress. Back tonight for its 11th season, this series takes cameras into Atlanta's Bridals by Lori--the largest bridal salon in America—where the frocks are fabulous and price is rarely an issue. Since this is a reality series, most episodes naturally lean toward profiling the store's more problematic clientele. In tonight’s season opener meet Salina, who really needs her wedding dress in a hurry – she’s getting married that very day!
SATURDAY JUNE 7 The Passionate Eye: The Kennedy Saga (CBC News Network, 10 p.m.) First broadcast on French television, this well-researched documentary compiles the history of the Kennedy family into one tidy package. The film delves into every nook and cranny of the Kennedys privileged existence, with particular attention paid to the remarkable life and times of patriarch Joe Kennedy, who seemingly created the womanizing template that his sons would later emulate. As should be expected, the program devotes inordinate screen time to the alleged extra-marital affairs of former president John F. Kennedy. The short take: All that money and power has been more curse than blessing.
SUNDAY JUNE 8 The 68 th Annual Tony Awards (CBS, CH, 8 p.m.) Get ready for Broadway’s annual salute to itself. Broadcasting live from Radio City Music Hall in New York, this year’s awards fete will be hosted by Hugh Jackman (for the fourth time) who always brings an extra measure of energy to the occasion. Scheduled performances include Neil Patrick Harris essaying his title character from Hedwig and the Angry Inch and a tribute to the 10th anniversary of Wicked. Think of it this way: It’s cheaper than actually buying tickets to see these shows.