TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: Feb. 24
A select viewing guide for Friday, Feb. 24
REALITY Undercover Boss CBS, CTV, 8 p.m. Never mind the low-budget Canadian spinoff edition of this series. This is the original U.S. version (which in turn was based on a British TV series) in which high-ranking executives of corporations sneakily blend in among the work force of the companies they run. In tonight's new episode, American Seafood CEO Bernt Bodal fits in easily among the deckhands on a seagoing vessel. Harvesting fish-sticks is a breeze, but Bodal reaches his boiling point when he witnesses dangerous working conditions at one of the company's processing plants.
DRAMA A Gifted Man CBS, 9 p.m. Were you aware the cast of this rookie medical drama Tweet during each new episode? Check it out: #AGiftedMan_CBS. The show's offbeat premise casts stage star Patrick Wilson as the renowned surgeon Michael Holt, whose life takes an eerie turn when his recently deceased ex-wife Anna (Jennifer Ehle) comes back in spirit form to teach him how to become a better person. In tonight's show, Michael receives a surprise visit from his old high-school girlfriend, who is stricken with an irreversible medical condition. Oddly, Anna tries to prevent him from saving her life. Poltergeist spite, perhaps?
NEWS 20/20 ABC, CHCH, 10 p.m. In tonight's installment of this sturdy newsmagazine, host Barbara Walters focuses on the growing obsession with cosmetic surgery, which has become a $10-billion a year business in the U.S. According to one recent poll, more than half of Americans would like to have their appearances enhanced via cosmetic procedures, which includes breast augmentation, facelifts, tummy tucks and rhinoplasty (a.k.a. a nose job). There's also an unprecedented rise in the number of male cosmetic surgeries, including a relatively new (not to mention painful and expensive) procedure to make men taller. Naturally, the program includes an interview with Joan Rivers, who admits she has more plastic in her than a new Toyota.
REALITY Comic Book Men AMC, 11 p.m. If you're a Kevin Smith aficionado, this is already your new favourite TV show. Launched two weeks ago, the unscripted series, which normally airs late Sunday nights, documents the daily routine at the rotund film auteur's comic-book store Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, located in his hometown of Red Bank, New Jersey. In most outings, it's basically Smith hanging around with his boyhood pals, as in tonight's episode in which the gang rallies for a game of street hockey in a sort of homage to his 1994 breakout film "Clerks." Then it's straight back to the store, where they assess the value of a Batmobile replica and a "Star Wars" lightsaber. Ah, those lovable geeks.
MOVIE Step Brothers Showcase, midnight Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play off each other beautifully in this underrated 2008 comedy. The oddball pair are perfectly cast as Brennan and Dale, two fortysomething wastrels who steadfastly refuse to move out of the house or obtain gainful employment. The perfect storm arrives when Brennan's mom (Mary Steenburgen) and Dale's dad (Richard Jenkins) get hitched, forcing the two miscreants to share a room. Worth watching if only for the pair's rap music video for "Boats N' Hoes." Word.