TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: July 25
A select viewing guide for Wednesday, July 25
REALITY: Selling London (HGTV, 8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT) Launched last week, this new series follows several elite London real-estate agents in their rounds to match buyers with sellers. Naturally, the show focuses primarily on mega-deals. Watch tonight as the hotshot agent Rosy mounts a slick international ad campaign to find a buyer for a London mansion valued at more than $65-million (US). Rosy stands to earn more than a half-million in commission on the deal! In the same show, Charles tries to convince a popular radio host that he’d be much happier living in the East End than Central London.
COMEDY: Only Fools and Horses (Vision, 8:30 p.m. ET; 5:30 p.m. PT) Originally broadcast from 1981 to 1991, this venerable BBC sitcom coaxed a remarkable comedy turn from David Jason. On this show, he’s Derek (Del Boy) Trotter, an ambitious market trader forever on the lookout for the big payday. The series rewinds to its very first episode tonight, in which the lovable schemer hires his younger brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) for his newly formed trading company. Del immediately regrets the decision once Rodney starts to question his dodgy dealings.
MUSIC: The Glee Project (Global, 9 p.m. ET/PT) Now in its second season, this series features teens competing in a wide range of musical disciplines. The prize is a recurring guest role on Glee. The concept worked out nicely for Irish-born Damian McGinty, whose seven-episode stint as exchange student Rory was extended to run through most of last season. To date, the kids have competed in musical challenges to ascertain theatricality, vulnerability and individuality; tonight, it’s tenacity, which means shooting music-video covers of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby and David Bowie’s Under Pressure.Tyler Golden
MUSIC: Jimmy Fallon’s Primetime Music Special (NBC, 10 p.m. ET/PT) Believe it or not: Jimmy Fallon is one of the hottest names in music today. Beyond the fact that his late-night talk show is a favourite destination with top music acts, Fallon himself is a talented musician and singer. This new special compiles musical highlights from the past few seasons and includes his impersonation of Neil Young singing the theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Fallon also teams with Canada’s own Carly Rae Jepsen for a bizarre rendition of her hit Call Me Maybe and convinces Bruce Springsteen to perform a version of Whip My Hair.
MOVIE: Stalag 17 (AMC, 11 p.m. ET; 8 p.m. PT) Less than a decade after the end of the Second World War, Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed this unflinching wartime drama. The 1953 film is set in a German prisoner-of-war camp and stars William Holden as a cynical soldier named Sefton, whose only interaction with his fellow prisoners is to collect money from them on wagers and black-market goods. When accused by his bunkmates of being a Nazi infiltrator, Sefton has to put his wiles to use to find the real spy. Holden earned an Oscar for his portrayal, and there’s chilling support work from German-born Otto Preminger as the camp commandant.Paramount Pictures/Getty Images