TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: July 4
A viewing guide for Monday July 4
REALITY X-Weighted Slice, 7 p.m. Far removed from flashy reality fare like The Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, this Canadian-made series takes a sensible approach to healthy living. The star of the show is fitness trainer Paul Plakas, who puts great care into the exercise and nutrition regimens he plans for overweight people. Tonight he takes on the case of Kristi, a beer-swilling tomboy who can no longer bend over to tie up her boots. Plakas pulls out all the stops to help Kristi toward her goal of climbing the steps of the CN Tower - but those old party habits die hard.
CINEMA AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Morgan Freeman Bravo!, 8 p.m. Come for the kudos, stay for the film clips. Morgan Freeman receives the tribute treatment in this two-hour special. Taped last month in Los Angeles, the program holds true to the standard AFI format of eliciting heartfelt anecdotes and accolades from people who have worked with the Oscar-winner throughout his career. The list of acting talent paying homage includes Clint Eastwood, Helen Mirren, Sidney Poitier and Tim Robbins, who played opposite Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption. The tribute also reunites Freeman with Rita Moreno, his former co-star on the seventies PBS kids series The Electric Company.
REALITY Sons of Guns Discovery, 9 p.m. For those viewers looking to explore new reality offerings in the slow off-season, this bizarre series focuses on the father-daughter duo of Will Hayden and his daughter Stephanie, who run a gun store called Red Jacket Firearms in Baton Rouge, La. The shop specializes in finding and fixing unique weapons of destruction, as in tonight's first show in which Will attempts to restore a marine's Second World War-era flamethrower to working condition (no reasons given for why the man requires a working flamethrower). In the same show, Will helps a husband and wife choose the best weapon for home defence. Watch and be glad that you're Canadian.
PROFILE Bob Hope: Hollywood's Brightest Star PBS, 9:30 p.m. Originally packaged as a DVD release, this program neatly packages the life and times of Bob Hope in one tidy package. Using photographs and rare film footage, the profile recounts Hope's steady ascension up the show-business ladder, which began in vaudeville in the twenties and made him a radio star during the Great Depression. Radio begat movies and while few personalities made the transition, Hope survived and thrived with his peerless comic timing. On film he was the cowardly hero in films like My Favorite Brunette, Fancy Pants and, of course, Road to Singapore, which spawned six sequels. When TV arrived in the fifties, Hope reinvented himself again and starred in several series and countless specials - not to mention hosting the Oscars 18 times. Buoyed by grand clips, it's a sparkling portrait of a life spent in comedy.
MOVIE Death Becomes Her Vision, midnight The desperate search for eternal youth is played to black comedy effect in this 1992 feature. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film stars Meryl Streep as the temperamental actress Madeline, who turns the tables on her former best friend Helen (Goldie Hawn) by stealing her plastic surgeon husband Ernest (Bruce Willis). Fast-forward 14 years and Madeline and Ernest are miserable, while Helen still looks gorgeous and sexy. Madeline discovers Helen's dark secret following a visit to the home of the strange alchemist Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini). For a film made in 1992, the special effects - including Streep walking around with her head turned backwards - are remarkable.