TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: March 11
A select viewing guide for Monday, March 11
REALITY Princess (Slice, 7 p.m.) Spending money like there’s no tomorrow is lots of fun–until the bills arrive. Now in its second season, this series features no-nonsense financial expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade serving up tough-love lessons to pampered young women who simply can’t reign in their frivolous lifestyles. As on Vaz-Oxlade’s series Til Debt Do Us Part, the money makeover begins with the cutting-up of credit cards and putting each princess on a restricted cash-only regimen. In tonight’s first show, she meets a young media professional named Kirsten who is accustomed to spending $5000 a month at the spa. The bad news: Kirsten has recently lost her job and is slowly burning through her six-month severance. Ms. Vaz-Oxlade provides the much-needed reality check.
REALITY The Bachelor (ABC, Citytv, 8 p.m.) Depending on your personal tastes, tonight’s finale of The Bachelor is must-see TV. The 17 th season of ABC’s still-popular love connection series reintroduced viewers to Sean Lowe, an insurance investigator and former suitor on The Bachelorette (from which he was summarily dismissed in the late rounds by that nasty Emily Maynard). Over the past several weeks, Sean has been wining and dining more than two-dozen single ladies vying for his affection and has finally whittled the competition down to two lovely finalists. Will he opt for the free-spirited Catherine or the decidedly more rigid general’s daughter Lindsay? The tension is just killing us. Note: Stick around for The Bachelor: After the Rose Special (10 p.m.), which will also reveal the identity of the next Bachelorette.
DRAMA The Following (Fox, CTV, 9 p.m.) Still performing well in U.S. Nielsen ratings, this new crime drama looks to be around for the long haul. Launched several weeks back, the premise of this new series stars the reliable Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy, an unsteady FBI agent hauled out of retirement to reign in Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a charming serial killer with an Edgar Allan Poe obsession and a massive group of devoted followers willing to do his evil bidding. The head games between cop and killer in recent weeks are clearly taking a toll on Ryan and his confidence is helped one bit in tonight’s new show when the FBI brings in a new agent to run lead on the case.
FOOD Sugar Dome (Food Network, 10 p.m.) Indulge your sweet tooth for reality television with this new food-competition series. Hosted by the outrageous David Bull, the show’s format pits three teams against each other in a heated competition to create towering mounds of cake, candy and icing sugar. Each team is comprised of a master baker, a candy whiz and a non-culinary expert ranging from an engineer to a graffiti artist to a sculptor. The results are judged by award-winning pastry chef Paulette Goto, dessert chef Pichet Ong and a rotating guest judge. And naturally each confectionary creation must have a theme. In tonight’s new show, the three teams are tasked to put together edible displays that capture the spirit of extreme daredevil sports. Motocross torte, anyone?
MOVIE The Breakfast Club (AMC, 8 p.m. and 12:15 a.m.) Not many movies from the eighties still hold up, but sample five minutes of this coming-of-age comedy drama and you’ll end up watching the entire movie all over again. Written and directed by John Hughes, the 1985 film launched the careers of five young stars as high-schoolers forced to spend a Saturday in detention. The disparate group: The jock (Emilio Estevez), the princess (Molly Ringwald), the nerd (Anthony Michael Hall), the weird chick (Ally Sheedy) and the bad boy (Judd Nelson). Although very different, the five bond together against the dim teacher (Paul Gleason) babysitting them and eventually bond in their collective contempt for adult society. Don’t you forget about me.