TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: May 11
A select viewing guide for Friday, May 11
FOOD Top Chef Canada Food Network, 7 p.m. The chef intensity is heating up in this Canadian-made cooking competition, now in its final rounds. In tonight's "Quickfire Challenge,² the remaining chefs are tasked to create a dish using ingredients from a snack vending machine (Cheetos stew anyone?). In the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are taken on a camping expedition where they have to assemble an exotic brunch in the middle of the woods. Celebrity chef Roger Mooking (Everyday Exotic) serves as guest judge; watch for a special appearance by Spencer Rice of Kenny vs. Spenny renown.
REALITY Who Do You Think You Are? NBC, Citytv, 8 p.m. Inexpensive to produce and still drawing big numbers on Friday nights, this U.S. version of a popular British TV concept will likely be around for years to come. Tonight's new episode delves into the lineage of Saturday Night Live regular Jason Sudeikis, who has virtually no information about his late grandfather. In Chicago, he discovers the details behind his grandfather's early death, which is followed by a trip to Pennsylvania, where Sudeikis learns that his Lithuanian-born great-great grandfather toiled in the coal mines under drastically dangerous conditions.
DRAMA CSI: NY CBS, CTV, 9 p.m. The New York edition of the CSI franchise brings its eighth season to a close tonight with a departure episode. CSI boss Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) is shot and as he lingers between life and death, he finds himself in a limbo state populated with people from his past, including his dead wife Claire (Jaime Ray Newman). While Mac fights for his life, his CSI colleagues scour the city to bring the shooter to justice.
DRAMA Blue Bloods CBS, CTV, 10 p.m. Elsewhere in the Big Apple, tonight's second-season closer puts New York City police commissioner Frank Reagan, played by Tom Selleck, in a perilous position. While honouring Mother's Day with his family, Frank tries to head off a biological weapon attack on the city by a faceless terrorist. At the same time, Frank is forced to referee a vicious feud between his cop sons Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Jamie (Will Estes). Magnum P.I never had to deal with these kinds of problems.
MOVIE Raising Helen MuchMusic, 9:30 p.m. Breezy Friday-night viewing, this 2004 comedy-drama was made in the days when Kate Hudson was being heralded as a breakout movie star. The daughter of Goldie Hawn displays impressive acting chops as the titular Helen, a successful and single fashion industry executive accustomed to the good life in downtown Manhattan. Her world is rocked when her sister and her sister's husband are killed in a car accident and their will designates Helen as caregiver for their three children. Against the advice of her other sister Jenny (Joan Cusack), Helen buckles down and tries to juggle her career and raising three kids, which somehow becomes easier when she discovers their school principal is a hunky pastor (John Corbett).