Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE (network TV): "Friends," 7 p.m., NBC. Here's a rerun that juggles three funny plots. In one, Rachel and Phoebe must concoct a hurry-up bridal shower for Monica. In another, Joey tries to lie his way through an audition. Meanwhile, Denise Richards guest stars as the cousin of Monica and Ross. She's so gorgeous that all the guys — including Ross — become uncomfortable.
TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE (cable): "Gold," 3 p.m. (Oceanic digital) or 10 p.m. (Oceanic analog), History Channel. Rumors, legends and superstitions of gold keep luring — and often dooming — people. In the 16th century, Spanish and English explorers prowled the Americas, seeking El Dorado or the Seven Cities of Gold. In the 19th century, people futilely followed a German immigrant's claim of gold at Superstition Mountain in Arizona. Today, Vendyl Jones continues his 30-year search in Israel for the Ark of the Covenant. Just as we think all these searches are doomed, however, there are wondrous surprises. As his exhausting search for Egyptian gold was finishing in 1917, Englishman Howard Carter discovered the tomb of an obscure young pharaoh; inside were more than 5,000 dazzling artifacts. Carter was allowed to keep none of it, but the world was enriched by this collection from King Tut's tomb. And as his search for a Spanish galleon was concluding in the 1970s, Mel Fisher found it. He emerged with treasures reported at more than a half-billion dollars — and got to keep it all.
Football, 2 p.m., CBS. The Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans meet in a pre-season game.
"Lifegame," 9 p.m., The National Network. Here's the debut of a series based on an off-Broadway show. An improvisational comedy troupe portrays moments in the lives of celebrities and of people in the audience.
"Night Visions," 8 p.m., FOX. In the first tale, Jack Palance may be the son of a witch. In the second, Marla Sokoloff ("The Practice") suspects that she loves a ghost.
"Nobody's Fool" (1994), 9-11 p.m., USA Network. Robert Benton, who wrote and directed Sally Field's Oscar-winning "Places in the Heart," came up with another well-layered character portrait here. Paul Newman is terrific, in this low-key look at a small-town guy, trying to keep life at a distance.
"ER," 9 p.m., NBC. Things reach overload in this rerun. Drunken frat guys are in the emergency room; so is Dr. Corday, ready to have her baby. Meanwhile, Abby and Dr. Carter have a road trip to get her manic-depressive mother, played by Sally Field.
