Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes, Gannett News Service and Advertiser staff
MUST-SEE: "Survivor: The Australian Outback," 7 p.m. and "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation," 8 p.m., both CBS: For a couple of weeks, college basketball took over CBS' Thursdays. Even "Survivor" had to move. Now the regular shows are back. "Survivor" is down to eight people, five from the former Ogakor tribe. If they stick together and survive the immunity challenges, they'll dump the others – Nick Brown, Rodger Bingham and Elisabeth Filarski – over the next three weeks; then the in-fighting begins. Meanwhile, the well-crafted "C.S.I." has a pair of multiple-death tales. One has two people killed in an apparent carjacking; the other has three killed when a building collapses.
MUST-TAPE: "Wag the Dog" (1997), 7 p.m., Fox, and "The Untouchables" (1987), 8 p.m., WTBS: David Mamet has become the great U.S. scriptwriter. One moment, he creates characters that are blunt and brutal; the next, he adds surprising humor. Here are two examples. "Untouchables" is the tough one. Kevin Costner plays Eliot Ness, a federal agent during the Prohibition age; Sean Connery won an Academy Award as a cop who helped him. "Wag the Dog" is a flight of fancy: A Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) stages a fake war to boost a president's popularity. The only things these films have in common are Robert De Niro – as a political consultant in one and as Al Capone in the other – and Mamet. That's enough.
"Na Mele," 7:30 p.m., PBS: This installment features Jerry Santos and Olomana.
"Friends," 7 p.m., NBC: After months of planning her wedding, Monica suddenly worries about marriage ruining her love life.
"Mystery," 8 p.m., PBS: In the first half of "Second Sight," a well-crafted rerun, a young cop (Claire Skinner) learned that a colleague is going blind. Tonight, despite problems, they have a murder to solve.
"Just Shoot Me," 8:30 p.m., NBC: Brooke Shields arrives as the younger and sweeter sister of the conniving Nina.
"ER," 9 p.m., NBC: In the middle of a too-busy day, a gun is fired.
"Big Apple," 9 p.m., CBS: Here's another CBS show that returns to its Thursday spot. Tonight, Mooney (Ed O'Neill) returns to his old police precinct.
"The Cotton Club," (1984), 9 p.m., AMC: Director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo, who triumphed together with "The Godfather," portray this Harlem nightclub in the 1930s. There are some great moments, but they rarely merge into an involving story.
