Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Tonight's Must-See
"The Real Roseanne Show" debut, 8 p.m., ABC. Being rich and famous isn't enough, Roseanne Barr says. She also needs to be working. In this series, she's desperate to launch a cooking show. She says she wants to be a white-trash Martha Stewart. Soon, we meet her ragtag crowd. Her son and son-in-law are planning the show. Her first husband, Bill Pentland, is a handyman and his wife, Peggy, is an assistant. These are oddly amiable people. Despite the madness of Roseanne's methods, you'll root for her.
"Take this Job ..." debut, 7 and 11 p.m., A&E. Bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman is an ex-convict. He's given to weight lifting, black leather jackets and pep talks. He's good at his work and recently captured Andrew Luster, the rich guy convicted of date rape. This hour, the first in a series about jobs, follows his maybe-typical day. It juxtaposes that with Californians who shoot candid celebrity photos.
Of Note
"Street Time" season opener, 7 p.m., Showtime. This fierce series often suffers from sameness. Its characters have identically nasty personalities whether they're the parole officers or parolees. That gets some variety tonight with the arrival of a soft-spoken boss (Terrence Howard). Beyond that, people rage and fume and kill, with one particularly grisly scene. A good cast (Scott Cohen, Rob Morrow, etc.) struggles through it.
"Teen Choice Awards," 7 p.m., Fox. The categories — Choice Male Hottie, Choice Movie Chemistry, etc. — are odd but the show should be fun. David Spade hosts, with music by Evanescence, Kelly Clarkson and the Donnas.
"The Spartans," 8 p.m., PBS. A look at the rise and fall of ancient Sparta.
"The West Wing," 8 p.m., NBC. This rerun starts a two-parter. As the president's second inauguration nears he worries about a growing genocide in Africa.
"Peacemakers," 10 p.m., USA Network. In last week's premiere we saw the collision of old and new in the 1880s west as Marshal Jared Stone (Tom Berenger) reluctantly worked with the forensics methods of an Ivy Leaguer (Peter O' Meara) and a former medical student (Amy Carlson). That becomes important tonight as the discovery of two bodies seems to point toward warfare between townspeople and the Arapaho tribe.
