Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Tonight's Must-See
"Boomtown," 9 p.m., NBC.NBC had announced it would rerun three episodes of the terrific "Boomtown" this week. Then it scuttled two of them. What remains is this one, which is one of its most acclaimed episodes. It centers on David McNorris (Neal McDonough), the tough and troubled assistant prosecutor. He leans toward corruption when the son of a movie mogul is charged with murder.
"The Cheetah Girls," 8 p.m., Disney Channel. Based on a series of books about four teenage girls who form a singing group in New York City, this movie is upbeat and uptempo. It has bright colors and bouncy music. It should be a delight, but it's not. This is a story where kids bearing such names as Aqua, Chanel and Galleria use words like "cheetah-licious." It needed some modification and some subtlety. Instead, each role is overwritten and performed at full shout. Nothing seems real.
It's overdone, too loud and overwrought.
Of Note
Football, 2 p.m., CBS. The Green Bay Packers — who don't seem to play well when they're on national television — visit the Cleveland Browns.
"Frozen Impact" (2003), 7 p.m., Pax. Hailstones the size of — well, of big Styrofoam props — boom down. A dad tries to find his son's new liver and then get the boy to the hospital where his wife will perform the transplant. Also, he rescues their daughter from a mountain. It's a really, really busy day.
"Lizzie McGuire," 7:30 p.m., Disney Channel. Disney usually does much better work than it did with "Cheetah Girls." Now there are only four new episodes of this amiable Disney series, which was recently nominated for an Emmy. Tonight, Lizzie (Hilary Duff) frets when her teacher is invited to a family dinner.
"Wanda at Large," 7:30 p.m., Fox. In a funny rerun, Wanda does an exposé on a councilman — who then dies before the piece airs.
"Monk," 10 p.m., USA Network. Sharona, Monk's high-spirited assistant, gets some of the focus tonight. The publisher of a nudie magazine says he'll expose her past if Monk doesn't drop an investigation.
