Posted on: Friday, February 28, 2003

Tube Notes

Mike Hughes,
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"Grounded for Life," 9:30 p.m., WB. Obsessed with reality shows, Fox didn't renew this above-average comedy so WB grabbed it. Tonight, things start with a wonderful scene, the kind in which family members never quite communicate. From various rooms they shout about a driver's test, bills, missing clothes and cutesy pictures on checks. It's fast, funny and chaotic. As the story develops, the family's teenager (the talented Lynsey Bartilson) has flunked her driving test yet again. Meanwhile, her mom (Megyn Price) is starting to realize how extreme the violence can be in some video games. It's a terrific episode.

Of Note

"Defending Your Life" (1991), 6 p.m., ABC Family. Albert Brooks wrote and directed this drolly clever film. He plays a guy in the afterlife who must prove he should be allowed to go to heaven. Meryl Streep plays his love interest.

"Baywatch Hawaiian

Wedding," 7 p.m., Fox. During its long run, "Baywatch" gave the world a steady supply of bikini-worthy sex symbols. Many of them return for this movie, including Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Yasmine Bleeth, Gena Lee Nolin and Brande Roderick.

"Mister Sterling," 7 p.m., NBC. Sterling's staff keeps pressuring him to do something toward getting elected. Now he's agreed to a fund-raiser at the home of his father, a former California governor.

"Bruce Springsteen," 8 p.m., CBS. Here are highlights from a Bruce Springsteen concert focusing on the album ("The Rising") he created in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9 p.m., NBC. Sherilyn Fenn ("Twin Peaks") guest stars in this rerun. The case starts when her husband is found bludgeoned to death. That points toward a scandal.