Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Tonight's Must-See
"Big Brother 4" debut, 7 p.m., CBS. "Survivor" and "Big Brother" both reached CBS in the summer of 2000. "Survivor" soared with slick editing. "Brother," on the other hand, was from another planet.
" 'Big Brother' is different from all the other reality shows because it is done so quickly," says producer Arnold Shapiro. Thirteen people share a house filled with cameras and crews work around-the-clock to edit shows. The shows capture candid moments — some of them quite nasty. In the second season, one man was evicted after seeming to threaten someone with a knife. "Alcohol had as much to do with that as anything," Shapiro says. "We are very careful now to limit the amount of alcohol in the house." This year's opener reveals what Shapiro calls "one of the biggest twists that has ever been done on a reality show." CBS, however, let that secret slip out: This year people will apparently be living with their ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends or ex-spouses.
Of Note
"Beg, Borrow & Deal 2" debut, 2 p.m., ESPN, 8 p.m., ESPN2. Here's the return of an interesting reality show. Teams travel the country doing sports-oriented tasks. They catch is they're not allowed to use any money.
"Dog Eat Dog," 7 p.m., NBC. Six NFL cheerleaders compete in a variety of ways in this reality show for a shot at $25,000.
"Keen Eddie," 8 p.m., Fox. Eddie needs help from a former teen prodigy to stop a robbery.
"Last Comic Standing," 8 p.m., NBC. Last week, the three women dominated attention. The vibrant Tess Drake won her second straight immunity contest. Tere Joyce got the most ouster votes and faced Cory Kahaney in a standup-comedy showdown. Kahaney got 80 percent of the audience votes and survived. Tonight, the field will be trimmed to seven.
"P.O.V.: Discovering Dominga," 10 p.m., PBS. Denese Becker, 27, of small-town Iowa, holds a dark memory: When she was 9, her Mayan parents and neighbors were massacred by Guatemalan soldiers. She escaped and was later adopted. Now she makes her first return to her homeland, confronting past horrors. The result is a compelling and disturbing documentary.
