Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Tonight's Must-See
"The Drew Carey Show" season premiere, 8 and 8:30 p.m., ABC. When this show made its debut in 1995 it was a welcome change of pace. Here was a situation comedy with a Cleveland setting, blue-collar roots and moments of sly wit. The show became a hit then crashed in the ratings. You can blame many things — co-star Christa Miller left, the plots wandered off-course, the producer was doing several other shows and ABC was scheduling things horribly. One wise thing ABC did was to pull the remaining episodes so they could be shown in the summer when they might be noticed. In tonight's first episode, the show's 200th overall, Drew tries a crash diet. In the second, he and his friends take a trip to Florida.
Of Local Note
"Mixed Plate in Las Vegas with Pure Aloha," 7 p.m., KITV. Pamela Young heads to Las Vegas to see how a few of the estimated 90,000 former Pacific islanders living there are faring in the desert gambling mecca.
Of Note
"Fame," 7 p.m., NBC. Now we're in what this show calls its finals. There are 10 people left, many of them remarkably skilled singers and dancers. Two are eliminated tonight.
"Boarding House: North Shore," 7 p.m., WB. In the first men's face-off, young champ Myles Padaca spilled and old champ Sunny Garcia led. Tonight, the women compete: Holly Beck is the dead-serious one, Veronica Kay is a party type who doubles as a swimsuit model, and Chelsea Georgeson is the youngest, fresh from Australia.
"Guilty Hearts" conclusion (2002), 8 p.m., CBS. In the first half of this miniseries rerun, we saw a sweet-spirited churchwoman (beautifully played by Marcia Gay Harden) seduced by a slick doctor (Treat Williams). Now his wife has been killed, in this true-life story.
"This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys," 9 p.m., PBS. Here's the mid-section of this superb three-night documentary. In tonight's first hour, we see blacks' migration to the north, including the impact of two men. Thomas Dorsey, once the pianist for blues singer Ma Rainey, became a vibrant force in gospel music. The Rev. Cecil Williams created a "come as you are" church. In the second hour, church people become a powerful force in the civil-rights movement.
