Posted on: Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"American Masters: Judy Garland: By Myself," 9 p.m., PBS. "Do you realize how many people have talked about me, written about me, imitated me?" Judy Garland says into her tape-recorder. "Well, it's high time to stop. This is the story of my life and I, Judy Garland, am gonna talk." She never finished that before her death at 47, in 1969. But "American Masters" used her tapes for this richly layered portrait.

Certainly, Garland had problems. Grown-ups hurt her childhood, via corsets and diet pills. "That's the way we got mixed up," she said. "And that's the way we lost contact with the world." Still, this rerun doesn't dwell on that. Garland also worked hard for 43 years, made 32 movies and raised three children. She was a great singer and a wonderfully instinctive actress. "I knew that anyone who could sing like Judy had the emotional ability to become a dramatic actor," director George Cukor says. Cukor also praised her "innate intelligence." This film, with Isabel Keating re-voicing Garland's words, offers an intelligent portrait.

Of Note

"The Natural" (1984), 4 and 7:30 p.m., American Movie Classics. Robert Redford's baseball movie is long, slow and richly crafted. It's shown twice here, sandwiched by an "Into Character" episode in which a regular guy emulates Redford's character.

"Next Action Star," 7 p.m., NBC. This reality series slides over to Wednesdays as NBC keeps scrambling its lineup. The show will pick a man and woman for a movie the network will air next month.

"Quintuplets," 7:30 p.m., Fox. There's a contest to see which of the teens is most worthy of getting the new cell phone.

"George of the Jungle 2" (2003), 8 p.m., Disney Channel. Maybe the next action star is swinging past us on cable. Christopher Showerman is the amiable newcomer who stepped into Brendan Fraser's role in this made-for-video comedy.

"The Simple Life 2," 8 p.m., Fox. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie go on a shopping trip with a teenager, using her parents' credit card.

"Law & Order," 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. In the first rerun, a young actress is found stabbed to death in the apartment of a Tony-winning composer. In the second, a mobster and a movie producer are killed, possibly because of a movie.

"The Drew Carey Show," 8 and 8:30 p.m., ABC. In the first new episode, Fred Willard plays a travel agent who cheats Drew and Kellie. In the second, Kellie's mean father is played by Michael Gross — who has also done TV duty as Michael J. Fox's nice father and Noah Wyle's coldly distant father.