Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Tonight's Must-See
"Monk," 10 p.m., USA Network. Last week's season-opener turned serious. Monk met the dying man who planted the bomb that killed Monk's wife. He turned off the man's painkillers, then — keeping his own humanity — turned it back on. It was a powerful moment. Now the show can get back to its usual tasks — humor and crime-solving. Tonight, a pet chimpanzee may have killed a record producer. Carmen Electra plays the guy's flashy wife.
"TV Land Weddings," 5 p.m. to midnight, TV Land. TV does weddings well. It uses them to start and end series; it uses them for humor, emotion or both. Now we get a marathon of wedding episodes. That starts with the Joanie-and-Chachi ceremony that wrapped up "Happy Days." We're still bitter that Joanie's dad made a toast saying he had two fine children, entirely forgetting his older son, Chuck. Also included are the episodes that brought weddings to "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie," the flashbacks on "Green Acres" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and Woody marrying the rich and sweet Kelly on "Cheers."
Of Note
"Salem's Lot," 5 p.m. to midnight, TNT. Here's a chance to catch this new horror miniseries in one chunk. Rob Lowe stars as a writer returning to his childhood town. Beautifully filmed and smartly written, the film still eventually descends into neck-biting messiness.
"Joan of Arcadia," 7 p.m., CBS. This rerun has Joan feeling the weight of her responsibilities as she tries to help everyone.
"Life Stinks" (1991), 7 p.m., Pax. Mel Brooks directed and co-wrote this film in which he plays a rich man who must live penniless on the streets for a month. Few people list it as one of his classics.
"Method & Red," 7:30 p.m., Fox. Here's a quick rerun of Wednesday's episode, which was pretty good. The guys try to convince a writer they've still got street credibility, despite their suburban lives.
"Hope & Faith," 8 p.m., ABC. Hope likes to have thoughtful book club meetings. Then her sister, the ditzy former soap star, shows up and changes everything.
"Peter Jennings Reporting," 9 p.m., ABC. Jennings visits Guantanamo Bay to examine the treatment of prisoners.
"Las Vegas," 9 p.m., NBC. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself, insisting on doing his own risky stunt in a movie.
