Posted on: Saturday, June 26, 2004

Tube Notes

Advertiser Staff

Tonight's Must-See

• Everyday People, 6 p.m., HBO. Fascinating and frustrating, this movie will get viewers talking and thinking even as it fails to satisfy. The goal was to capture a modern city neighborhood, richly mixed in races and in attitudes. As a venerable Brooklyn diner nears its closing, workers re-evaluate their lives. The good news is that it tackles important subjects. Director Jim McKay's smart script is beautifully acted by a cast of unknowns. The bad news is that every issue is left hanging.

• A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001), 7 p.m., ABC. A young robot (Haley Joel Osment) finds human traits in a film that is brilliant in its parts, but so-so on the whole. Steven Spielberg took over this project after the death of director Stanley Kubrick. Unfortunately, he retained Kubrick's episodic story and coldly distant approach. Still, there are wonderful moments especially from Jude Law as a renegade robot. In pieces, this is a fine movie.

Of Note

• Movie Monsters, 2, 5, 9 p.m., Animal Planet. In an offbeat approach, this not-so-serious documentary analyzes 1959 horror films, OThe Killer Shrewsî and OGiant Gila Monsters.î

• Forces of Nature (4 p.m., 1999) and Miss Congeniality (6 p.m., 2000), TBS. Sandra Bullock is a footloose soul in the first film and a clumsy FBI agent (undercover at a beauty pageant) in the second. Both are enjoyable, but OForces,î which co-stars Ben Affleck, ends limply.

• Gymnastics, 7 p.m., NBC. Here are highlights from the trials for the U.S. Olympic team.

• King of Queens, 7 p.m., CBS. In a transplanted rerun, Carrie frets that her gynecologist will dump her as a patient because her brother-in-law Danny overcharged him for lawn work.

• Keeping the Faith (2000), 7:30 p.m., CBS. Edward Norton directed and starred in this film. He's a priest, his boyhood pal Ben Stiller is a rabbi and they're both attracted to Jenna Elfman.

• Crime and Punishment, 9 p.m., NBC. The murder of a woman was reported to police by her distraught, 18-year-old son. Now this courtroom documentary follows the trial of her boyfriend.

• Saturday Night Live, 10:30 p.m., NBC. Janet Jackson doubles as host and musical guest. There are fun moments, particularly during a guest spot by Simon Cowell.