Posted on: Friday, January 28, 2005

Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"Monk," 10 p.m., USA Network. Last week, we met Monk's new assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard). Like her predecessor Sharona, Natalie is a single mom, and smart and resourceful. But she's not a guff-taker. As this hour begins, she's battling the tightwad Monk over expenses. She continues when he would rather fret about other things, such as solving a murder. Rumors have circulated that a Bruce-Lee-type martial arts star never really died. Now someone has murdered in his style. The result is a fairly good mystery, against the backdrop of Natalie's labor dispute. In the final minutes, things turn dead serious. Keep watching "Monk": It neatly parcels out humor, crime solving and an interesting blend of attractive opposites.

"Joan of Arcadia," 7 p.m., CBS. After a strong start, this appealing show has faded lately. Now CBS is scrambling. "We're doing some great stunt casting," says Nina Tassler, the CBS president. "Hilary Duff has done an episode, which is really adorable and fun." That's the one tonight. Joan saves Duff's character, gains a new friend — and sort of wishes she didn't.

Of Note

"The Bernie Mac Show," 7 and 7:30 p.m., Fox. First is a new episode. Bernie makes the mistake of telling his poker secrets to his nephew. Then comes a rerun, centering on a feud with Chris Rock.

"8 Simple Rules," 7 p.m., ABC. The school volleyball games keep ending in chaos.

"Hope & Faith," 8 p.m., ABC. The sisters start a catering business. The problem is that Faith (Kelly Ripa) thinks she should spend all her time being personable with the customers.

"Jonny Zero," 8 p.m., Fox. The feds tighten pressure on Jonny, forcing him to do undercover spying on people he has nothing against. Meanwhile, a young woman wants to shed the gang life and become a boxer. He helps, in a tough episode that has its good moments.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," 8 p.m., CBS. This rerun involves a roller coaster accident that killed six people.

"Numb3rs," 9 p.m., CBS. This will be the regular spot for this series, which has Rob Morrow as an FBI agent who gets help from his brother (David Krumholtz), a math genius. The network has been unclear about whether it will rerun Sunday's debut episode tonight or air a new one.

"Medical Investigation," 9 p.m., NBC. The doctors are flown to an Arctic science station where a brain disease seems to be spreading. Problems range from a blinding storm to signs that one of the docs is already afflicted.