SATURDAY, JUNE 25
Phil of the Future (Disney Channel, 6:30 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Disney's live action comedy series about a teenager from the future stranded in the present day, along with his time-traveling family and a caveman from their visit to the prehistoric age, begins its second season with an episode titled Versa Day in which Phil and his kid sister Pim switch bodies. Enter the Fashion Zombies, who try to play a prank on Pim, unaware that Pim is temporarily Phil. Young television critic Maya Motavalli (age 10) reports that after watching Versa Day and another upcoming episode that the new season of Phil seems to have "more interesting stories." Also, Curtis (the caveman) "is more civilized and speaks better." Season two of Phil, Maya concludes, "is off to a promising start." In other developments, Teen magazine selected Phil star Ricky Ullman one of the three top Hotties of Summer, behind only Jesse McCartney and Usher.
The Girl in the Café (HBO, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. HBO and BBC One produced this funny and thought provoking comedy drama about a shy, dedicated civil servant and his relationship with a girl he meets in a café. He impulsively invites her to accompany him on his idea of a romantic holiday -- to the G8 Summit Meeting in Iceland, where world leaders come together to discuss ways to significantly reduce extreme poverty around the globe. Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Kelly MacDonald and Corin Redgrave star.
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
The Greatest American (Discovery, 9 p.m. ET) Live. Series Finale. As you read this, interested viewers are voting online for their choice for the all-time greatest American. When this series began on June 5, an initial list of 100 top Americans (determined via submissions to AOL) was narrowed to 25. In the weeks that followed, the list was reduced once again to five and the importance of the finalists was debated. In case you haven't heard, the final five are Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and George Washington. (Sorry, Oprah.) The No. 1 choice will be revealed during tonight's live telecast, hosted by Matt Lauer.
Entourage (HBO, 9 p.m. ET) There's good news and bad news about that Aquaman movie deal Ari has put together for Vince.
Wallflowers Custom Concert featuring Carole King (Oxygen, 10 p.m. ET) Premiere. Two-time Grammy Award-winners the Wallflowers and multiple Grammy winner and music legend Carole King perform several of their greatest hits and promote their respective new CDs, Rebel, Sweetheart and The Living Room Tour, in a concert special taped June 18 in New York City. Among the hits the Wallflowers perform are songs chosen in advance of the taping by online voters at www.oxygen.com.
MONDAY, JUNE 27
The Science of Lance Armstrong (Discovery, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. Six-time winner Lance Armstrong will compete in his final Tour de France on Saturday, July 2. This Discovery special reveals his training regimen (he trains at high altitudes) and examines his extraordinary physiology. (Among other physical distinctions, Armstrong's lungs have twice the oxygen capacity of the average man and his heart is one-third larger than most.) Armstrong also demonstrates some of the unknown tricks that have made him an undisputed champion despite a well-documented battle with testicular cancer. For example, resistance is increased while cycling at full speed simply by raising one's thumb.
The Closer (TNT, 9 p.m. ET) Brenda collides with both the FBI and the Russian mob while investigating the death of a high-priced call girl in the third episode of TNT's breakout summer hit. Kyra Sedgwick stars.
Six Feet Under (HBO, 9 p.m. ET) Nate turns 40 -- as if the Fishers don't have enough problems.
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
BET Awards 2005 (BET, 8 p.m. ET) Live. Three Hours. Mariah Carey, Ludacris, Stevie Wonder, The Game, Missy Elliot and Destiny's Child are among the scheduled performers at the fifth annual BET Awards honoring outstanding African American actors, singers and athletes. Gladys Knight will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and Denzel and Pauletta Washington will be honored with the Humanitarian Award. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith are the hosts. Telecast live from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
Empire (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Miniseries Premiere. Part One of Five. Julius Caesar's nephew Octavius and a fictional disgraced gladiator named Tyrannus are the central characters in this six-hour miniseries set in strife-torn Rome circa 44 B.C. Tyrannus, a lifelong slave freed by Caesar, takes an oath to protect heir to the throne Octavius from mounting dangers after the corrupt Senate successfully assassinates their leader. Jonathan Cake and Santiago Cabrera star. The executive producers of Empire include Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, Annie, Chicago) and Tony Jonas (Queer as Folk).
Stella (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain star in a bizarre new comedy series about three unemployed friends and roommates who resort to extreme tactics to survive the challenges of city life.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
30 Days (FX, 10 p.m. ET) FX and filmmaker Morgan Spurlock have done something rather extraordinary: They have produced a superb reality-documentary hybrid that entertains as it educates on a broad spectrum of contemporary topics. It's Must-See TV and the best new series of the summer. Tonight Spurlock takes on a subject many people will consider his most sensitive to date: The Muslim experience in post-9/11 America. David Stacy, a Christian business executive from Charleston, West Virginia, moves in with Shamael and Sadia Shakir Haque, a Muslim couple in Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the country.
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
Being Bobby Brown (Bravo, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Two Episodes. Cameras follow and focus on Grammy winner and tabloid fixture Bobby Brown as he goes about his personal and professional existence, which happens to include marriage to another Grammy winner and tabloid fixture, Whitney Houston. Fans of such celebrity peek-a-boo reality fare who felt cheated when the much-publicized VH1 series that would have documented the day-to-day lives of Liza Minnelli and David Gest during their brief marriage was dismantled before it even began might want to check this out.
FRIDAY, JULY 1
Cowboy U: Texas (CMT, 8 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Three Episodes. Season four of CMT's outdoor reality series, in which city folks compete in a series of challenges designed to see if they have what it takes to live the cowboy life, plunks four men and four women in the hills of West Texas. First up: milking wild cows, mucking stalls (in other words, shoveling you-know-what), manhandling pigs in mud and taking cold outdoor showers. Cowboy Rocco Wachman and bull rider Judd Leffew return to guide this new group through their messy hardships.