SATURDAY, JULY 9
The Colt (Hallmark Channel, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Here's a tearjerker from executive producer Robert Halmi Sr. It's the story of a colt born during one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and the soldier who struggles to keep himself, his mare and her foal alive. Ryan Merriman stars. Based on a short story by Russian Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Aleksandrozich Sholokhov.
PUNK: attitude (IFC, 10 p.m. ET) Premiere. Tommy Ramone, Chrissie Hynde, Henry Rollins, David Johansen and John Cale are among the veteran pioneers of the punk rock movement in the '70s and '80s who reflect on that singularly thrilling era in this original IFC documentary. Included: Recollections of pre-punk influences such as the art of Andy Warhol and the music of The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The New York Dolls, Patti Smith and Television (the band, not the medium).
SUNDAY, JULY 10
Princes of Malibu (Fox, 8:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. For those who can't get enough of the bizarre antics of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie on The Simple Life, Fox offers this reality series about the similarly alien adventures of spoiled twenty-something brothers Brandon and Brody Jenner. They're the sons of legendary Olympian Bruce Jenner who are now, as documented here, the bane of their stepfather's existence. Their woebegone stepdad is powerhouse musician, composer and producer David Foster, who married the boys' mom Linda after her divorce from Jenner, opened his home to Linda, Brandon and Brody and is now paying unexpected consequences. Brandon and Brody have all but taken over Foster's 22-acre Malibu estate and have made careers of spending his money, avoiding work and throwing lavish parties for hundreds of young people, much to the dismay of neighbors Barbra Streisand, Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson, among others. As this series begins, a frazzled Foster decides to change the boys' irresponsible ways. To begin, he should send them over to ABC's Brat Camp (see Wednesday, July 13 listing). Hmmm. An all-star Brat Camp. Now that would be a great show!
The Surreal Life (VH1, 9 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Surreal Life begins its fifth season with two fiery female television personalities at the center of its latest cluster of faded, fading and freaky celebrities. They're former America's Next Top Model judge Janice Dickinson, the self-proclaimed "first supermodel," and Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, that veteran of NBC's The Apprentice who has made a career out of making an ass of herself. Among the other personalities who chose to put their lives on the line by sharing living space with these two combustive characters are baseball's Jose Canseco, Salt-n-Pepa's Sandi Denton, actor Bronson Pinchot, model Caprice and motocross champ Carey Hart.
Hogan Knows Best (VH1, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Is this new reality series VH1's answer to MTV's The Osbournes? Cameras follow wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan, his wife Linda and their kids -- 16-year-old Brooke and 14-year-old Nick -- through the days of their lives. As of next week, Hogan Knows Best will be telecast Sundays at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Celebrity Fit Club (VH1, 10:30 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Are they fat, flabby or somewhere in between? You decide. Gary Busey, Jackee Harry (227), Willie Aames, Phil Margera (MTV's Viva La Bam) and Victoria Jackson are among the second-tier celebrities seeking to drop weight and improve their health through a series of physical challenges in season No. 2 of this strangely popular reality effort. As of next week, Celebrity Fit Club 2 will be telecast Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
MONDAY, JULY 11
Rock Star: INXS (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. There's something morbid about the idea behind this new reality show from Mark Burnett, even though it sounds like a lightweight, entertaining summer offering. Fifteen young performers compete in singing competitions to become the new lead singer of INXS, the popular Australian rock group that was left without a lead singer eight years ago when Michael Hutchence was found dead of apparent suicide in a hotel room. Hasn't the band been able to locate a new singer anywhere in the world since that time? Why build a reality program off a circumstance brought about by the tragic death of a troubled man? All questions and discomfort aside, CBS must think it's on to something here, because the network will run this series three nights a week. The Monday editions (which as of next week will be telecast at 9:30 p.m. ET) will show the contestants living and working together under one roof. The Tuesday editions, scheduled for 10 p.m. ET, will be competition shows. The Wednesday editions, set for 9:30 p.m. ET, will feature the painful elimination of the week (as determined by surviving members of INXS). Dave Navarro and Brooke Burke are the hosts.
Murder in the Hamptons (Lifetime, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace), Shawn Christian (Summerland) and David Sutcliffe (Gilmore Girls) star in this melodrama about the 2001 murder of multi-millionaire Ted Ammon and the media firestorm that began after the discovery of his bludgeoned body at his East Hampton, New York estate. Hamptons also depicts events in the lives of Ammon and his wife Generosa in the years leading up to the murder, including their adoption of twins from Russia, their separation and Generosa's affair with contractor Danny Pelosi, and the dramatic years that followed, during which Generosa married Pelosi, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, left Pelosi, gave custody of the twins to their nanny and exposed Pelosi as Ammon's killer.
The Amazing Race: Season 1 (GSN, 9 p.m. ET) Off-Network Premiere. GSN will telecast reruns of the first eight seasons of the Emmy Award winning CBS reality series The Amazing Race seven nights a week at 9 p.m. ET beginning tonight with the first episode from season one. These GSN telecasts will mark the first time episodes from this series have been seen since they originally aired.
TUESDAY, JULY 12
All-Star Game (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Live. The Annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game promises to be over-produced in ways only Fox can accomplish, and is certain to turn-off baseball traditionalists as the sport and Fox try to appeal to young fans, female fans and those who watch only the All-Star Game and World Series. But with the game now actually being relevant to players and managers (the winning league has home field advantage in the World Series), the teams will be playing for keeps. Managers promise to field the best team rather than working to fit every player into the game. With legends like Roger Clemens on the mound and relative newcomers like Baltimore's Brian Roberts swinging for the fences, the game should provide star-quality and exciting power vs. power match-ups. Keep in mind, it's the first time a Boston Red Sox manager has managed an All-Star team and his team has the fewest Yankee players in recent history. -- Jack Myers
The '70s House (MTV, 10:30 p.m. ET) Looks like MTV has delivered another summer hit. The premiere last Tuesday of this reality competition series, in which 12 young people who live together in a Seventies-style house and engage in challenges while looking and acting exactly as kids did in that super decade attracted almost 6 million viewers, winning its time period among several key young demographics. It's easy to see why. Watching them struggle to survive without cable television, cell phones, computers and other current technology while learning to live with fondue, polyester and the Hustle is hilarious. Tonight, a disco contest -- and guest appearances by Denny Terrio and Jimmie Walker!
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13
Brat Camp (ABC, 8 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Two Hours. Nine teenagers with severe behavior issues are shipped off to SageWalk, a "wilderness school" in a remote region of Oregon where they are subjected to such hardships as discipline, structure, daily exercise, lessons in responsibility and the understanding of personal consequences. They whine, they scream, they cry and they curse up a storm, but they respond, as most kids do, to the ongoing attention they receive from adults. Some of the kids are basket cases. Some are monsters. Most of the parents are clueless. As reality series go, Brat Camp is somewhat entertaining if you don't think too much about it, and utterly disturbing and depressing if you do. On another level it's exploitative, in that it packages the ordeals of kids with very serious problems as guilty pleasure entertainment for the masses. The title says it all.
Mantle (HBO, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. The life and career of legendary Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle — still the greatest switch-hitter in baseball history and one of the sport's true icons — is the subject of this HBO Sports documentary. Producer George Roy has crafted a masterful biography of one of the true icons and heroes of the 20th Century, an unlikely blue-eyed boy from the coal mines of Oklahoma named Mickey Mantle. Those who themselves didn't worship Mantle for his heroics as a baseball player or as a liver-transplant and dying cancer patient will understand why he remains larger than life years after his death. The documentary explains, without minimizing Mantle's alcoholism, blemishes or character flaws, why his legend grows and his importance to millions of fans refuses to wane over time. Mantle includes interviews with his widow Merlyn, sons David and Danny, Bob Costas, Billy Crystal, and teammates including Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Moose Skowron and Bobby Murcer.
THURSDAY, JULY 14
Big Brother 6 (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) Live. The first of this season's houseguests is evicted.
Hooking Up (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. The experiences of twelve single New York City women as they navigate the world of online dating are chronicled in this documentary series. At the very least, it should appeal to fans of Sex and the City and the syndicated dating series Blind Date.
FRIDAY, JULY 15
Stargate SG-1 (Sci Fi Channel, 8 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Ben Browder (Farscape) and Beau Bridges join the cast of television's longest-running science-fiction series as its ninth season begins.
Stargate Atlantis (Sci Fi Channel, 9 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Jason Momoa (North Shore, Baywatch Hawaii) joins the cast and Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files) begins a recurring role as the second season of this Stargate SG-1 spin-off gets underway. Pileggi plays a colonel sent from Earth to help the Atlantis team in its efforts to continue fighting off the Wraith.
Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi Channel, 10 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) fights for his life after being shot at point blank range by the Cylon Sharon, President Roslin and Apollo are languishing in the brig, Tyrol and his crew battle an unseen enemy on Kobol, Starbuck and Helo are stranded on Caprica and an attempt to make an emergency jump away from the Cylons leaves the Galactica stranded in space as Battlestar Galactica enters its sophomore season.