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Scroll Down For Today's Watercooler TV

Season Premieres of the TBS show Minding the Store and ABC Family's Venus & Serena: For Real, and Other Watercooler TV

By Jacki Garfinkel

Watercooler TV for the Week of July 16 - 22

SATURDAY, JULY 16

Cowboys on the Trail (Food Network, 9 p.m. ET) Country singer Trace Adkins hosts this Food Network Special that tells the story of Texan Native, Tim Love. Chef Love is known for turning a mix of ethnic and cultural dishes into western cuisine. In this show, the wild adventurer leaves his Fort Worth Texas restaurant, the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, and takes off on an impressive drive along a culinary trail.

SUNDAY, JULY 17

When the Bough Breaks (Court TV, 4 p.m. ET) In this 1995 horror thriller, seven pairs of severed hands, each with a tattooed number on the palm, are found in Houston, Texas. Ally Walker plays forensic profiler, Audrey Macleah, who is sent to investigate. She must find a way to communicate with an institutionalized, elective mute who draws another pair of hands on his cell wall each year and has a psychic link to the killer.

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ESPY Awards (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET) The annual ESPY Awards attract a who's who of the sports and celebrity world. Taped last Wednesday at LA's Kodak Theater and featuring entertainment by Destiny's Child, the show honors athletes, teams and great sports' moments. Chock-full of highlights from the past year, any sports fan is sure to enjoy the two-hour presentation. Matthew Perry hosts.

Gleason (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) Brad Garrett received an Emmy nomination in 2003 for his role in this biographical drama about the life of Jackie Gleason, star of The Honeymooners. Garrett pulls off an uncanny resemblance to Gleason's expressions and body language. The cinematography in this movie is above par, especially when it comes to the camera angles used to camouflage Garrett's towering height. Funny and powerful, this movie provides insight into the life of "The Great One."

Minding the Store (TBS, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Pauly Shore attempts to bring some life back into the world-famous Comedy Store and make it the success it once was. As he toils over this venture, he also tries to work on his career and his personal life, taking acting classes and getting into relationships with women. If for nothing else, watch this show for its money back guarantee. If you are one of the first 250,000 people to watch and not laugh, you can send an SASE to the show and Pauly Shore will send you $1.

MONDAY, JULY 18

The Scholar (ABC, 8 p.m. ET) Season Finale. After grueling quizzes, challenges, interviews, and showdowns, the final five students have each won $50,000 towards the college of their choice. Now, after one last challenge, the scholarship committee must determine which of these high school seniors deserves a full-ride to college.

Secret Lives (Lifetime, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place, American Dreams) plays art professor Jill Thompson who learns that her husband has just been killed. She's shocked, because she thought he died ten years ago. Jill digs into her husband's past, only to find out terrible secrets.

Hell's Kitchen (Fox, 9 p.m. ET) The final four contestants have to cook a gourmet meal made entirely of leftovers. The stakes are higher on this night, as the chef who performs the best gets to cook with head chef Gordon Ramsey on a national TV show.

TUESDAY, JULY 19

Dead Famous: Ghostly Encounters (Biography, 10 p.m. ET) Travel along the West Coast to places that members of the mob supposedly haunted. Start at the Comedy Store (also the subject of Pauly Shore's new show Minding the Store), stop at Al Capone's old yacht, and end at Alcatraz.

Miami Ink (TLC, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Four best friends join together to run a tattoo parlor in South Beach, Florida. The show not only follows these four creative rivals as they work during the day and play into the night, but it focuses on the tales behind the customers' tattoos, letting viewers tap into their stories.

Extreme Dodgeball (GSN, 10 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. The game from your middle school gym has been amped up celebrity style. In this third season, there's a new arena, a mascot named "Dodgy," new rules, and most importantly, celebrity team captains. Some of the notable captains include Jeremiah Trotter (Philadelphia Eagles), Hal Sparks (Queer as Folk), and Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell). We all knew that A.C. Slater could wrestle in Saved by the Bell, but who knew he could play dodgeball too? The show will culminate with the victorious team winning $170,000. Also, Rip Torn, from Ben Stiller's comedy Dodgeball, A True Underdog Story, is featured as the Extreme Dodgeball commissioner.

Pretty Things (HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET) Premiere. In this documentary, director, Liz Goldwyn traces the creation and downfall of burlesque, focusing on the women that made their careers as burlesque celebrities. The Burlesque Queens that Goldwyn speaks with are in their 70s and 80s by now, and include Betty Rowland ("Ball of Fire"), Zorita (the outspoken one), Sherry Britton ("The Sexiest Broad"), Lois de Fee ("Queen of the Glamazons"), Gussie Gross (costume designer) and Dixie Evans ("The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque").

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. It's the American Idol of dance. In this 12-week arduous competition, contestants battle it out in every type of dance from hip-hop to ballroom, in order to find out who is the best dancer.

Venus & Serena: For Real (ABC Family, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. These two women do a lot more than just practice and train. They've written books, they design clothing, and they're celebrities. Watch these megastars spend time with their family, manage their businesses, and strut their stuff on the red carpet.

Criss Angel: Mindfreak (A&E, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Mystifier Criss Angel stuns live audiences with life-threatening tricks. In this two-episode premiere, he burns himself alive with no face or hand protection and levitates people on the street in front of a crowd of onlookers. The show also features behind-the-scenes as Criss trains, as well as his family's reactions to each of his dangerous tricks.

THURSDAY, JULY 21

Big Brother 6 (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) A second houseguest gets evicted tonight.

Last Shark Hunter (Discovery, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. A profile of pioneer shark hunter, Frank Mundus, the inspiration of the character Captain Quint in the movie Jaws. The legendary "Monster Man" invented the sport, and has had many close calls with the great whites. In 1964 he caught his largest shark by harpoon, weighing in at 4,500 pounds. Mundus once found one of his own business cards inside a shark's stomach. Talk about irony!

Hooking Up (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) On the second episode of this series, Kelly makes a connection, Amy has second thoughts, Cynthia weighs the pros and cons of dating a younger guy, and Maryann keeps having bad luck.

FRIDAY, JULY 22

Super Agent (Spike, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. USC defensive lineman Shaun Cody needs an agent, and he's putting them through a series of challenges to find out who will ultimately represent him. NFL pro Tony Gonzalez counsels this multi-million dollar client with his decisions. The eight-episode series ends on NFL Draft Day to find out what team Cody will join.

Monk (USA, 10 p.m. ET) Monk has the flu and his new assistant, Natalie, decides to solve the mystery of a dead pizza deliveryman by herself.

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