GOODBYE

And Thank You

When I launched onTVonlineReviews 10 months ago, I set out to accomplish something rather simple and straightforward.

I wanted to make it easy for TV viewers to find out what TV shows were worth watching.

We sat through countless DVDs over the months – often happily, sometimes not – to find the best shows on TV, and then highlighted the best of these shows on onTVonlineReviews.

I think we accomplished our mission.

And for that I want to thank a few outstanding writers.

Susan Stewart is a brilliant and clever writer whose reviews were always witty and fun to read.

My dear friend Tom Watson is quite possibly the most astute TV reviewer I know. He didn’t mince words when a TV show wasn’t great. And he never gave a great TV show anything but his kindest words.

Phil Villarreal is a smart and meticulous writer whose reviews shined.

And, to my friend Jose Salazar, thank you for everything, always.

Finally, but not least of all, thank you to the thousands of you who have visited the site. You made this a worthwhile and memorable experience for me.

So, what went wrong? The economy? Bad timing? Something else? Yeah, all that.

What’s important, to me, is that publishing and editing onTVonlineReviews has been a wonderful experience, and for that I’m grateful.

And, who knows, maybe I’ll revive the site sometime soon. I’d like to think so.

Feel free to start humming the theme song to the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Kevin.

A: That was the end. The show ran for four seasons, from 1977 to 1981, and all have been released on DVD. But, according to the Web site TV Series Finale (http://tvseriesfinale.com), Jessica _ in spirit form _ reappeared a couple of years later in an episode of “Benson,” the “Soap” spinoff.

Q: “The Bonnie Hunt Show” has been showing reruns for about a month now. Is the show coming back?

A: The daytime talkfest has been renewed for another season. But syndicated shows, like their network counterparts, do have periods of reruns, including during the summer. As Hunt said on her show’s Web site, “I really wish I could have done shows all through the summer, but that’s not the protocol!”

Q: I am having no success recording on my VCR since connecting a digital-to-analog converter box to my TV and VCR to receive digital broadcasts. When I record a program I receive no picture or sound, no image at all, even though the converter box is set to the channel I am trying to record. Can you offer a fix? Are others having the same problem? The FCC said VCRs will continue to work.

A: I am guessing that you have the output from the converter connected to the input on the VCR, then the VCR output to the TV’s input. If that’s the case, then check the channel for which your VCR is set when turned on; you need to be on Channel 3 or 4. On my system at home, the VCR has to be on Channel 3 to receive and record from converter; another reader who was having VCR problems also solved them by setting the VCR on Channel 3.

This doesn’t remove all the limitations on VCR use with the over-the-air converter, but it does let you record a show that the converter is tuned to. You can learn more about connecting a box and a VCR at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/converterbox(underscore)vcr.html.

Q: Recently I bought a music CD called “Unforgettable Symphonic Suites.” It has old movie themes. What year were some of the movies produced: “The Magnificent Ambersons,” “This Is Cinerama,” “Sunrise at Campobello,” “The Kentuckian.”

A: “The Magnificent Ambersons” is from 1942, “This Is Cinerama” from 1952, “Sunrise at Campobello” 1960, “The Kentuckian” 1955.

Q: I watch “The Bold&The Beautiful” and for some time I’ve been bugged about a situation. I didn’t think I had missed any episodes but I don’t know what happened to Katie’s pregnancy. She was pregnant with Nick’s child and they talked about it all the time. Then later there was no mention and no sadness or grieving. Did I miss a miscarriage or was she not pregnant?

A: Katie was pregnant but had a miscarriage. The episodes dealing with it aired in October.

Q: What is the status of the series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”? Will it be returning or has it been canceled?

A: Canceled. Fox decided not to renew the show for a third season.

Q: As a youth in the ’40s, I read all of Frank Yerby’s novels. My first was called “The Golden Hawk.” Much to my amazement, while fiddling with the computer, I found that a movie was made of it _ starring Sterling Hayden, Rhonda Fleming and Gilbert Roland _ in 1952. I have been trying to get a copy of the movie and cannot find one.

A: I do not know of an authorized release of the film. I used to mention _ without recommending _ sites that offered unauthorized versions of movies. But because of consumer problems with some of those sites, they’re a swamp I no longer wade in.

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Do you have a question or comment about movies, TV and other popular culture? Write to rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com or the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, Ohio 44309. Please mark the note for Mailbag and do not phone in questions.

Letters may be edited. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.

___

(c) 2009, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).

Visit Akron Beacon Journal Online at http://www.ohio.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Knight plays Chad Dylan Cooper on the Disney Channel series “Sonny With a Chance.” The comedy is about the interaction of the casts of two very different television programs that film on adjoining soundstages.

Most of the action on “Sonny” focuses on the sketch-comedy show that stars Demi Lovato. Knight’s character stars on the teen-angst drama series “MacKenzie Falls,” which isn’t shown. That is, until now.

A series of webisodes _ extended previews of what episodes of “MacKenzie Falls” would look like if the show existed _ will premiere each Monday this summer on MacKenzieFalls.com.

“There have only been a couple of brief moments in ‘Sonny’ where you got to catch a glimpse of the rehearsals for the show,” says Knight between bites of a salad during a lunch interview at a small restaurant just a few blocks from the Disney Channel offices. “Actually, no one really knew what the show was about because you never saw it, we didn’t have to be specific.”

Knight met with “Sonny with a Chance” writers to come up with a “MacKenzie Falls” outline. It pokes fun at soap operas and dramas aimed at teens.

“I am really interested to see what kind of audience we get because we’re having fun with a genre our demographic doesn’t know very much about. I don’t know a lot of 9-year-olds who watch ‘Days of Our Lives,’” Knight says.

An entire cast was hired to work with Knight on the webisodes. The actor hopes that some of them make it onto “MacKenzie Falls” if extended scenes get added to “Sonny With a Chance.”

Knight is much different from his “MacKenzie Falls” role. His character Cooper is deeply in love with himself while Knight is slightly embarrassed by the attention he gets from the TV show.

“Understanding I am the most unphotogenic person on the planet helps,” Knight says.

Knight’s interest in acting started while he was growing up in Houston. He worked in local community theater until his family moved to Southern California when he was in the ninth grade. Shortly after that he started landing roles in shows such as “Hannah Montana” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

In between making the test episode of “Sonny With a Chance” and the show going into production, Knight worked on the feature film “17 Again.” That gave him the chance to talk with co-star Zac Efron about being part of the Disney world.

That means actors have to bring lots of energy to the set. It leaves Knight tired, but he’s willing to do it because he’s proud of the show and channel.

“It can be argued that some of the programming on prime-time television may not be suitable for the way you want to raise your children,” Knight says. “The Disney Channel is a place where the subject matter is appropriate. Your children aren’t going to see anything naughty or bad.”

He adds the same goes for the webisodes of “MacKenzie Falls.”

___

SONNY WITH A CHANCE

8 p.m. EDT Sundays, Disney Channel

MACKENZIE FALLS

MacKenzieFalls.com

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(c) 2009, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.).

Visit The Fresno Bee online at http://www.fresnobee.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):

TV-CPT-STERLINGKNIGHT

A rebel whose comedy could shift from caricatures of her Korean parents to raunchy sex tales, Cho has always pushed the envelope.

“I like standup comedy because it’s very unpredictable, it’s very natural,” she says seated at the dining table in her publicist’s home here.

“I don’t really know where it comes from or how I do it. I just kind of GO when I do it. It’s a world I’m very familiar with. I’ve been in comedy for 25 years so that world is very comforting and easy for me to maneuver in, and also I’ve gotten to an age where I feel like I’m everybody’s mom _ all the standup comics’ mom.”

Cho was 8 years old when she observed her father watching “Live at the Sunset Strip” with Richard Pryor. “He was laughing at it and I remember thinking, ‘I wish I could make him laugh in the same way, and I’m going to do what this man’s doing. I want to impress my father, be like my father in that I want to understand what these jokes are about. I want to tell these jokes. I want somebody to laugh, somebody like my dad to laugh.’ So that was majorly important.”

She waited only seven years to try it. In the meantime, she was ejected from school because she constantly skipped class and scored terrible grades. “I was really angry at my parents because they didn’t treat me the same way they treated my brother,” says Cho, who’s wearing red crinkle-cotton culottes with a navy sweater, studded with white stars.

“They treated him with lavish gifts and constant adulation and they didn’t really pay attention to me. They had me when they were really struggling and didn’t have much money. When my brother was born, they came into a lot of money so they spent a lot of money on him. In Korean culture, girls and boys are treated differently. Boys are treasured and adored and girls are, like, ‘Oh, sorry you have a girl.’ That kind of attitude.”

The only way she could even the score was to do badly at school, she says. “That was the only weapon I had, that was the only way to freak them out. It was hard to do because I didn’t really want to fail, but I knew that was the thing that would really get to them … I ended up going to an arts high school after that.”

She didn’t like that either and dropped out to devote herself to comedy. When she first started it was pure bliss, she says.

“I never really thought about quitting in the beginning. I would get much more frustrated later on. I didn’t become really frustrated with show business until I actually got to be somewhat successful.”

In 1994 she starred on the ABC sitcom “All-American Girl,” an experience that proved disheartening both for her and the network.

“I got very frustrated and disillusioned with Hollywood and the way things worked. That was the time I became more self-destructive and had some trouble with drugs and alcohol, things like that that happen in your 20s when you’re using substances in the wrong way. So that’s when I had most of my trouble.”

The network constantly hassled Cho about her weight. “I was very anorexic when I was doing ‘All-American Girl,’ which was frustrating because I never really got that thin,” she laughs.

“But I was very destructive in the way I was treating my body _ my diet and exercise _ because I was being pressured by the network to lose weight. Critics would review the show, but they wouldn’t talk about the show, they’d criticize my weight. That was the main thing that was a problem. I was so frustrated and freaked out about that I got super anorexic. The bulimia and anorexia partially made me focus on eating disorders and talk about body image in my work a lot. So in my standup comedy there’s a lot of commenting on the way we talk about women’s bodies and weight.”

That’s one of the things that attracted her to her latest endeavor, Lifetime’s new series “Drop Dead Diva,” premiering Sunday. Cho plays the office manager for a chubby attorney who becomes the unknowing vessel for a gorgeous _ but dead _ blonde.

“Because it’s so much about weight and about how women are valued by the way they look and how certain values are placed on certain body types,” she says, “it’s a really positive portrayal of the way we view our bodies and the ways it’s addressed.”

Cho, 40, has been with performance artist Al Ridenour since 1999. They’ve been married for six years. “We’ve been together for a long time in terms of Hollywood years. We’ve been through a lot of stuff. What’s good about it is I travel so much it keeps the time at home together really special, because he stays at home … He takes care of me because I don’t know how to do anything. I can’t cook; I can’t do any of that stuff so he helps me out a lot.”

She would like to have children, but says she and Ridenour have tried unsuccessfully. “It doesn’t mean that I can’t adopt. It’s not that meaningful for me to physically have them. I think it’s fine to adopt them. Older children or those with special needs to me that seems like an appealing thing. I really love children of all ages.”

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

___

Noah Wyle (”ER”) will be battling aliens instead of microbes when he takes over the lead role in the new untitled show that Steven Spielberg and Robert Rodat are planning for TNT. He’ll play the leader of a band of tattered heroes who are among the few left after the aliens have obliterated most of the folks on Earth. Rodat, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay for “Saving Private Ryan,” is writing the script based on an idea conjured up by him and Spielberg.

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The complete 12th season of the perennial “The Simpsons” will be on DVD in stores soon. Fans can pre-order as early as July 22. The show, which exhibits no signs of aging, continues to be hilarious and timely, even though the episodes are made far in advance because of the time-consuming animation. Creator Matt Groening explains how they go about it. The script comes first, he says.

“Everybody gets together a few times a year. We rent a hotel room so we won’t get interrupted by phone calls, and we sit around and everybody throws around ideas and notions and whims and story ideas. From those we decide which are worth developing. And whoever is inspired, runs with it and comes back with an outline.”

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A whole new generation has the chance to catch a wonderful movie that was mostly overlooked when it first came out in 1962. “Lonely Are the Brave,” the tale of a loner cowboy faced with changing times, now is available on DVD. The film was scripted by one-time blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo and directed by David Miller. It stars Kirk Douglas at the very height of his career in one of his best performances, and it remains his favorite movie and a favorite of his son, Michael Douglas. A young Gena Rowlands costars. It served as an inspiration for Spielberg, who is one of the interviewees on the “Special Features” section of the disc. Both Douglases discuss the movie, as does Rowlands.

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(c) 2009, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):

TV-TINSEL

NEW YORK - NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to join other networks that will televise Michael Jackson’s memorial service live this week.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/2009/07/05/20090705jacksontv0705.html

TOUR DE FRANCE

Lance Armstrong: One of a Few Reasons to Watch

There are a few reasons that watching the Tour de France is more exciting than it is most years (see below for a link to the Tour TV schedule).

For one, there’s a sense the cycling world has truly become serious about ridding the sport of the doping scandals that have rocked it the past few years, including in last year’s Tour.

Teams have formed specifically positioning themselves as non-doping teams.

Versus, the cable network that’s airing Tour coverage all month, has done a great job the past few years addressing the doping issues head on.

Of course, a second reason for watching this year is Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour winner who’s back after retiring from the sport a few years ago.

So far, early on, Armstrong is in tenth place.

Which brings up a confession: Half the time I watch the Tour I have no idea what’s going on.

Armstrong’s standing early into the nearly month-long race, from what I gather, isn’t great but certainly doesn’t diminish his chances of winning.

I’m not a race fan beyond watching the Tour de France. So, much of what goes on is murky: there are teams, but only person from the team wins. Each day, there’s a race that somehow counts toward the ultimate win, or not.

Which brings me to the third reason to watch the Tour de France and, for me, the primary reason for watching: the scenery.

Over the weekend, the Tour de France began in Monaco and then, yesterday, zipped through the French countryside.

Watching dozens of bikers zip at high speed through tiny streets in tiny French towns is breathtaking, particularly when these are shots presumably filmed in a helicopter.

The racing is amazing, but the setting is beautiful – it’s easy to sit back and watch Versus’ exceptional Tour coverage and just get the sense that you’re in Europe on vacation, far, far from everyday worries.

For a complete schedule of Tour de France coverage on Versus, click here: http://www.versus.com/tdf/article/view/758/?ss=tv&tf=body_tdf_schedule.tpl

A. New viewers might watch, curious about the change and possibly reassured they’ll see more than just space aliens.

B. The new channel name is cooler, and easier to pronounce if you don’t speak English.

C. Everything loved by current Sci Fi fans will disappear as the channel pursues a broader audience.

A and B, absolutely yes, say the folks at Sci Fi/Syfy. But really, truly, never C _ they swear _ as Sci Fi morphs into Syfy on Tuesday.

The change occurs both on-air and online, where SciFi.com has become a go-to destination (4 million unique visitors a month) for fans of science fiction, fantasy, supernatural and otherwise wildly imaginative tales.

“Our development strategy has not changed, nor do I expect it to,” insists Syfy president Dave Howe, an eight-year channel veteran, “other than we’ll still be doing creative, smart, risk-taking, ambitious programming, both in scripted and reality.”

Under the new slogan “Imagine Greater,” Syfy launches with the mischievous adventure “Warehouse 13″ (two-hour pilot Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT). Tracking agents who secure paranormal objects for a secret national repository, the show offers not only fantastical action but a hot young hero team (Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly) and quirky humor (flirty banter and sly irony). It plays like a pop-culture-crazed amalgam of ” Bones,” “The X-Files” and “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.”

Syfy hopes shows like “Warehouse 13″ will entice more viewers to sample an already-wide menu of originals _ from the offbeat drama-comedy “Eureka,” about a town of geniuses, to the unscripted frightfest “Ghost Hunters.” Yes, the channel produces space-set dramas like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Stargate.” But it also boasts the hidden-camera show “Scare Tactics,” gamer competitions, James Bond and “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, plus original popcorn flicks like “The Man With the Screaming Brain.”

Yet Howe reports it’s stunning “how many advertisers and how many consumers do not know we have original shows.” Research suggests they expect everything on Sci Fi to look pretty much like “Star Trek.” Howe says, “The narrow perception of sci-fi is that it’s primarily space and aliens and the future.”

Never mind that big-screen box-office numbers prove sci-fi / fantasy-based movies like 2009 toppers “Star Trek,” “Monsters vs. Aliens” and “X-Men: Wolverine” can be big hits. Howe says too many people “see Sci Fi as this niche and narrow channel. They don’t see it, as we see it, as very broad general entertainment in the sense that it has something for everyone.”

But what about current Sci Fi viewers who already do know it? You can’t blame them for being wary of the Syfy change. When American Movie Classics became AMC, it shifted to recent films and drama series. Now that TLC isn’t The Learning Channel anymore, it’s the Jon and Kate zone.

“We have this amazingly loyal fan base, who we love, and we’re never going to do anything to alienate them,” Howe stresses. “We just greenlit ‘Stargate Universe,’ the next chapter of the longest-running sci fi series of all time. We just greenlit ‘Caprica,’ which is a continuation of ‘Battlestar Galactica’” _ the adult critical hit that still couldn’t cross over, despite passionate characters warring over politics, faith, ethics and other timely issues. (It had hot sex, too!)

In fact, “Galactica” may be the poster child for sci-fi perception limitations. Howe notes “it has none of the traditional trappings of space opera _ there are no aliens, there is no technobabble.” It sharply focused instead on “what has always been at the core of great sci fi, which is intense emotional character-driven storytelling that shines a mirror up to society and themes that are relevant to what’s happening in the world today.”

But the action largely took place in space. “I think that was a barrier to some people.” So Syfy’s 2010 drama “Caprica” is “set on an Earth-based planet that looks and feels like the world today. You recognize the characters and the situations.”

And you’ll recognize that it’s Syfy, not lowercase sci fi. Howe says the five-letter old name “is not a legally trademarkable brand name anywhere in the world.” (And by 2010, Syfy plans to be operating in 50 territories around the globe, with “lifestyle-brand” ambitions extending to games, movies and more.)

“Sci fi is a generic category. It is like calling ESPN ‘Sport,’ or CNN ‘News,’” Howe says. That plainness was fine back when Sci Fi shows were viewed only on the main TV channel. But the cord-cutting of current media consumption means they’re watched anytime, anywhere via DVRs, iTunes, online or video on demand. And on those crowded platforms, that generic name means viewers “can’t differentiate our shows from everybody else’s sci fi shows” in online searches or (video on demand) menus. The distinct name Syfy makes that content “attributable to us.”

And it sounds the same to the ear as the old Sci Fi. “That’s exactly why we haven’t changed the name completely,” Howe says. “This bridges the past and keeps the heritage, but it actually creates an ownable word and a distinct brand that is uniquely ours.”

And it’s cooler, too.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

SYFY KICKS OFF WITH ‘WAREHOUSE 13′

What made Syfy choose “Warehouse 13″ to launch its rebranding? Offbeat humor, moody mystery, sexy stars, paranormal happenings and that wild title location _ a secret government stash of alien/cursed objects that are “threatening to ruin the world’s day.”

That phrase comes from its curator (Saul Rubinek), who oversees two bickering young agents (Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly). They’re dispatched to rein in everything from dead magician Harry Houdini’s ghostly wallet to an “orgiastic virus.”

“There’s a fantastical element to the various stories that we tell, but you don’t have to be a sci fi geek to enjoy it,” says executive producer Jack Kenny, who previously created the character-based comedy “Titus” and the hallucinatory drama “The Book of Daniel.” Kenny describes “Warehouse” as “a real and funny and dramatic and scary action-adventure procedure-omedy.”

He’s partnered with executive producer David Simkins, who’s familiar with the territory, having run Sci Fi’s mystery “The Dresden Files.” But Simkins also wrote for the superhero romance “Lois&Clark” and witty Western “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.”

“We’re here to sort of shake it up a bit and make people look twice” at the new Syfy, Simkins says. “This show is relationship comedy-drama that happens to deal with whimsy and danger. These everyday objects have a history we’re not aware of. Things happen in our collective past that we think are dead and gone. But they’re not.”

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(c) 2009, Newsday.

Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

7:00pm et/pt*

Monday Night Baseball – ESPN2, sports 7pm et

8:00pm et/pt*

The Bachelorette – ABC, new

The Secret Life of the American Teenager – ABC Family, new

Property Virgins – HGTV, new

Emeril Green – Planet Green, new

This Week in NASCAR – Speed, new 8pm et

8:30pm et/pt*

Zeke and Luther – Disney XD, new

9:00pm et/pt*

Intervention – A&E, new

Make It or Break It – ABC Family, new

Aaron Stone – Disney XD, new

Desperate Landscapes – DIY Network, season premiere 9pm et

Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between – The Documentary Channel, doc. premiere

History Detectives – PBS, new

Ecopolis – Planet Green, new

UFC’s Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights – Spike, new

The Closer – TNT, new

WWE Monday Night Raw – USA, new

9:30pm et/pt*

King of Dirt – DIY Network, new 9:30pm et

10:00pm et/pt*

Obsessed – A&E, new

Here Come the Newlyweds – ABC, new

Animal Cops: Phoenix – Animal Planet, new

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List – Bravo, new

Swamp Loggers – Discovery Channel, new

Baseball Tonight – ESPN, new 10pm et

Run’s House – MTV, new

Hooked – National Geographic Channel, new

Dateline – NBC, new

Dance Your Ass Off – Oxygen, new

Planet Action – Planet Green, new

Weeds – Showtime, new

4^th and Long – Spike, new

Cake Boss – TLC, new

Raising the Bar – TNT, new

Operation Repo – truTV, new

10:30pm et/pt*

Run’s House – MTV, new

Brink – Science Channel, new

Nurse Jackie – Showtime, new

* Eastern time/Pacific time, except where noted

CAKE BOSS

TLC, 10pm et/pt

By Kevin Downey

Anyone who’s ever seen Ace of Cakes on Food Network pretty much knows the premise of TLC’s Cake Boss, a reality show that kicked off its first season a few weeks ago.

In Cake Boss, as with Ace, the entire show revolves around a baker whose specialty is making gargantuan cakes – elaborate, huge, colorful creations that, underneath fondant, often hide metal, wood and sometimes moving parts.

But watching people design cakes, however elaborate, isn’t quite enough to keep a viewer’s interest.

So, there’s always something more. With Ace, that’s baker Duff Goldman – a character, a hairy gentle giant – and his motley crew of misfit twentysomethings.

In Cake Boss, the focus is on baker Buddy Valastro and his motley crew of family members, including his mom, sisters and friends from the neighborhood.

There’s an added wrinkle in Cake Boss that Ace doesn’t have – Hoboken.

Whether this added element has appeal or not will depend in good part on your fascination with New York City and its surroundings, specifically New Jersey.

For me, that’s definitely a good reason to watch Cake Boss.

In between zeroing in on the baking and building of cakes, the show veers into profiles of Valastro’s family, including his mother, Mary.

Another element of the show, and in a sense another character, is Valastro’s late father, who died 15 years ago. He and Mary first opened the bakery, Carlo’s City Hall Bake Shop, in the 1960s.

An underlying theme in Cake Boss is that Valastro is struggling to build Carlo’s into a bakery that would make his father proud.

That doesn’t come up in tonight’s episode, though.

Tonight, Valastro and his team create a gigantic replica of a gigantic prehistoric animal for New York’s Museum of Natural History.

And one of his crew, a longtime friend out of a Wall Street job, takes on his first cake design, for a sweet-sixteen party. If you ever wanted to see one of these elaborate cakes come up on the wrong end of gravity, stay tuned.

Video Clips: tlc.discovery.com/tv/cake-boss/cake-boss.html

Content: Appropriate for teenagers and adults

“THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP” _ Forget the “staycation” and hitch a ride on this wild cross-country journey. “Road Trip” is a new eight-episode reality series that has a group of disparate families traveling historic Route 66 and competing in some kooky challenges. Along the way, they check out iconic landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and Washington Monument while doing their best to maintain their sanity. Sounds like a show with potential, but let’s hope the first episode doesn’t make us squeal, “Are we there yet?” 8 p.m. Tuesday, NBC.

OTHER BETS:

MONDAY: The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? “Star Trek” or “Star Wars”? Ginger or Mary Ann? These and other nagging questions will be pondered on “The Great Debate,” a six-part series that has bickering celebrities attempting to settle (without bloodshed) matters once and for all. No one asked us, but, Mary Ann rules. 10 p.m., VH1.

MONDAY: On “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” our beleaguered gal continues to try and raise her profile _ this time by writing a tell-all book about her friends, her family and, naturally, poor Ryan Seacrest. 10 p.m., Bravo.

TUESDAY: We really don’t want to hate “10 Things I Hate About You.” It’s a new teen-centric series inspired by the 1999 hit movie, which was inspired by the writings of some old dude named Shakespeare. 8 p.m., ABC Family.

TUESDAY: “Warehouse 13″ is a weird blend of “The X-Files” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” but with the excitement of neither. It’s a series about a pair of Secret Service agents (Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly), who are unexpectedly reassigned to a top-secret facility in South Dakota that houses a mysterious collection of strange and supernatural artifacts. 9 p.m., Sci-Fi Channel.

WEDNESDAY: Neil Patrick Harris, aka Barney from “How I Met Your Mother,” serves as a guest judge on “Top Chef Masters” as the contestants must cook eggs with one hand tied behind their backs. Sounds like we better suit up. 10 p.m., Bravo.

THURSDAY: On “Big Brother 11,” a new set of boorish roomies move into what TV Guide calls the “hostel from hell.” Let the back-stabbing commence. 8 p.m., CBS.

FRIDAY: “The Assistants” is a new comedy about four underlings working for a hot-shot producer in Hollywood and looking for their big break. We’re told that lots of hilarity ensues. 8:30 p.m., The N.

SATURDAY: “Harper’s Island,” the weekly murder mystery that took “’til death do you part” way too literally, comes to a close with what we hope will be a bloody good finale. 9 p.m., CBS.

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Chuck Barney: cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com

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(c) 2009, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).

Visit the Contra Costa Times on the Web at http://www.contracostatimes.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.