What to Watch for week of July 11

Burke and Navarro try to catch a falling 'star'

Rock Star: INXS: Monty Brinton

MONDAY

SERIES DEBUT 9-10PM Rock Star: INXS (CBS) Don't look now, but CBS is rockin' like Dokken! Okay, more like INXS. Fifteen aspiring crooners live together and compete to replace departed frontman Michael Hutchence, and cohost Dave Navarro (left, with Brooke Burke) says the drama is intense. ''You don't have to be a music fan to like the show,'' he claims. ''If they were coal miners, it would still be very interesting.'' We're not really buying the coal-miner thing, especially since musicians tend to be more. . .unpredictable. Speaking of which, isn't Navarro (who's more than familiar with the perils of rock excess) worried the singers will burn the house down or something? ''I'm not concerned about it,'' he says, laughing. ''I like good TV, just like the next guy.'' —Dalton Ross

8-10PM Hell's Kitchen (Fox, TV-14) Tonight's service is tableside, the restaurant gets brutally hot, and Jimmy's portly. Bon appétit!

9-10PM The Amazing Race (GSN, TV-PG) For all those times I said reality TV was a crap business because nobody wants to watch the reruns. . .my bad. (R)

9-10PM The Closer (TNT, TV-14) Word is, Brenda was charged with sexual misconduct at her last job. It all makes sense now: Anybody who gets off on junk food that much has to be freaky.

9-11PM Murder in the Hamptons (Lifetime, TV-PG-DL) Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace) stars in this flick based on the downfall of Generosa Ammon, a society wife who — at least in this version of the story — may have been bat-poop crazy and, not coincidentally, sleeping with the electrician who killed her husband. The movie's okay; watching Lifetime (Television About Oppressed Women) cope with an unsympathetic female protagonist is better. B —Whitney Pastorek

10-11PM* Guns, Germs, and Steel (PBS, TV-G) ''Why do some cultures succeed, while others fail?'' Um, historically speaking, don't they all fail? *check local listings

10-10:30PM Laguna Beach Launch Special (MTV) The show that revealed ''the real Orange County'' is coming back on July 25 for a second season of high-school infidelity, prom disasters, and other typical problems of rich 17-year-olds. To whet your appetite, this special will introduce the new characters as well as review some of the scandalous scenes from season 1. Judging from the teaser footage of season 2 that we've already seen, it doesn't look like a summer vacation has helped the kids mature at all.

(Additional reporting by Charles Curtis)