MONDAY June 26
NOON-6PM WIMBLEDON (TNT) TNT begins its two-week Anna Kournikova...uh, we mean Wimbledon tennis coverage today at noon. 9-11PM PETER JENNINGS REPORTING: THE SEARCH FOR JESUS (ABC) The ABC anchor treks through the Holy Land to find info on the Son of God. Um, we don't want to bust up his frequent-flier racket, but wasn't that all covered in a little thing called the Bible?
10-11PM* GREENER GRASS: CUBA, BASEBALL AND THE UNITED STATES (PBS, TV-G) Set against the backdrop of games between the Baltimore Orioles and Cuba's national team, this special examines how baseball has become the common link between two politically estranged countries. *CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS
SERIES DEBUT 10:30-11PM SPY GROOVE (MTV, TV-PG) Move over, Joan Rivers -- you've got company. Meet the animated agents here who save the world from fashion faux pas.
10PM-MIDNIGHT RESURRECTION BLVD. (Showtime, TV-14) Touted by its network as ''the first dramatic series to predominantly feature Latinos both in front of and behind the camera,'' Resurrection is a boxing soap opera that telegraphs its punches. Despite the presence of Tony Plana (right with Ruth Livier) and Elizabeth Pena, this saga of an East L.A. family offers predictable conflicts and dialogue, with fisticuff drama as dated as John Garfield's 1947 film Body and Soul. But this Blvd., sadly, features bodies lacking soul. C- -- Ken Tucker
TUESDAY June 27
7-8PM INTIMATE PORTRAIT: HELEN KELLER (Lifetime, TV-PG) Miracle Worker actress Patty Duke narrates.
8-9PM ED MCMAHON: AMERICA'S SIDEKICK (A&E, TV-G) Heeeeere's a Biography on the former Alpo pitchman.
8-9PM HOLLYWOOD AT YOUR FEET: THE STORY OF THE CHINESE THEATRE FOOTPRINTS (AMC, TV-PG) We wonder if there are any imprints the Chinese Theatre folks wish they could take back -- say, Steven Seagal's, for instance?
8-9PM HOWARD HUGHES: HIS WOMEN AND HIS MOVIES (Turner Classic Movies, TV-PG) Titanic's Billy Zane narrates this documentary, which follows the Hollywood legend from dashing filmmaker with a love for the ladies to loony old recluse.
6:30-8PM ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID (Cinemax, TV-PG) In this starkly honest and funny docu, director Nina Davenport (left), 30, taps into the female fear of old maidenhood by chronicling how societal pressure to get hitched became a destructive obsession in her life. It doesn't help that she works as a wedding videographer, or that her 24-year-old boyfriend makes hilariously unpromising assessments of their future. Now, please excuse me while I hurl my unmarried self off a bridge. A -- Kristen Baldwin
WEDNESDAY June 28
9-10PM STAR TREK: VOYAGER (UPN, TV-PG) Sure, they can defeat killer aliens from outer space, but let's see the crew take on a pack of rowdy Irishmen! (R)
9:30-10PM SPIN CITY (ABC, TV-PG-DL) Mike does some devious dating, while Stuart discovers a can't-miss method for meeting naked women: art class. (R)
SERIES DEBUT 10PM-MIDNIGHT SOUL FOOD (Showtime, TV-14) The Joseph sisters are back (albeit in the form of different actresses) as the 1997 feature film is reincarnated as a weekly series. Tonight: a birth, some beefs, and a falling bathtub.
8-9PM OPPOSITE SEX (Fox, TV-PG-S) Our nominee for this year's most obscure prime-time series is this summer burn-off job from Fox about a 15-year-old wuss (Milo Ventimiglia, above center) who becomes one of the first guys admitted to a previously all-girls private academy. The jaw-droppingly generic pilot's sole merit is Melrose Place stunner Rena Sofer's enchanting bit as a distractingly gaw-juss guidance counselor. Alas, in this future TV footnote's remaining seven episodes, she'll be replaced by The Jamie Foxx Show's less-gifted Garcelle Beauvais. C- -- Bruce Fretts
THURSDAY June 29
8-10PM KISS OF DEATH (Fox, TV-14-LV) That's exactly what this 1995 remake (see review on right) proved to be for David Caruso's career. (Okay, Jade might have had a little something to do with it, too.)
9-10PM HISTORY OR HOLLYWOOD?: THE PATRIOT (History Channel, TV-G) Experts examine the historical accuracy of Mel Gibson's new Revolutionary War epic.
SEASON PREMIERE 10-11PM RUDE AWAKENING (Showtime, TV-MA) It's all gone wrong for Billie Frank (Sherilyn Fenn). She's in a drugged-out daze, can't pay the bills, and -- worst of all -- is hanging out with Taylor Dayne!
10-11PM 48 HOURS (CBS) Who says Mormons don't know how to party? After all, as 48 Hours shows, they've got that whole polygyny thing down pat.
8-9pm RICHARD WIDMARK: STRENGTH OF CHARACTERS (A&E, TV-G) This Biography does justice to the career of the model hot-head screen villain. Widmark won fame when he shoved a wheelchair-bound woman down a flight of stairs in 1947's Kiss of Death, but won the respect of fellow actors with his devotion to family and friends. Covering the actor's ascension from a vagabond childhood, this docu gets to the heart of a man who has played well both on and off the screen. A- -- Cherise Bathersfield
FRIDAY June 30
8:30-9PM THE POWERPUFF GIRLS (Cartoon Network, TV-Y7) When the Girls plan a sleep-over, one of their archenemies is determined to crash the party.
SEASON PREMIERE 10-11PM STARGATE SG-1 (Showtime, TV-PG) It's Richard Dean Anderson versus an army of metallic bugs as the sci-fi favorite kicks off season 4.
9-10PM* LIVELYHOOD: NIGHT SHIFT (PBS, TV-G) Buried between host Will Durst's (above) amusing but unnecessary comic bits are some surprisingly moving looks at members of the dusk-till-dawn workforce. Among the caffeine-addled participants: A CNN anchorwoman who allows Shift to film her predawn work routine sans makeup, and a silicon-plant employee who miraculously balances her job, her family, and her education with nary a complaint. Think of her next time you're bitching about coming in on a Saturday. B+ -- Brian M. Raftery *CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS
SATURDAY July 1
BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID. 8AM-8PM EVIL WAYS MARATHON (History Channel, TV-PG) Exorcism, cannibalism, and some guy named Adolf: They're just a few of the nasties to be found in this 12-hour examination of all things wicked.
8-10PM TIDAL WAVE: NO ESCAPE (ABC, TV-PG) Corbin Bernsen plays a Nobel Prize-winning scientist in charge of saving the world in this 1997 TV disaster flick -- and no, it is not a comedy. (R)
9-11PM VALLEY GIRL (VH1) Travel back to a time (1983) when Nicolas Cage not only had a full head of hair, but a spiky, multicolored full head of hair at that.
4-7PM ROCKY & BULLWINKLE MINI-MARATHON (Cartoon Network, TV-Y7) We know what you're thinking: What's a leggy Goth chick like Natasha doing hanging around that midget Boris anyway? Just one of many questions to be pondered while watching the Russian pair do battle with moose and squirrel for three hours, in honor of their silver-screen debut.
SUNDAY July 2
7-7:30PM FUTURAMA (Fox, TV-PG-DLS) In a time when the title ''Miss Universe'' actually means something, the gang -- with the help of a Bender doppelganger named Flexo -- is recruited to transport the winner's tiara to the pageant. (R)
7-9PM TO BRAVE ALASKA (ABC) Cameron Bancroft and a very un-Charmed Alyssa Milano play an intrepid couple whose hopes for a gold-mined nest egg don't pan out (get it?). Instead, they're left abandoned and starving in the subzero wilderness. Ha! (R)
8-8:30PM THE SIMPSONS (Fox, TV-PG-L) The series' 10th ''Treehouse of Horror'' trilogy takes on Y2K hysteria when Homer forgets to reset the plant's computers for the new millennium. (R)
8-9PM* NATURE (PBS, TV-PG-S) Shut in for the holiday weekend? Maybe you can get yourself some vicarious jollies from this encore airing of ''The Nature of Sex.'' (R) *CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS
9-10PM THE X-FILES (Fox, TV-14-V) Mulder and Scully venture into their scariest locale yet -- the Deep South -- to investigate a suspicious death among the snake-handling congregants of a religious sect. (R)
10PM-12:30AM HOLLYWOOD ROCKS THE MOVIES: THE EARLY YEARS (1955-1970) (AMC, TV-PG) Ringo Starr presides over an hour full of greasers, hepcats, and longhairs as the documentary -- kicking off AMC's four-day rock & roll movie marathon -- looks at the impact of ''the devil's music'' on modern cinema, and vice versa.
9-10PM JESSE VENTURA: THE E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY (E!, TV-G) As this THS shows, Governor Ventura's resume -- featuring stints as a Navy SEAL, biker, bouncer, wrestler, and morning-radio talk-show host -- reads like a catalog of machismo cliches. But, despite that (and the occasional boneheaded move, like calling organized religion ''a sham'' in an infamous 1999 Playboy interview), his drive, calculation, and populist appeal ultimately make for an inspiring tale. One scoop for you WWF fans: The Body claims he'd be willing to come out of retirement to ''beat the crap out of Vince McMahon once and for all.'' I've got two words for both of them: Wrestlemania 2001. B -- Mike Flaherty
