We Like to Watch: July 25-31, 2011
This week: never-before-seen video of “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn, the true Hollywood story of Snooki, and Heidi Fleiss’s odd journey from prostitutes to, um, parrots. And, of course, SHARK WEEK.
This week: never-before-seen video of “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn, the true Hollywood story of Snooki, and Heidi Fleiss’s odd journey from prostitutes to, um, parrots. And, of course, SHARK WEEK.
Monday, July 25
8:00 p.m. Eureka(Syfy)
This Syfy series about brainy scientists (as opposed to the other kind) always sounds like a good idea to us as it manages to blend just the right amount of dames (hello, Erica Cerra) and full-on dorks. Tonight gets extra poindexter-ous as it welcomes guest stars Wil Wheaton and the ultimate geek god Stan Lee to the mix. And here we thought Comic Con was going to be the nerdiest thing this month.
Tuesday, July 26
8:00 p.m. Proving Ground(G4)
It’s been a little over a month since the tragic passing of “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn, but you can still honor the life and legacy of the professional wild man and his outrageous TV stunts. Before his death Dunn, alongside video game guru goddess Jessica Chobot, filmed a series called “Proving Ground” which put classic moments from movies, television, and video games to the test. The show’s network G4, has now begun airing the eps, including tonight’s installment which finds the co-hosts attempting to replicate a “Star Trek” mission.
Wednesday, July 27
10:00 p.m. E! True Hollywood Story: Snooki(E!)
Each cast member of “Jersey Shore” could easily have their own “E! True Hollywood Story” (The Situation has had situations, J-WOWW has had encounters with Maxim writers, and Ronnie has gone up against the likes of Xenadrine and syllables) but there is no one more suited to get their own hour quite like the tiny orange wonder that is Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi. From public intoxication arrests to easy-to-remember catch phrases (“Waaaah!”) to getting socked on national television for all the world to (eventually not) see, Snooki was pretty much made for an “E! True Hollywood Story.”
Thursday, July 28
10:00 p.m. Ancient Aliens(History)
Chalk it up to nothing more than a craaaazy coincidence that the third season premiere of “Ancient Aliens”, which investigates the whereabouts of old time-y extraterrestrials (ya know, they did stuff like wore monocles and drank mead), is titled “Aliens and the Old West” a mere day before the summer blockbuster to-be Cowboys & Aliens opens in theaters. Same goes for next week’s episode “Aliens and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2” and the following week when the History series delves deep into the mystery of “Aliens and Smurfs.”
Friday, July 29
12:00 a.m. Jimmy Kimmel Live!(ABC)
Conspiracy theorists, don’t pack it in just yet: Living legend and all-around bad-ass Harrison Ford stops by Jimmy Kimmel’s chat fest to talk about his part in the new sci-fi western Cowboys & Aliens the exact same week that co-stars Olivia Wilde, Daniel Craig, and the film’s director Jon Favreau did. What does it all mean?! Oh right, they’re promoting the shit out of this thing in every possible way.
Sunday, July 31
9:00 p.m. Shark Week(Discovery)
Don’t ask us why we’ve bothered talking about anything else in this week’s edition of We Like To Watch because…IT’S SHARK WEEK AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS IN THE WORLD OR EVER DID! Yes, the single greatest week of television programming returns, this time with host Andy Samberg (“Saturday Night Live”) doing the honor. Shark Week kicks off tonight with the hour-long special “Great White Invasion”, which will try to figure out why the scariest, awesomest creatures on the planet are being found more and more in tourist-heavy waters along the coasts of California, Africa and Australia. Our guess: It’s because they’re Great Whites…and they can do whatever they damn well please. So sit back and enjoy the majesty that is this week and don’t forget these sage words from “30 Rock”: “Live every week like it’s Shark Week.”
10:00 p.m. Heidi Fleiss: Prostitutes to Parrots (Animal Planet)
It seems Animal Planet has carved out a nice little programming niche for itself. While A&E has addiction and hoarding covered, Animal Planet has found the ultimate untapped resource in television: Showcasing bat shit crazy famous people who have bizarre attachments to specific animals (see: Mike Tyson with pigeons and Pablo Escobar with hippos.) Now there’s infamous former Hollywood madame Heidi Fleiss, who has gone from call girls to bird calls, by keeping a bevy parrots as pets. Sure, this is keeping her out of trouble (and hey, at least she’s not a crazy cat lady), but the trade-off of prostitutes to parrots still sounds like a downgrade to us.