Picking through the TV listings

By SHARON FINK, Times Staff Writer
Published January 6, 2008

Tonight

SEASON PREMIERE:The Wire, 9 p.m., HBO

Pretty much no one watches this show, which is called by those who do - including most TV critics - the best series on the air. Cited for its unflinching look at tough social, political and economic issues, the Baltimore police drama focuses on the media in its fifth, and final, season. Specifically spotlighted is the media's role in addressing, or not addressing, those tough issues and how the newspaper industry's evolution has affected it.  

Monday

SERIES PREMIERE: Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, 8 p.m., WFTS-Ch. 28

How much more dancing can America take? I have no answer because I thought America would snigger away Dancing With the Stars before the first episode was over (and I love dancing - lowercase, as in the art form). So now we have Dancing judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba in this six-week filler between Dancing seasons searching for amateurs who can dance and sing. Each judge will form a six-person team that viewers will reduce by vote to a group that, according to ABC, at the least will tour as the opening act for a "major performing artist."

Monday

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 11 p.m., and The Colbert Report, 11:30, Comedy Central

The last of the major late-night shows return with new episodes, no writers and trying to reconfigure 20-plus minutes of usually heavily scripted activity. Tonight's Word: "Dancing With the Candidates."

Tuesday

SERIES PREMIERE:Parking Wars, 10 p.m., A&E

This reality series follows enforcers of Philadelphia's Parking Authority as they make their rounds and engage in predictable clashes with people they see as law breakers and we see as innocent victims of draconian rules against our constitutional right to park for free wherever and whenever we want.

Thursday

SERIES PREMIERE:Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, 10 p.m., VH1

We know this rehab didn't have much of an effect on Tampa native and former American Idol contestant Jessica Sierra and a few other participants. We've got eight episodes to decide whether the show's intentions were good or exploitative.

Friday

Monk, 9 p.m., and Psych, 10, USA

Both quirky series return to finish their seasons with six fresh episodes. Monk joins a cult led by guest star Howie Mandel - a cult not populated by leggy women carrying suitcases - and over at the psychic detective agency, Shawn and Gus' latest case is rooted in three words that never lead to anything good: "Let's try Goldschlager."

Information from Times wires was used in this report.

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 23:45:06]