Archive for Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Valentine’s offers nukes, heart attacks and movies

February 14, 2007


Happy Valentine's Day, and welcome to the apocalypse. CBS has chosen the day of hearts and flowers to re-introduce its addictive new series "Jericho" (7 p.m., CBS), where residents of a small Kansas town isolated by a series of nuclear blasts that seem to have annihilated their neighboring towns cope with daily life, vigilante justice, homicidal paranoia and adulterous affairs between upstanding adults. Did I mention it was addictive?

Tonight's "Jericho" recaps the first 11 episodes and sets up viewers for the return of new episodes in a week.

¢ Heart disease may not pack the dramatic punch of nuclear devastation, but it remains America's deadliest killer. As the 90-minute documentary "The Hidden Epidemic" (8 p.m., PBS) makes abundantly clear, heart disease is the cause of half of the deaths in America every year. And even if you don't die from it, there is an eight in 10 chance you are suffering from it at the time you die. And worse, half of the people who die of heart disease die without warning.

¢ With network fare dominated by "Idol," murky mysteries and police procedurals knee-deep in serial killers, cable fills the void with more romantic offerings for the Valentine's Day couch potato.

Angelina Jolie plays a mail-order bride delivered to a Cuban tycoon (Antonio Banderas) in the 2001 thriller "Original Sin" (7 p.m., AMC).

A teen (Hilary Duff) squabbles with her stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge) in the 2004 comedy "A Cinderella Story" (7 p.m., Family).

A dance instructor (Jennifer Lopez) takes a married man (Richard Gere) under her wing in the 2004 comedy "Shall We Dance?" (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Posthumous memoirs reveals a farm wife and mother's (Meryl Streep) dalliance with a taciturn shutterbug (Clint Eastwood) in the 1995 romance "The Bridges of Madison County" (9 p.m., TCM).

Heath Ledger stars in the 2005 period piece "Casanova" (8 p.m., Encore).

Closeted cowpokes (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) find it nearly impossible to express the love that dare not speak its name in the 2005 romance "Brokeback Mountain" (6:45 p.m., Cinemax).

Isn't it peculiar how two of the most enduring and popular romantic comedies involve prostitutes? Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard play kept companions in the 1961 bauble "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (7 p.m., TCM) and Julia Roberts stars in her signature role in "Pretty Woman" (8:30 p.m., The Movie Channel).

Tonight's other highlights

¢ Mac's comments spark a player revolt on "Friday Night Lights" (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ A major donor to the team is found dead a full month after his brutal murder on "Bones" (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ Winners emerge on the season finale of "Beauty and the Geek" (7 p.m., CW).

¢ After a vivid dream, Allison wakes up a changed woman on "Medium" (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Hurley needs Charlie's help on "Lost" (9 p.m., ABC).



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