Bet On Your Baby and more: 7 TV shows worth watching (May 26 to June 2)
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of TV
MONDAY MAY 27 Nicky Deuce (YTV, 8 p.m.) Yes, Virginia, there is life after iCarly. Based on the book by Steven Schirripa, formerly of The Sopranos, and Charles Fleming, this new Nickelodeon TV-movie casts ex-iCarly regular Noah Munck (more likely you know him as “Gibby”) as the rich kid Nicholas Borelli II, whose pampered existence takes a sharp detour when heis parents send him to Brooklyn to spend the summer with his wiseguy Uncle Frankie, also played by Schirripa. Does the kid learn valuable life lessons? Ayy, fuhgeddaboutit. Watch for cool cameos from Sopranos alums Michael Imperioli, Vincent Curatola, Tony Sirico and James Gandolfini himself.
TUESDAY MAY 28 Extreme Weight Loss (ABC, 8 p.m.) Bikini season is just around the corner, so get out the workout gear. Retitled from Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition to Extreme Weight Loss, the reality series opens its third season with a formidable challenge. For the first time, trainer-host Chris Powell works with a pair of twins determined to make a drastic lifestyle change. In the opener, David weighs in at 470 pounds while his twin sister Rebecca tips the scales at 398 pounds. The twins are shipped to separate facilities to lose the weight, but when both start falling back on old unhealthy eating habits, Powell has to step up his usual inspirational intensity.
WEDNESDAY MAY 29 The American Baking Competition (CBS, Global, 8 p.m.) On second thought, who wants to wear a bikini anyway? Based on a hugely popular British TV concept, this new series is hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy and as the title suggests, it’s all about finding America’s next great baking sensation. In keeping with the usual reality-TV template, the format features ten passionate home bakers gathered together in the same sprawling test kitchen. Each week, the bakers compete in three unique challenges–Signature Bake, Technical Bake and Showstopper Bake–and their creations are judged by food-TV personalities Marcela Valladolid and Paul Hollywood (also a judge on the U.K. series). The last baker standing receives a cookbook contract and $250,000 cash, which will buy a whole lot of muffin tins.
THURSDAY MAY 30 Beyond Scared Straight (A&E, 10 p.m.) The A&E network didn’t become the broadcast monolith it is today by making subtle reality-TV choices. Back tonight for a fourth season, this series was created by filmmaker Arnold Shapiro, best known for his seminal 1978 documentary Scared Straight!, which followed a handful of cocky juvenile delinquents on a harrowing tour of a New Jersey prison. The same format carries over to this show, except on a weekly basis. Tonight’s season opener was filmed inside the women’s quarters of Oneida County Jail in upstate New York. The look on the faces of four female young offenders as they tour the grim facility? Priceless. And terrified.
FRIDAY MAY 31 Flea Market Flip (HGTV, 9 p.m.) A little money can go a long way in the right hands. Hailing from the U.S. version of HGTV, this series puts a slick new spin on bargain-hunting. How it works: Four teams are handed $500 each and given one hour to scour a massive flea market in search of unique items. The teams then have one day to transform their finds into top-notch designs, which are then sold at auction the following day. The team that scores the highest price for their refurbished treasure receives bragging rights and a $5000 bonus. Lara Spencer hosts.
SATURDAY JUNE 1 Bet On Your Baby (ABC, 8 p.m.) Who says this isn’t the golden age of television? Launched two months ago, this new show revolves around five families with kids between two and three-and-a-half years. Each family has agreed to have the tots dropped into a specially-outfitted arena–“The Babydome”–to compete in a series of kid-friendly challenges. The parents wager on their little ones, theoretically toward the goal of banking money for the kids’ college fund. The whole shooting match comes down to tonight’s finale, in which the tots compete in three final games. Can little Lily ensure her academic future by unspooling an entire roll of toilet paper in under a minute? The suspense is unbearable.
SUNDAY JUNE 2 The Killing (AMC, 8 p.m.) Shouldn’t the title of this show be changed to a plural version? AMC’s take on a popular Danish crime drama returns for a third-season tonight with a two-hour opener. Season three begins exactly one year after the Rosie Larsen murder cast and finds Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) no longer employed as a Seattle police detective. And then her former partner Holder (Joel Kinnaman) stumbles upon a grisly murder while searching for a runaway girl and reaches out to Sarah and suddenly she’s knee-deep into the investigation and walking around in the rain all over again.