TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: January 28
A select viewing guide for Monday, January 28
REALITY House Hunters International (HGTV, 8 p.m.) This series is pretty much the same show as House Hunters, except it follows prospective home buyers and their realtors in foreign lands. Tonight, watch the excitement as a woman decides to pack up all her worldly goods and relocate to the postcard-perfect town of Charlottenlund, Denmark.
REALITY Antiques Roadshow Welcome back to the longest-running reality show on television. The PBS version is based on a popular BBC series that began in 1979 and still runs to this day. Tonight’s new episode takes the Roadshow team to Boston where master appraiser Wes Cowan ascertains the value of a controversial painting of Paul Revere. Even more valuable: A baseball signed by the entire Boston Red Sox team that won the 1918 World Series. Mark L. Walberg hosts.
DRAMA The Following (Fox, CTV, 8 p.m.) And now, the second chapter. Launched to healthy ratings last week, this new crime drama stars Kevin Bacon as former FBI agent Ryan Hardy, hauled out of retirement to track down an escaped serial killer, played by British actor James Purefoy. In tonight’s second episode, Hardy enlists the assistance of the killer’s ex-wife, who it turns out has more reason than most to put the creep back behind bars. It’s a dark ride.
Pete Rose: Hit and Mrs. (TLC, 10 p.m.) Launched last month, this new reality series focuses on the supposedly fabulous life of deposed baseball star Pete Rose and his fiancée, former Playboy model Kiana Kim. That’s pretty much it for the premise. But watch Pete’s reaction tonight when his wife-to-be announces she wants to get a breast reduction!
MOVIE A Love Song for Bobby Long (Vision, midnight) Released in 2004, this offbeat movie hands a rare dramatic role to John Travolta. The former star of Grease and Welcome Back Kotter is surprisingly effective in the role of Bobby Long, an alcoholic former English professor fallen upon hard times and living with a former pupil Lawson (Gabriel Macht), also a drunk. When the owner of Bobby’s rental house dies, her daughter shows up late for the funeral and then crashes at the house and what emerges is a fascinating portrait of desperate people driven to even more desperate measures.