TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: March 4
A select viewing guide for Monday, March 4
REALITY Come Dine with Me Canada (W Network, 7:30 p.m.) Recently returned for its second season, this homegrown take on a British TV series is heavensent for viewers who attend open houses just to look inside other people’s homes. Hosted by Jamie Carr, the show’s format feature five complete strangers whipping up their concept of a perfect dinner party over five consecutive nights. The contestants attempt to out-cook and out-wow each in pursuit of being named top host and collect a $1000 cash prize. Tonight’s new outing kicks off a weeklong stint in Oshawa, Ontario, the auto-making capital of Canada. But how many ways are there to prepare Spam?
DRAMA Bones (Fox, Global, 8 p.m.) Have you ever noticed how many bodies are discovered in barrels on this show? In tonight’s new episode, FBI guy Booth (David Boreanaz) and forensics genius Brennan (Emily Deschanel) are called to a hazardous waste-disposal facility where a young victim have been found stuffed in a barrel. While trying to sift through the remains for clues, Booth and Brennan attempt to plan a getaway vacation (because they’re an item now, you see).
REALITY Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (Discovery, 9 p.m.) Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (OLN, 9 p.m.) Sure to set your skin crawling, this new series documents the peripatetic adventures of actor Dominic Monaghan, best known for playing the faded rock star Charlie on Lost and a hobbit in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. In this setup, Monaghan looks right natty in safari gear as he combs the globe in search of rare and truly disgusting beasties. In tonight’s show, he’s in search of huge Malaysian honey bees, which just happen to make their hive hundreds of feet above the jungle floor. Call Gandalf!
DRAMA The Carrie Diaries (The CW, 8 p.m.; Citytv, 10 p.m.) Who knew Carrie Bradshaw had a life before Sex and the City ? As with the original HBO series, this teen-drama prequel from The CW is based on a novel by Candace Bushnell and rewinds to the eighties when our girl was still a precocious (and fashion-conscious) high-schooler. AnnaSophia Robb plays teenage Carrie, who is grieving over the recent death of her mother and trying to rein in her rebellious younger sister. But Carrie is a pretty focused young lady and has already landed an intern job at Interview magazine. In tonight’s new episode, she fibs to her father in order to spend a night in Manhattan with her way-too-cool co-workers.
MOVIE When Ladies Meet (TCM, 11:30 p.m. ET; 8:30 p.m. PT) Even though she’s been gone for more than three decades, Joan Crawford is still regarded as one of the greatest talents in Hollywood history. One of very few stars to move from silent films into talkies, Crawford delivers a typically brisk performance in this 1941 feature as a successful and very well-dressed lady novelist named Mary Howard. Her best pal Jimmy (Robert Taylor) is keen on marrying Mary, but she’s got eyes for her playboy publisher (Herbert Marshall), who just happens to be already married. When Mary meets the publisher’s wife Claire (Greer Garson) and the two women become best friends, why it’s a forties-era screwball farce of the first order.