TV This Week for July 10th – 16th

Click here to download TV listings for the week of July 10 - 16 in PDF format

TV listings for the week of July 10 - 16 in PDF format (from latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv)

Weekly TV Listings and more can be found at: www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv

This week's TV Movies

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SUNDAY

Hooyah! The documentary special “Secrets of SEAL Team 6” salutes the warriors, weapons, tech and tactics of the elite Navy unit responsible for the termination – with extreme prejudice – of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. (Discovery, 9 and 11 p.m.)

Misery, it is often said, loves company. Which must be why curmudgeonly comic Larry David (below, right) has a slew of guest stars including Michael J. Fox (left), Ricky Gervais and Larry Miller lined up for a new season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” (HBO, 10 p.m.)

MONDAY

Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick begins her seventh and final season as LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a.k.a. “The Closer,” and Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander are back as Boston-based crime-fighting gal pals “Rizzoli & Isles” when that procedural drama returns for its sophomore season. (TNT, 9 and 10 p.m.)

TUESDAY

Hey, batter, batter… hey, batter, batter… swing! Baseball's best from the American and National leagues will play for bragging rights, love of the game, and home-field advantage for this year's World Series, at the “2011 MLB All-Star Game” in Phoenix. (Fox, 5 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY

They left it all on the field, on the floor, on the track or in the ring. And now, those athletes who went above and beyond in the past year will be feted at the “2011 ESPYs,” the 19th edition of the annual awards. “SNL's” Seth Meyers returns as host. (ESPN, 6 p.m.)

THURSDAY

It's like a whole other country. Remember the Alamo. And don't mess with Texas — and that goes quadruple for “Texas Women.” This new docu-soap follows a fearless foursome of Fort Worth ladies looking for fame and fortune in the Lone Star State. (CMT, 9 p.m.)

FRIDAY

What wine pairs best with a dish of “Rigoletto”? Plácido Domingo (right) sings the title role in a filmed version of Giuseppe Verdi's tragic opera, conducted by Zubin Mehta, shot on location in Italy, and airing on a new “Great Performances.” (KOCE, 8:30 p.m.)

SATURDAY

Ack! A young woman (Kayla Ewell) meets her future mother-in-law (“Touched by an Angel's” Roma Downey) and grandmother-in-law (“Happy Days'” Marion Ross) in the made-for-cable romantic fable “Keeping Up With the Randalls.” (Hallmark, 9 p.m.)

Photo credits: "Rigoletto": Cristiano Giglioli / Rada Film; "Curb Your Enthusiasm": Jessica Miglio / HBO

Television Academy Honors honors 8 shows 'with a conscience'

With its Television Academy Honors, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will pay tribute to eight programs that demonstrate the power of television to change attitudes and exemplify "television with a conscience."

The honorees selected for the fourth annual event, which will be held May 5 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, explored a range of issues including sexual abuse and assault, racism and teen pregnancy, living with a life-threatening disease and good nutrition in the fight against childhood obesity.

The recipients include "The Big C," "Friday Night Lights," "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Parenthood" and "Private Practice."

Documentaries to be honored include HBO's "Wartorn 1861-2010" and ESPN's "The 16th Man."

-- Greg Braxton

Awesome, baby! Basketball analyst Dick Vitale reupped at ESPN through 2015

Are you serious! Call the chief 'cause he's on fire, baby!

ESPN has extended the contract of catchphrase-loving basketball analyst Dick Vitale through 2015. Vitale, a former coach, is one of the longest-serving sports announcers around. He called ESPN's first major basketball game in 1979 and has done the honors at more than 1,000 games since.

"There is nothing greater than walking into an arena and feeling the excitement and energy of a big-time college basketball game," Vitale said in a statement.

On his Twitter feed, Vitale -- known for his enthusiastic (and often parodied) sayings, such as "Awesome, baby!" after baskets -- called ESPN his "2nd family."

--Scott Collins
Twitter/@scottcollinsLAT

Photo: Dick Vitale in 2008. Credit: Jack Dempsey / Associated Press

 

Auburn's BCS nail-biter over Oregon on ESPN was cable's most-watched program ever

Pro football isn't the only hot ticket on TV these days. Why, there's also college football.

Monday's Tostitos Bowl Championship Series (BCS) on ESPN averaged 27.3 million total viewers, according to the Nielsen Co., the highest total ever for a cable TV program dating back to at least 2001. In fact, the game blew away the previous record, also held by ESPN for a Monday Night Football matchup between Green Bay and Minnesota last year (21.8 million).

How did it happen? Well, Monday's event was quite a game between Auburn and Oregon, with the Auburn pulling out a last-second 22-19 victory.

The numbers will bring a sigh of relief to ESPN executive suites, which aired the entire BCS lineup for the first time and earlier saw some lower-than-broadcast ratings for events such as the Rose Bowl.

"ESPN's inaugural telecasts of the BCS culminated with a thrilling finish viewed by a record audience," ESPN president George Bodenheimer said in a statement.

— Scott Collins (Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT)

 

Photo: Auburn quarterback Cam Newton in the BCS championship game. Credit: Matt Sullivan/Reuters.

 

 

Rose Bowl draws 20.6 million as ESPN rolls out BCS premiere

Saturday's Rose Bowl between TCU and Wisconsin drew ESPN's highest rating ever for a non-NFL game, with 20.6 million total viewers, according to the Nielsen Co.

Brilliant as that figure was, however, the game — a nailbiter that TCU won, 21-19 — was still down 14% compared with last year's Rose Bowl, which aired on ESPN's sister broadcaster ABC.

This year marks an epic shift in the balance between cable and broadcast, because it's the first time that the Bowl Championship Series has aired entirely on cable. ESPN snatched the TV rights with a four-year deal worth a reported $500 million.

The move seems to be translating into notably lower ratings. The Rose Bowl was followed by the Fiesta Bowl, a blowout in which Oklahoma stomped Connecticut, 48-20. The game drew 10.8 million viewers, down 22% from last year's Fiesta game on Fox.

However, the BCS deal is likely still a winner for ESPN. Unlike broadcasters, the network can recoup its costs not just through advertising but also from subscriber fees it collects from cable operators. And the more big events it telecasts, the easier it is to charge those high fees.

— Scott Collins (Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT)

 Photo: Andy Dalton, quarterback of TCU's Horned Frogs, who defeated Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Credit: Ron Jenkins/MCT.

 

Touchdown! NFL rushes toward its most-watched TV season ever

Viewers may not be loving the new fall shows, but football is another story. The NFL season is off to its biggest start in TV history, with a record 150 million fans tuning in on broadcast and cable for the first month of the season, according to the Nielsen Co.

The average game has drawn 18.9 million total viewers -- which, as the NFL pointed out in a news release Wednesday afternoon, is more than double the average prime-time viewership (9.2 million) for the big four broadcast networks so far this season.

A best-ever total of nine NFL games have topped the 20 million viewership mark -- a feat achieved by only two entertainment programs so far this fall. Furthermore, all four of the NFL's network partners -- CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN -- have seen record ratings with recent games.

What's it all mean? Well, for starters, the ratings are sure to make for some passionate negotiations when the networks' NFL licenses next come up for renewal. Remember a few years back, when NBC announced it was pulling out of the NFL business, saying the league just wasn't worth the rich contracts it demanded?

Looking at the latest numbers, it's hard to imagine any network making that case today.

-- Scott Collins

twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT

Photo: Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots. Credit: John Paul Filo / CBS Sports

 

 

With LeBron James announcement, ESPN goes the route of E!

There were film clips and competing outfits, predictions and a lot of breathless hyperbole. There were swinging transition graphics, nerve-jangling theme music, there was even a magic map. Frankly, all that was missing from “The Decision,” ESPN’s utterly nutso crazy hour-long coverage of LeBron James’ announcement of what team he will play for next year, was Ryan Seacrest.

Fifteen minutes in and still no word from “the King” (somewhere Lisa Marie Presley wept, and speed-dialed her lawyer), although we were given a chance to watch him live, sitting in a chair, a feat host Stuart Scott seemed to find downright astonishing. “There he is,” Scott said, his heartbeat all but visible through his shirt, “the King, in person.”

“This is like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” Scott said, and I’d add "you could say that again," except that he did. Again and again and again, apparently oblivious to the fact that what we've never seen before is starry-eyed sports analysts acting like they've never met a sports star before. The real reason the NBA is never going to be the same has much less to do with James’ decision (22 minutes in and we still didn’t know) than with the fact that ESPN’s new coverage model has less to do with sports analysis than the habits and characteristics of your average “Twilight” fan.

At one point, Michael Wilbon said, with a completely straight face, that James’ decision will drastically affect the state of Ohio's state of mind, “especially given that state’s depressed economy.”

How about James wins even an NBA championship first, then he can worry about salvaging the ravaged Midwest.

TCA: Spike Lee Meets Steve Nash

Talk about the power of film to help overcome insurmountable divisions: Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash and New York Knicks fan Spike Lee sat side-by-side without apparent rancor Thursday at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

The NBA’s former most valuable player and one of Hollywood’s most popular directors shared a stage to promote their upcoming contributions to ESPN Films. Lee directed a documentary called “Game Day with Kobe,” as in the Lakers star who is the NBA’s current MVP, that is slated to air in the fall.

The director, who struck up a friendship with Bryant while shooting a commercial in Rome, used 30 cameras and gained unprecedented behind the scenes access to the Lakers star for the piece, which centers on a playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Meanwhile, Nash, a longtime film enthusiast, is making his directorial debut for an ESPN documentary about Canadian Terry Fox, a young athlete who died in 1981 of cancer. Fox inspired Canadians with his heroic goal to run across his native country to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Despite having an artificial leg, he ran over 3,000 miles before eventually being forced to quit because of his illness.

When asked by one reporter if Nash has been traded to the Knicks, Lee -- who donned a Yankees cap -- laughed and said, “It’s true.”

Naturally, with Lee on stage, the questions veered toward the political. When asked about the chances of the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, winning the White House in November, Lee confidently predicted victory.

“It’s going to be one of the most historic moments in American history, world history,” said Lee. “Everything will be affected by this seismic change in the universe.”

--Martin Miller