THIS WEEK’S TOP TV TIPS
SUNDAY
Lost Magic Decoded Some magic may be sleight of hand but, in tonight’s doc, master illusionist Steve
Cohen decodes and resurrects some of the most thrilling illusions ever witnessed. Magicians are notoriously secretive about their activities and it takes an insider like Steve to gain access to the secret sorcery and mysterious contraptions used to create legendary effects and determine how they were done.
History
MONDAY
Seduced and Abandoned
This entertaining new documentary is also funny as it follows filmmaker James
Toback and actor Alec Baldwin at the Cannes Film Festival as they try to make a deal for a new movie with the industry’s bean-counters. The movie in question is their own version of Last
Tango in Paris (the original starred Marlon Brando) and the film includes one-on-one
chats with the likes of Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. It does show how incredibly difficult it is to find backing and why there’s a lot of films out there that shouldn’t have been made in the first place.
HBO
TUESDAY
Gold Rush / Jungle Gold Gold Rush kicks off its fourth season with a special two-hour opener tonight. After three seasons up north, Todd Hoffman and his crew double their chances this year, returning to Alaska but also venturing south to Guyana with the season two premiere of Jungle Gold which airs following the Canadian powerhouse
Highway Thru Hell. Todd Hoffman hit pay dirt last season, mining gold worth over US$1.2 million. The others were not so lucky, but, who knows, this may be their breakthrough year.
Discovery
American Experience
There are probably not too many people around who can remember Orson Welles’ radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’ sci-fi story The War
of the Worlds which heralded Halloween Eve 75 years ago. The show, which had many terrified listeners believing that Earth had, in fact, been invaded by Martians, gets a new scrutiny in tonight’s episode, narrated by Oliver Platt. It merges audio clips and comments from so-called ‘witnesses’ with interviews with Welles’ daughter Chris Welles Feder and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. PBS King & Maxwell
Catherine Bell ( The Good Witch movies) guest stars in tonight’s season finale. Sean’s ( Jon Tenney) investigation of the Ritter assassination puts his partnership with Michelle ( Rebecca
Romijn) in jeopardy as she contemplates returning to the Secret Service. When he learns the truth he rushes back to the scene of the crime to stop history repeating itself. The series, centred around former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, is based on the novels of David Baldacci. Showcase
Chasing Nashville This new docu-series follows four ambitious young singers as they try to make their mark in the cutthroat world of country music. Family hopes ride on the girls’ success – or failure – and there’s plenty of drama behind the scenes as the parents take the competition to the extreme. The girls are coached and recruited by some of country music’s best scouts, including Grammywinning producer Keith
Thomas and writer/producer Deanna Walker. Lifetime
The Goldbergs In a Halloween episode, Beverly ( Wendi McLendon
Covey) is disappointed when all of the kids choose not to celebrate the holiday with her and go off on their separate ways: Adam Jr. ( Sean
Giambrone) wants to hang out with eighth grade students though he’s not sure he can go along with their plans; and Barry and Erica ( Troy Gentile and Hayley
Orrantia) decide to attend a high school seniors’ party.
ABC, CTV
WEDNESDAY
Ironside As the team scrambles to solve the murder of a New York University student before a plea bargain results in a hit man going free, Ironside ( Blair Underwood) calls on Gary’s ( Brent Sexton) expertise, which could bring back some painful memories. The series is a re-imagined version of the 1960s show starring Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-bound detective fighting crime from his mobile office (a van).
NBC, Global
THURSDAY
The Nature of Things This may sound like a special Halloween episode – its title is Invasion of the
Brain Snatchers – but in actual fact the documentary delves into parasites, specifically those capable of taking up residence in the brain where they cause considerable trauma and alter their hosts’ behaviour. David
Suzuki hosts the creepy hour, which also investigates parasites that may have changed the course of entire human cultures.
CBC
FRIDAY
MasterChef Junior In the two-hour season finale, four of the junior home chefs will prepare a dish featuring chicken as the main ingredient. The two contestants with the most impressive entries will then go head-to-head and prepare what may well be the most important three-course meal of their young lives. While all the participants have doubtless learned a great deal, only one of them will receive the MasterChef trophy and $100,000 prize.
Fox, Global