The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 63

2003:08:05:14:57:20 E14 LOSANGELESTIMES With all the listings and reviews on calendarlive.com for movies, restaurants, night life and music, being bored is, well, sort of a crime. By Mark Sachs Times Staff Writer If anything an engaged couple need in their lives during that critical juncture, any more tension. As happy a face as our culture puts on the whole process of getting married, the weeks leading up to the Big Day can become an endurance test that many a relationship has failed to pass. But when the chance to win an all-expenses-paid wedding helmed by event-designer-to- the-stars Colin Cowie was dangled in front of them, eight couples threw caution to the wind and signed on for a reality show seemingly crafted to stretch their love to the limit, to the (tonight at 8). The eight-episode series premiered last week, with the con- testants being flown into Las Vegas via helicopter and set up in sumptuous suites atop the posh Venetian Hotel and Casino.

With cameras installed in the rooms, viewers were treated to towel-clad strategy sessions, arguments over sleeping arrangements and a little are we doing cold feet. Each episode includes that trusty reality-TV device, the physical challenge, as well as a style quiz. The winners of the two tests jointly decide which couple will be voted off that week, with the last couple standing being married in high style on the show. With the contestants down to seven couples tonight, viewers are nimbly reintroduced to the survivors with the help of host Lisa Dergen, a lissome lass with the deepest dimples this side of Jeff Probst. By winning last challenges, Susan and Coyt (physical-test winners) and Becca and Andy (quiz champs) emerged as early favorites, but the other couples scramble quickly to either align themselves with one of the pairs or plot against them.

To help the contestants get to know each other better, the guys gather for a night on the town as the gals do the same. One group opts for drinking and dancing, while the other goes for shopping and snacking (can you guess which is But the real beauty of this series is the voting-off ceremony, in which the vanquished meet face- to-face with the victors for a stiff goodbye hug and some choice parting words. a sublimely cringe-worthy confrontation, particularly tonight, and worth waiting out a second half that gets a bit too talky. TUNED IN Paul Drinkwater ALL SMILES: Eight engaged couples hit Las Vegas to compete for an all-expenses-paid, Colin Cowie-designed wedding on the NBC reality series to the tonight at 8. Relationships, nerves are tested in to the The Early Show Samuel L.

Jackson. 7 a.m. KCBS Today Colin Farrell. 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News the new film 7 a.m.

KTLA Good Morning America Lindsay Lohan 7 a.m. KABC Live With Regis and Kelly Colin Farrell; Lindsay Lohan. 9 a.m. KABC Good Day Live Idol auditions; baby dolphins at Sea World. 9 a.m.

KTTV The View Melanie Griffith and Deidre Goodwin 10 a.m. KABC Oprah Winfrey Pranks are played on audience members. 3 p.m. KABC Dr. Phil Understanding male traits.

(Part 1 of 2) 4 p.m. KNBC Larry King Live Kobe Bryant case. 6 and 9 p.m. CNN Life Times Gold Line; health-care system surplus. 7 and 11 p.m.

KCET Late Show With David Letterman Samuel L. Jackson; Pharrell performs with Clipse. 11:35 p.m. KCBS The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Arnold Schwarzenegger; Jewel. 11:35 p.m.

KNBC The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn Anthony Michael Hall; author Candace Bushnell. 12:35 a.m. KCBS Late Night With Conan Colin Farrell; Molly Shannon; Smash Mouth. 12:35 a.m. KNBC Last Call With Carson Daly Eddie Kaye Thomas; Junior Senior.

1:35 a.m. KNBC Listings include talk shows that provide aguest list. Talk Shows SERIES The house always wins: (5 and 8 p.m. Travel) counts down the top 10 casinos in Las Vegas. Testify: The gospel music group Blind Boys of Alabama is profiled on Minutes (8 p.m.

CBS). Tough customers: The austere and warlike culture of (8 p.m. KCET) of ancient Greece is documented in this new special. Comic genius: Veteran funnyman Jonathan Winters is profiled on (8 p.m. War memorial: (8 and 11 p.m.

Discovery) details the destruction of the battleship Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. There goes my hero: Foo Fighters, lead by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, are featured on the music series (9 p.m. WB). Happy homemaker: Real Roseanne (9 p.m. ABC) follows the comedienne and former sitcom star as she prepares for a new cooking-and-lifestyle series set to debut on the ABC Family Channel.

a living: The new documentary series This Job (10 p.m. profiles bounty hunters, paparazzi, and others with unusual means of support. Back on the street: The gritty drama series (10 p.m. Showtime) returns for a second season; Scott Cohen, Rob Smith and Erika Alexander star. SPECIALS Fave raves: David Spade hosts 2003 Teen Choice (8 p.m.

Fox), featuring musical performances from Evanescence, the Donnas and Kelly Clarkson. Dangerous dispute: The special Nightmare: Understanding North (10 p.m. Discovery) investigates the origins of this ongoing geopolitical crisis in Asia. MOVIES Dumb bunny: Private detective Bob Hoskins seeks to discover Framed Roger (7 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.

HBO) in this clever 1988 mix of live action and animation; Charles Fleischer, Christopher Lloyd and Kathleen Turner are also featured. Reborn on the bayou: Mary McDonnell heads home to Louisiana in director John folksy 1992 drama in (7:30 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. IFC); David Strathairn and Alfre Woodard also star. Weird and wacky: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Julianne Moore star in the Coen off-kilter 1998 mystery Big (8:30 a.m.

USA). Lambs to the slaughter: World War I enlistees Mark Lee and Mel Gibson are shipped off to (10 a.m. and 4 p.m. History) in director Peter absorbing 1981 historical drama. Howdy stranger: Clint Eastwood directed and stars in the 1973 western Plains (8 p.m.

AMC). Gangbusters: Kevin Costner and Sean Connery take on Robert De Niro in director Brian De and screenwriter David epic 1987 crime drama (8 and 10:30 p.m. Bravo); Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith also star. War zone: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore star in Hawk (10 p.m. Encore), director Ridley relentless 2001 re-creation of U.S.

troops under attack in Somalia. SPORTS Baseball: The Dodgers face the Cincinnati Reds (7 p.m. FSN2). TV Highlights The heat was truly on at CBS as the network scored the five top highest-rated series of the week among total viewers, according to national Nielsen ratings released Tuesday. Crime Scene a and Loves filled out the top 5, while the of also appeared in the Top 10 among total viewers at No.

7. All but were repeats. CBS and NBC were the only two of the major four networks to have shows in the top 22 among total viewers. highest-rated show, Funniest Home landed at No. 23, while top series, Most Wanted: America Fights came in at No.

33. In the unscripted genre, Wants to Marry My has turned into a surprise hit, while more highly publicized reality shows such as and continue to struggle. On the cable front, Lifetime was pleased with its premiere of and starring alum Gloria Reuben, became the most-watched premiere in 19-year history, averaging 3.3 million total viewers, while starring Joely Fisher, ranked as the third most-watched debut with 2.8 million total viewers. Braxton Prime-Time TV Rankings The eye has it with top shows CBS and NBC are the only major networks to stay ahead of cable competitors. Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (July 28-Aug.

3) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 272.04 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions.

Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 CSICBS13.17 2 Without a TraceCBS12.03 3 60 MinutesCBS11.09 4 CSI: MiamiCBS10.47 5 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS10.45 --------------------------------------------6 Law and OrderNBC10.19 7 King of QueensCBS10.03 8 Law and Order: Criminal Intent NBC9.92 9 FriendsNBC9.75 10 Who Wants to Marry My Dad? NBC9.64 --------------------------------------------11 Big Brother 4 12 60 Minutes IICBS9.54 13 Hours: Bob Hope CBS9.00 14 Law and Order: SVUNBC8.79 15 Fear FactorNBC8.77 --------------------------------------------16 For Love Or Money 2NBC8.75 Big Brother 4 18 Law and Order: SVU (Tue.) NBC8.62 19 Last Comic StandingNBC8.53 20 ScrubsNBC8.33 --------------------------------------------21 Amazing Race: 4CBS8.13 22 Dateline: NBC 23 Funniest Home Videos ABC7.95 24 RestaurantNBC7.85 --------------------------------------------26 My Wife and KidsABC7.75 27 Still StandingCBS7.66 28 Big Brothers 4 29 BeckerCBS7.61 30 Dog Eat DogNBC7.35 --------------------------------------------31 According to JimABC7.32 32 Dateline: NBC 33 Most WantedFOX7.15 34 George LopezABC7.08 35 Things Removed From the Human Body FOX7.08 --------------------------------------------36 37 Paradise Hotel 38 CupidCBS6.84 39 The SimpsonsFOX6.75 40 Will GraceNBC6.70 --------------------------------------------41 American Juniors 42 Less Than PerfectABC6.53 43 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (9 p.m.) ABC6.36 44 Paradise Hotel 45 ERNBC6.32 --------------------------------------------46 Financial 47 Malcolm in the Middle (9:30 p.m.) FOX6.20 48 49 American Juniors 50 King of the Hill (8:30 p.m.) FOX6.12 --------------------------------------------51 JAGCBS6.11 8 Simple RulesABC6.11 53 The DistrictCBS6.05 54 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX6.00 55 Professor 2: The FOX5.92 --------------------------------------------56 Scrubs (9:30 p.m.)NBC5.82 57 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (9:30 p.m.) ABC5.76 58 Race to AltarNBC5.72 59 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX5.71 60 Primetime ThursdayABC5.69 61 and 62 NYPD BlueABC5.66 63 48 Hours Investigates (Fri.) CBS5.59 64 The West WingNBC5.54 65 American DreamsNBC5.43 --------------------------------------------66 The Simpsons 67 The PracticeABC5.34 68 WWE 69 Geographic: Bug FOX5.21 CopsFOX5.21 --------------------------------------------71 Life With BonnieABC5.17 72 Judging AmyCBS5.10 73 48 Hours Investigates (Sat.) CBS4.92 74 Cupid 75 The FamilyABC4.68 --------------------------------------------76 FuturamaFOX4.38 77 DragnetABC4.35 78 HackABC4.25 79 Bernie Mack (8:30 p.m.)FOX4.04 80 Bernie MackFOX3.98 --------------------------------------------81 BanzaiFOX3.72 Three 83 AliasABC3.57 84 85 Reba (8:30 p.m.)WB2.96 --------------------------------------------86 One on OneUPN2.95 87 Reba (8 p.m.)WB2.92 88 CharmedWB2.88 89 GirlfriendsUPN2.72 90 Boston PublicFOX2.66 --------------------------------------------Charmed (9 p.m.)WB2.66 92 The ParkersUPN2.64 93 Half and HalfUPN2.63 94 7th HeavenWB2.58 95 7th Heaven (9 p.m.)WB2.53 --------------------------------------------96 Gilmore GirlsWB2.48 97 Grounded For LifeWB2.39 98 The Twilight ZoneUPN2.35 99 EnterpriseUPN2.33 100 SmallvilleWB2.27 --------------------------------------------101 What I Like About YouWB2.20 Just Shoot Me (8:30 p.m.) NBC2.20 103 Smallville Just Shoot Me (8 p.m.)NBC2.15 105 Gilmore Girls: BeginningsWB2.14 --------------------------------------------106 One on OneUPN1.99 107 108 Buffy the Vampire SlayerUPN1.93 109 AbbyUPN1.82 110 --------------------------------------------111 Pepsi SmashWB1.72 Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Network Last week Season to date CBS8.0011.50 NBC7.1910.77 FOX5.719.04 ABC5.679.02 UPN2.833.40 WB2.353.72 TIPS FOR TODAY 9 a.m.-noon—Morning Becomes Eclectic: Folk singer Erin McKeown and her band perform live, in-studio (11:15 a.m.- noon), KCRW-FM (89.9). 2-4 p.m.—Hiroshima: John drama about the bombing from the perspective of survivors; stars Tyne Daly, Ruby Dee and Roscoe Lee Brown, KPFK- FM (90.7). 4-6 p.m.—Archival Hiroshima: Selected excerpts from more than 70 hours of Pacifica Radio programming about the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima, KPFK-FM (90.7). 4-8 p.m.—Duffy and Harry Lansdale, author of Politics: One p.m.); Donna Nac- cachian of the Orange County Rescue Mission p.m.), KKLA-FM (99.5).

7 p.m.-midnight—Jim Svejda: Music and interview with soprano Shirley Verrett, KUSC-FM (91.5). DRAMA, COMEDY, FAMILY 9-11 a.m.—Playhouse Disney, KDIS (1110). 11 a.m.-1 p.m.—B.B. Good, live from Walt Disney World Resort, KDIS (1110). 1-5 p.m.—DJ Web Fingors, live from Disneyland Park, KDIS (1110).

5-10 p.m.—Ernie KDIS (1110). p.m., a.m.—Crime Classics: marriage to a much younger woman brings him problems (originally broadcast June 22, 1953), KNX (1070). p.m., a.m.—Tales of the Texas Rangers ex-con is involved in bilking people out of money (originally broadcast June 29, 1952), KNX (1070). 10 p.m.-3 a.m.—Sheryl Brooks, KDIS (1110). FOREIGN LANGUAGE Spanish, KALI (900), KBUA-FM (94.3), KBUE-FM (105.5), KHJ (930), KLAX-FM (97.9), KLYY-FM (107.1), KLVE-FM (107.5), KRCD-FM (103.9), KRCV-FM (98.3), KSCA-FM (101.9), KSSC-FM (103.1), KSSD-FM (103.1), KSSE-FM (97.5), KTNQ (1020), KWIZ-FM (96.7), KWKW (1330), KXOL-FM (96.3), XPRS (1090).

Asian, KALI-FM (106.3), KAZN (1300), KMNY (1600), KMRB (1430), KVNR (1480), KXMX (1190), KYPA (1230). Farsi, KIRN (670). 9-11 p.m.—Public Affairs, Spanish, KPFK-FM (90.7). CLASSICAL 6-10 a.m.—Mornings With Rich Capparela, KMZT-FM (105.1). 10-11 a.m.—Morning Symphony: Nicholas Maw Joshua Bell), KCSN-FM (88.5).

11 a.m.-1 p.m.—Performance Today, KCSN-FM (88.5). p.m.—Masterpiece of the Day, KMZT-FM (105.1). 2-3 p.m.—Cost-Conscious Classix: Schoenberg Orchestra City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), KCSN-FM (88.5). 3-7 p.m.—Mark Sheldon: Haydn (82nd Symphony, Antal Dorati conducts Philhar- monia Hungarica) p.m.), KUSC- FM (91.5). 7-8 p.m.—Music From Cal State Northridge, KCSN-FM (88.5).

7-8 p.m.—Symphony at 7: Beethoven (1st Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra), KMZT-FM (105.1). 8-10 p.m.—Evening Concert: Britten Symphony for String Orchestra, op. Bournemouth Sinfonietta) p.m.), KMZT-FM (105.1). NEWS, COMMENTARY Continuous KFWB (980), KNX (1070). 2-9 a.m.—Morning Edition, KPCC-FM (89.3); also, 3-9 a.m., KCRW-FM (89.9).

6-7 a.m.—Democracy Now, repeated, 910 a.m., KPFK-FM (90.7). 8-9 a.m.—The Morning Show, KPFK- FM (90.7). a.m., 11:45 a.m.-noon, p.m.—Paul Harvey, KABC (790). Noon-1 p.m.—Day to Day, with Alex Chadwick, KCRW-FM (89.9). Noon-1 p.m.—Noon Business Hour, KFWB (980).

p.m.—News, KPFK-FM (90.7). 1-2 p.m.—To the Point, KCRW-FM (89.9). 1-2 p.m.—Business Hour, KNX (1070). p.m.—Marketplace, KCRW-FM (89.9); also, p.m., KPCC-FM (89.3). 2-3 p.m.—Hi Tech Hour, KNX (1070).

3-4 p.m.—The World, KCRW-FM (89.9). p.m.—All Things Considered, KPCC-FM (89.3); also, 4-7 p.m., KCRW-FM (89.9). 5-6 p.m.—John Weiner, KPFK-FM (90.7). p.m.—Evening Update, KCSN- FM (88.5). 6-7 p.m.—Evening News, KPFK-FM (90.7).

p.m.—California Focus: Local Flavor, KCSN-FM (88.5). p.m.—Which Way, L.A.? KCRW- FM (89.9). 7-8 p.m.—Fresh Air, culture, KPCC-FM (89.3). 7-8 p.m.—Feminist Magazine, KPFK- FM (90.7). 8-9 p.m.—Larry King: repeat of 6 p.m.

CNN-TV broadcast, KFWB (980). 8-9 p.m.—60 Minutes II: Simulcast with KCBS-Channel 2, KNX (1070). 8-9 p.m.—The Tavis Smiley Show, KPCC-FM (89.3). 9-10 p.m.—The World Today, BBC newsmagazine, KPCC-FM (89.3). 10-11 p.m.—As It Happens, CBC newsmagazine, KPCC-FM (89.3).

SPORTS 4-7 p.m.—Baseball: Angels at Boston Red Sox, KSPN (710). 7-10 p.m.—Baseball: Cincinnati Reds at Dodgers, KFWB (980), KWKW (1330). Radio.