"Monday Night Mayhem" (8 p.m., TNT) is no failure, but it's definitely a little strange and very ambitious, in all the right ways.
Let's start with John Turturro. I have loved watching his extreme screen personas ever since he begged for his life in the Coen Brothers' 1990 drama "Miller's Crossing." His trip to Hollywood-hell in "Barton Fink" and his escape from the chain gang in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" were also unforgettable movie experiences. "Mayhem" provides the actor with another larger-than-life character Howard Cosell. The brash New York lawyer-turned-sportscaster liked to "tell it like it is" about Vietnam, racism, Muhammad Ali and Richard Nixon, back when sportswriters avoided any controversial topics.
Turturro's performance may not be a very accurate reflection of Cosell, but it certainly is vintage Turturro. He takes giddy delight in the sportscaster's penchant for pithy platitudes, firing zingers and dropping cluster bombs of alliterative illumination in every conversation.
Having covered such broad topics as the Civil War, baseball and jazz, director Ken Burns focuses on "Mark Twain" (8 p.m., PBS, concludes Tuesday), a barefoot Missouri lad who would become one of the most popular, and certainly the most influential authors of the 19th century. "Mark Twain" includes dozens of interviews and uses more than 600 still photographs from more that 100 archival sources.
Tonight's other highlights
Bill Maher is host for the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Awards (6 p.m., E!) honoring films from 2001 in 17 categories.
Debra gets snippy with Frank on "Everybody Loves Raymond" (8 p.m., CBS).
After watching his own son fall, Doherty has to rescue another boy from a burning building on "Third Watch" (8 p.m., NBC).
Ally hires a handsome contractor (new recurring guest star Jon Bon Jovi) on "Ally McBeal" (8 p.m., Fox).
Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck are star-crossed lovers in the 1999 comedy "Forces of Nature" (8 p.m., ABC).
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