Taking its cue from primetime's campy past, "Battle of the Network Reality Stars" (8:30 p.m., Bravo) echoes the "Battle of the Network Stars" spectacles that ran in the late 1970s, back in the days before cable, VCRs and DVDs.
Of course, the old battles featured actors we had only gotten to know as performers in scripted dramas and comedies. There was something different and diverting about watching Gabe Kaplan divest himself of his "Welcome Back, Kotter" character to play dodgeball. It was like attending summer camp with your favorite star.
In contrast, reality shows always have been very much like summer camp, so the "characters" involved aren't very different from the folks we got to like, or hate, on their respective series.
What "Battle" lacks in originality it makes up for in casting. The producers cast a wide net and have assembled an entertaining bunch who don't seem to have much else to do. Some of the choices are obvious, including Richard Hatch and Sue Hawk from "Survivor" and Evan ("I'll do anything") Marriott from "Joe Millionaire." The more interesting choices are those faces you thought (or perhaps hoped) you'd never see again, including Wendy Pepper, the manipulative mom from "Project Runway," and Charla and Mirna from "The Amazing Race." Jonathan the wife-abusing jerk from "Amazing Race" also shows up, and, as expected, he never shuts up.
Unfortunately, once you get over the stunt casting, "Battle" boils down to silly games and trips to the dunking tank. In short, it's long on contrived competition and short on nasty politics, backbiting and mind games. And that's a recipe for a fairly dull reality show.
Tonight's other highlights
¢ The action on the war drama "Over There" (9 p.m., FX) slows down for a moment.
¢ The top 16 compete on a two-hour installment of "So You Think You Can Dance" (7 p.m., Fox).
¢ On two episodes of on "Brat Camp" (ABC), solitude (7 p.m.), holiday blues (8 p.m.).
¢ Sketch comics scour the U.K. countryside for peculiar personalities in the new series "Little Britain" (8 p.m., BBC America).
¢ "The eBay Effect - Inside a Worldwide Obsession" (7 p.m., CNBC) looks at the economic and social impact of the 10-year-old Internet auction site.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.