A mystery teen and a teen mystery
The Family Channel series “Kyle XY” (8 p.m., ABC) gets some network exposure tonight and for the next 10 weeks. Matt Dallas stars as a teenage boy who appears out of nowhere, with no past, naked as a baby. And like a Ken doll, he also lacks a belly button.
Incarcerated in a youth facility, he is picked on by bullies and discovered by idealistic counselor Nicole Trager (Marguerite MacIntyre) who takes him home, much to the consternation of her husband and two teens.
Kyle learns to read, speak, appreciate music and work a computer with remarkable speed. In this way, he’s much like Isabelle, the mysterious baby-turned-babe savant on “The 4400.” Kyle may not know his origins, but a shadowy guy in a pickup truck shows up occasionally and seems to know something about Kyle.
While intriguing, “Kyle” engages in rather stereotypical representations of teens. With few exceptions, they’re rude, sex-obsessed horrors.
¢ Set in Vancouver, British Columbia, “Whistler” (8 p.m., The N) begins with the apparent murder and funeral of snowboarding gold medalist Beck MacKaye (David Paetkau). Through a series of flashbacks, we learn quickly that he was cheating on his girlfriend and sleeping with his boss’s wife, and he seemed to have been scamming that older woman, as well. Bouncing between the past and the present, “Whistler” gets confusing because Beck’s ghost seems to show up time and again to consult the living and offer clues about his demise.
While the soap opera is a tad over the top, “Whistler” is a murky whodunit that should keep young viewers glued to the frozen slopes all summer long.
Tonight’s other highlights
¢ A bride gets a spectral visit from her husband’s ex on “Ghost Whisperer” (7 p.m., CBS). Sonia Braga (“Alias”) guest stars.
¢ On two episodes of “24” (Fox), worries about Audrey (7 p.m.), a CTU leak (8 p.m.).
¢ A fraud tries to make a killing in real estate on “Close to Home” (8 p.m., CBS).
¢ Ed gets orders to relax on “Las Vegas” (8 p.m., NBC).
¢ Bill Engvall hosts “Country Fried Home Videos” (8 p.m., CMT), an anthology of home footage of dangerous, shocking and just plain dumb activities.
¢ Evidence points to a brainy student in the theft of a DNA device on “Numb3rs” (9 p.m., CBS).
¢ A killer targets McCoy on “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC).
¢ Unsuspecting women get quick makeovers on “Instant Beauty Pageant” (9 p.m., Style).