The clearest indication of the kind of weekend we're dealing with arrives courtesy of NBC. This weekend, the network unveils WrestleMania XXVI: The World Television Premiere (Saturday, 9 p.m.). Apparently, the highlight of the event is Shawn Michaels versus Undertaker. Right. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. We are in that portion of the summer when pro wrestling breaks out on prime time. Searching the schedules for new and exciting programs is about as fruitful as placing bets on pro wrestling. Your best investment is in choice repeats: things you may have missed the first time; or simply overlooked, being hooked on American Idol at the time. Herewith, a menu of two fine, but not-new mysteries; and one great pop-science program.
Cast a Deadly Spell
- Saturday, 8 p.m., HBO Canada
Made in 1991, this strange gem goes back to the days when HBO productions only occasionally turned up on Canadian TV, so many of you might not have seen it. A novelty because it attempts to blend several genres - noirish detective story, supernatural sci-fi and magical realism - it works in a startling, jokey manner. It's 1948 in Los Angeles and our hero, private eye H. Philip Lovecraft (Fred Ward) is hired by a rich wacko (David Warner) to find a rare book of magic spells, or something. Our hero inhabits an L.A. where everyone is involved in black magic and werewolves roam the streets, annoying the cops at the full moon. He's the only guy who is old-school, unimpressed by magic. Still, he does wish for a bit of magic with his old flame (Julianne Moore) and he could use it when he gets into scrapes with dangerous witches. The witty script by Joseph Dougherty, who would later write Saving Grace, is full of good jokes about Hollywood, without being insiderish.
Masterpiece Mystery!
- Inspector Lewis, Sunday, 9 p.m., PBS
The most recent season of the Lewis mysteries is being repeated now, leading up to the new season starting in September. It was with these episodes that the series, a spin-off from the Inspector Morse dramas, truly broke free of the shadow of Morse. Lewis (Kevin Whately) strides forth as a fully created, compelling character. He's still a widower and awkwardly single, and there is always a subplot about a potential love interest for him. But the mystery story and the breezy wit of his sidekick, Hathaway (Laurence Fox), are at the fore. Hathaway is a delight: a cop who is way too clever for the job, and brimming with skepticism about the Oxford University crowd he encounters. In this episode, a Czech-born hotel worker is found murdered. The trail leads Lewis and Hathaway into the murky world of Oxford dons importing workers into England for nefarious purposes. By the way, many PBS stations follow the Lewis mystery repeats with an old Inspector Morse drama tonight.
MythBusters
- Sunday, 10 p.m., Discovery
One of Discovery's long-running and sterling pop-science programs, MythBusters has been responsible for dispelling many notions created by TV and movies. In this episode, one of the best, experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman tackle several myths that are staples of movie storytelling. To whit: Can a person with no flight training safely land a jet airliner while being assisted by the traffic controllers over the radio? If a person jumps out of an airplane with the last parachute, can another person jump out later and catch him? Is it possible to hold a conversation while falling at terminal velocity? It's a fascinating experiment, since we've all seen some thriller that involves a passenger guiding a jet to a safe landing. And we've all seen some nonsense about parachutes. Mind you, one of the appealing elements of MythBusters is that it doesn't always undermine what fiction tells you, and actually shows that some tricks are not as far-fetched as they seem.