TV: Critic's picks for Oct. 28
A select guide to the best shows on Thursday
DRAMA<br> Da Vinci's Inquest Bravo!, 7 p.m.<br> One of the last great dramas from the CBC – arguably the last great drama from the CBC – this filmed-in-Vancouver series ran from 1998 to 2005 and stands up to encore viewing. The watch-factor still stems from Nicholas Campbell's portrayal of coroner Dominic Da Vinci, the sort of guy who takes a personal interest in each murder case. In tonight's third-season episode, a prominent activist is found dead on the street and Da Vinci is approached by a witness who last saw the victim getting into a police cruiser. Does the crusading coroner take on the Vancouver police force? Count on it.
COMEDY<br> Community NBC, CITY-TV, 8:30 p.m.<br> Strange things are happening at Greendale Community College tonight. The amateur philosopher Pierce (Chevy Chase, pictured here) and several other students unwisely ingest a biohazard substance at the school's Halloween party and begin exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Soon enough they're turning into flesh-eating zombies and the fate of the remaining student body wrests on the heroics of one man: milquetoast Dean Pelton (Jim Rash). Be afraid.Mitchell Haaseth
REALITY<br> Police Women of Dallas Season 4 – Mia, Melissa, Beth, Tracy, Sara TLC, 9 p.m.<br> Back tonight for its fourth season, this unscripted COPS knockoff ranks as one of the highest-rated shows on TLC. As in seasons past, the first episode introduces viewers to the five new lady cops who will be knocking heads and chasing perps in the coming weeks. The lineup includes veteran sergeant Tracy, also a devoted single mom; young officers Mia and Sara, who are partnered in one of Dallas's tougher neighbourhoods; and Beth, a former rookie-of-the-year now assigned to the force's high-crime units. Ladies, let's be careful out there.
DRAMA<br> The Mentalist CBS, CTV, 10 p.m.<br> Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) appears more perplexed than usual in tonight's new episode of this popular crime drama. The psychic-turned-police-sleuth is summoned to the home of an extremely wealthy family. Along with his fellow CBI team members, Jane is challenged to discover how both a murder and a kidnapping occurred on the palatial compound, despite the presence of a state-of-the-art security system. Curiouser and curiouser.
MOVIE<br> The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane TCM, 12:15 a.m.<br> Looking for something really scary to put you in the Halloween mood? This rarely shown thriller will fit the bill, and then some. The 1976 feature stars a very young Jodie Foster (pictured here) as a mysterious kid named Rynn who unexpectedly shows up in a small New England town. Rynn is supposedly living with her father – a poet, she says – but nobody has ever seen him. A creepy neighbour named Frank, played by Martin Sheen, takes an unnatural interest in Rynn, which turns out to be a big mistake on his part. No more spoilers. Just watch and prepare to get goosebumps.