Originally created 02/27/05

TV Lookout: highlights (and lowlights) for the week



There are more stars in the making than those Idol wannabes!

"Nashville Star" is back for a third season on USA, with 10 finalists vying for a recording contract, a gig at the Grand Ole Opry and a place in the country music firmament.

They include Justin David from Marshfield, Mo., who learned to play mandolin at age 4... Tamika Tyler, who had a successful singing career in her native Australia before moving to a Colorado ranch with her rocket-scientist husband... Josh Owen, a Brownsboro, Texas, guitarist-singer who was a finalist on "Star Search" when he was 5... Albuquerque, N.M., native Jenny Farrell, at 35 the oldest contender and a singer who toured with a group that opened for artists including George Jones.

The competition will be judged by former Poison frontman Bret Michaels, country music singer-songwriter Phil Vassar and country talent manager Anastasia Brown - as well as viewers.

Airing from (where else?) Nashville, the nine-week series kicks off Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST with a performance by its new host, country singing star LeAnn Rimes.

An early washout: One of the contenders, suffering from stage fright or a virus, doesn't even make it through her own performance.

Other shows to look out for:

- "Summerland" premiered last summer and warmed viewers' hearts. Now, in the dead of winter, this wholesome family drama is back for a second season at 9 p.m. Monday on the WB. It stars Lori Loughlin as Ava, a California-based fashion designer who had a carefree singles lifestyle - until her niece and two nephews came to live with her after the sudden death of their parents. For Ava, her new charges (relocating from rural Kansas) and her beachside housemates alike, it's been a challenging adjustment. And more changes are ahead: On the season premiere, Ava proposes marriage to her boyfriend, Simon (Jay Harrington). Merrin Dungey, Ryan Kwanten, Taylor Cole, Nick Benson and Zac Efron also star.

- On a November weekend nearly 30 years ago, 20,000 women and men converged on Houston for a national women's conference. With a mission to end discrimination against women and promote equal rights, they arrived at resolutions that revolutionized the women's movement, under the leadership of Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Smeal, Ann Richards, Coretta Scott King, Barbara Jordan and others. How did that weekend in 1977 change the American scene? What effect did it have on those who were there? "Sisters of '77" examines the widespread, lasting impact, weaving archival footage with interviews conducted with activists and participants. The documentary, by Cynthia Salzman Mondell and Allen Mondell, airs on PBS' "Independent Lens" 10 p.m. Tuesday (check local listings).

- If you aren't completely suffused with "Saturday Night Live" as a cultural artifact after watching last week's "First Five Years" documentary, tune in "On Stage at the Kennedy Center" and see "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels accept the seventh annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - with all the attendant hoopla. Taped at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in October, the 90-minute special features tributes from Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergen, Darrell Hammond, Tina Fey, Steve Martin, Tim Meadows, Tracy Morgan, Conan O'Brien, Paul Simon, David Spade and Christopher Walken (plus footage from original cast members' screen tests). It airs 9 p.m. Wednesday on PBS (check local listings).

- Teens today are willing to risk serious injury and even death to be accepted by the "right" clique. Evidence: fraternity and sorority hazing incidents led to the deaths of 20 college students in the past five years. Al Roker explores this dangerous trend in his documentary, "The Horrors of Hazing." Airing 10 p.m. Thursday on Court TV, it examines cultural, psychological and legal aspects of hazing through interviews with investigators as well as members of groups that practice these rituals - and family members of victims.