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Bet on Your Baby 8 p.m., Channel 5 Young parents usually don't compare their kids to other kids, right? They don't generally compete with other young parents about who is a better parent, or whose toddler is cuter, or who knows their baby best. So how lovely and refreshing it is to find a bunch of competitive parents on this reality contest. America's Cutest Cat 9 p.m., Animal Planet Who said cat videos are dead? Animal Planet begs to differ, and it is counting down the best of them. They will rate the purrs heard 'round the world, and because we need filler in between clips, the show will include feline experts and Animal Planet personalities commenting on adorability and squishable love-love-love-boo-boo-goo-goo-ness.( 05/03/2013 6:00 PM )
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"Maron" is loosely built around the making of Marc Maron's podcast, "WTF," which takes place in his LA garage. For those who've listened to "WTF," the TV show will feel just exactly right. The stories he tells in his monologues are here, effortlessly brought to life, and the writing doesn't corrupt Maron's sensibility. And newcomers to Maron, who don't even know what a podcast is (like many of the characters on the show) will catch on quickly. On both "WTF" and on "Maron," you can easily follow his theme, which is the value of painful honesty, the relief of unburdening. Once you've admitted that you are scared-stupid-confused-egomaniacal-lonely, Maron seems to be saying, then you have begun to disempower those feelings. ( 05/02/2013 6:00 PM )
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Mr. Selfridge Sunday at 9 p.m., Channel 2 In a review of this show, cleverly titled "Piven not good as gold in 'Mr. Selfridge" by Globe editors, I wrote that Jeremy Piven is seriously miscast in this miniseries. While Piven was perfect as Ari Gold in "Entourage," he is monotonous and unsubtle as the man trying to revolutionize department-store shopping in early 1900s London. And I continue to hear from readers who are passionately against this assessment, both via email and on Twitter. So I went back and rewatched and I am now even more convinced that he is the weak link in an otherwise mildly entertaining "Masterpiece Classic" show. He doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not yelling.( 05/02/2013 6:00 PM )
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Zack Stone Is Gonna Be Famous 10:30 p.m., MTV Twist! MTV, the home of "Jersey Shore" and its spin offs, the network that brought you "Rich Girls" and "The Hills," is premiering a satire of reality TV on Thursday night. Comic Bo Burnham's Zack Stone just graduated from high school and, like too many people, he desperately wants to be famous. So he's using his savings to make an "EdTV"-like series about himself. He pays a crew to follow him, and he tries to trump up his dull life to make it look dramatic. Some of his contemporaries, including a pretty girl, go out of their way to appear on screen, while his entire family dodges him.( 05/01/2013 6:00 PM )
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Why, on so many levels; why? It seems tragic that, given the number of comedy writers out there, ABC didn't come up with a stronger vehicle than "Family Tools." The show, which premieres Wednesday night at 8:30 on Channel 5, is just another set of prefab sitcom tropes pasted together with cheap jokes. The ensemble, led by Leah Remini and J.K. Simmons, has as much chemistry as an organic farm. The show, based on a two-season British series called "White Van Man," revolves around a family handyman business called Mr. Jiffy Fix. When Simmons's tough guy Tony Shea is too sick to work, he hands over the reins to his bumbling son, Jack (Kyle Bornheimer), who has just dropped out of seminary school. ( 04/30/2013 6:00 PM )
