The Listener is All Ears, Lady

Of all the shows on network television, NBC's The Listener might have the most interesting title. Other shows have punny titles (The Biggest Loser) or names that suggest sexy things (Private Practice, Big Brother), but there is nothing deep or ironic about The Listener. It's a guy who listens to stuff and then helps people. If this show succeeds, don't be surprised when it spins-off The Hearer.

The Listener [10 PM, NBC]

At its core, this is your standard do-gooder show. Like Early Edition, a dude has a power (really just access to special information) that he can't really tell other people about yet allows him to be really helpful to people. This is not what most people look for on TV, but all NBC had to do was buy some rights to these episodes that already aired in Canada, so it's all good, Peacock. Tonight, a boy escapes the hospital after avoiding a gang beating. Our hero Toby (Craig Olejnik), packing his own childhood traumas, finds more runaways while looking for that kid.

In the Motherhood [8:30 PM, ABC]

In five years, only a few thousand people will remember this show, but there are worse clubs to join. In one of the last episodes of our favorite comedy of 2009, Rosemary (Megan Mullally) organizes a living wake for herself while Emily (Jessica St. Clair) attempts to improve Jane's (Cheryl Hines) parenting skills. In a perfect world, there would be a satellite network, orbiting around the big four, where they could send low-rated but beloved shows to live out their last days. ABC could go back to showing Grey's Anatomy reruns, and to mix metaphors, shows like Pushing Daisies and In the Motherhood could live out their last days in peace.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson [12:35 AM, CBS]

Guest: John McEnroe. This is the only network late show rolling out fresh episodes this week, so take a break from Conan reruns and see what that strange guy at the office is always trying to get you to watch. McEnroe will discuss Wimbledon and his other bugaboos, but Ferguson probably has some good Wimbledon stories and tennis material. If you haven't noticed, you can put any guest (male, female, animal, puppet) across from Ferguson and he still brings the funny.

Down Periscope [8 PM, ABC Family]

No one would ever refer to ABC Family's programming as edgy, but as you can see from the suggestive poster (submarines in close proximity resemble a woman's breasts, that's usually covered in the first day of graphic design) this is not exactly family fare. Director David Ward (Major League) directs an ensemble-ish cast including Kelsey Grammer, Rob Schneider, Lauren Holly, Harry Dean Stanton, Harland Williams and William H. Macy in a sorta spoof of Navy-submarine movies. There are a few larfs here and there, but this is the type of film I used to watch with my parents and they would spend most of the film whispering things like "He shouldn't be watching this" or "That joke isn't appropriate." Now you can do that with your own kids!