With gas prices about to collapse, cash-strapped American families might once again take to the highways and byways for some wholesome summer fun. Or they can sit on the sofa, order some Domino's, and watch a bunch of other families do it on NBC's The Great American Road Trip. It won't make the memories any less traumatic for the children.
The Great American Road Trip [8 PM, NBC]
The scary thing about the press materials for this show is how much they iterate and reiterate how funny this show will be. Produced by the BBC, this reality lite program follows seven families as they travel to landmarks across the country and compete in "humorous challenges." In tonight's premiere, the contestants are introduced at Wrigley Field in Chicago, sort of a strange opening site given that the park is the most lovable dump in all of Major League Baseball. Stand-up comic Reno Collier is your guide to family friendly adventures, but all we feel is a deep wistfulness for Cannonball Run 2001.
10 Things I Hate About You [8 PM, ABC Family]
If you've been to a mall this summer, you've seen the posters for this hardly-anticipated adaptation of the film that was loosely adapted from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Lindsey Shaw takes the Julia Stiles role and Meaghan Martin the Larisa Oleynik role, but the producers were smart to not cast a Heath Ledger look-alike for the crucial Patrick part. Larry Miller reprises his role as the overprotective father, so at least we know there will be some sarcasm thrown around.
Kendra [10 PM, E!]
For Girls Next Door fans, here are back-to-back episodes of the new reality show chronicling Hef's former sporty-gangsta girlfriend. In the first episode, Kendra has a yard sale and meets rapper Too Short. In the second, she shoots a lingerie ad and then parties hard. With so much important television on Sunday nights (when new Kendra's air), weekdays will be the best time to TiVo this show.
Burn After Reading [8 PM, HBO]
The best Coen Brothers films play like a tight jazz quartet, humor and dramatic rhythms piling on similar syncopated riffs, giving way to themes that were present the entire time. Burn After Reading never quite reaches Dave Brubeck levels, but Brad Pitt has never been funnier, despite the fact that his partner in crime Frances McDormand gets most of the good lines. This movie is supposedly about espionage and intrigue, but it's really just a bunch of crazy people doing stuff. We mean that in a good way.