Rating: NNNNN
Thursday, July 15
COPA AMERICA 2004 Anyone jonesing for a football fix now that Greece has won the Euro cup will want to catch the two first-quarter final games of this bi-annual South American soccer championship. Go, Paraguay! 2:30 pm on TLN, repeated at 11 pm
BELLY BELLY
(1998, dir Hype Williams, with Nas, DMX and Method Man) Rap video director Hype’s first feature stylishly examines drug and gun culture. Hard to follow, but it sure looks pretty if you’re in the right mood. 12:10 am on Showcase
Friday, July 16
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962, dir John Frankenheimer, w/Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury) Brainwashed Cold War POW (Harvey) is programmed by commies to assassinate a U.S. presidential candidate. Film lore has it that following JFK’s death, Sinatra had the eerily prescient thriller pulled from circulation for 25 years. 8 pm on PBS
Saturday, July 17
SUPERSTAR Call it American Idiot. All six episodes of the WB series that sets out to find the worst singer in the States. And you thought William Hung couldn’t sing! 3 pm on Much, repeated Sunday 8 am
Sunday, July 18
BREAKFAST WITH THE ARTS The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, the Indigo Girls and Aimee Mann in concert in celebration of Women’s History Month. 8 am on A&E
Monday, July 19
THE BELLES OF ST. TRINIAN’S (1954, dir Frank Launder, with Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell and Beryl Reid). In a dual comic role, Sim portrays the headmistress of a down-at-its-heels girls’ school and a scheming bookie. One of the funniest movies ever made. 1 pm on CBC
Tuesday, July 20
Last Man Standing: Politics – Texas Style (Dir Paul Stekler) Documentary goes behind the scenes at two 2002 Texas elections to show what kind of political style has taken over Washington.
10 pm on PBS BIG BROTHER 5 Another dozen dimwits follow the well-beaten path to infamy and ill-fortune, locking themselves in a house overrun with TV cameras for three months. 9 pm on CBS/CHCH
Wednesday, July 21
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW Such a media whore that he’s become Cockney rhyming slang for stomach distress – Ooh, me flaming Simon Cowells! – the American Idolator unsuccessfully attempts to steal the spotlight from Eurythmics chanteuse Annie Lennox. 10 am on CBS/Toronto 1