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Thursday, August 18
IN THE LIFE: IMAGE CONSCIENCE The monthly LGBT omnibus traces the history of queer television, examines the increase of gay-identified advertising and goes behind the scenes of lesbo soap The L Word. Laura Linney hosts. 1 am on PBS
Friday, August 19
GET BRUCE! (1999, D: Andrew J. Kuehn) Profile of comedy writer and performer Bruce Vilanch features interviews with fans Whoopi Goldberg , Lily Tomlin , Robin Williams , Nathan Lane , Billy Crystal and Carol Burnett . 8 pm on Star, repeated at midnight
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS: BY THE HAND OF THE FATHER Written by roots rocker Alejandro Escovedo , this musical dramatizes the 20th-century journey of the Mexican-American father. With actor/musicians Pete Escovedo , Rosie Flores and Ruben Ramos . Midnight on PBS
Saturday, August 20
AMERICA’S UGLIEST LIVING ROOM Not content with uncovering the tackiest kitchen and bathroom in the States, Trading Space’s Doug Wilson journeys to southern California in search of the nation’s most repulsive front parlour. TLC at 9 pm, repeated at midnight
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Flouting the FCC, Colin Farrell swears repeatedly on live TV as he hosts this 04 rebroadcast. In the spirit, the Scissor Sisters sacrilegiously cover Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. 11:30 pm on NBC/Global
Sunday, August 21
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (1991, D: Errol Morris) From the maker The Fog Of War, Mr. Death and The Thin Blue Line, this Sundance-winning doc offers a look into the mind of cosmologist and physicist Stephen Hawking and his unorthodox theories about the nature of the universe. Midnight on TVO, repeated 3:30 am Wednesday
Monday, August 22
NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL The testosterone-charged ritual returns in high-def with a pre-season game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks . 8 pm on ABC/City
LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON Sensitive souls can check out Rufus Wainwright making a rare TV appearance alongside octogenarian comic Carl Reiner . 12:35 am on CBS
Tuesday, August 23
BIOGRAPHY: TOMMY LEE Will the Mötley Crüe drummer’s rumoured re-engagement to wife Pamela Anderson make it into Bill Kurtis and company’s timely profile of the all-round media slut? 10 pm on A&E, repeated at 2 am
WIDE ANGLE: GUTTED WIDE ANGLE: GUTTED
North Sea fishermen find their livelihood on the verge of collapse when the European Union restricts their catch for political and environmental reasons. Doc follows a Scottish family hard hit by the ruling. 10 pm on PBS
Wednesday, August 24
KATHY GRIFFIN: MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST Film crews follow the self-deprecating foul-mouthed comic – winner of Celebrity Mole and host of Average Joe – as she trashes celebrities and herself in this six-part reality series shot in L.A. Inspirational quote: “I work twice as hard as Britney Spears to get less than half of what she’s got.” 9 pm on Toronto 1
