FRIDAY

Best bet on broadcast: NBC, “Dateline NBC,” 9 p.m. For those who can’t wait until tomorrow, Katie Couric sits down with “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” author J.K. Rowling the day before the book’s release.

Best bet on cable: USA, “Monk,” 10 p.m. Season premiere. Tony Shalhoub returns as germ-averse, order-loving detective Adrian Monk in the second season of USA’s subtly funny 2002 summer hit. This show built up a bit of momentum last fall when ABC aired reruns in primetime. Former Brat Pack-er Andrew McCarthy guest stars.

Top sporting event: ESPN, Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs, 3:15 p.m. Interleague baseball play continues this week with the popular rivalry matchups.

Best bet on broadcast: ABC, “Amistad,” 8 p.m. The 1997 Steven Spielberg movie isn’t one of his best, but it’s pretty interesting. If you can overlook the historical inaccuracies.

Best bet on cable: TNN, “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge,” 9 p.m. Excuse us, The New TNN. This is exactly the stupid-yet-addictive sort of thing you’d expect from a network repositioning itself as the one for men. The show airs clips of a 1980s Japanese game show and adds a humorous voice-over.

Top sporting event: NBC, U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships, 4 p.m. See who can steal the pregnant, and thus absent, Marion Jones’ crown in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. They’ll have to give it back after Jones has her baby.

Best bet on broadcast: WB, “Everwood,” 6 p.m., & CBS, “Guilty Hearts,” 9 p.m. Enjoy a Treat Williams double feature tonight with a rerun of his regular WB show, in which he plays a doctor, and a rerun of a 2002 CBS movie with Marcia Gay Harden, in which he plays a doctor/deacon.

Best bet on cable: HBO, “Sex and the City,” 9 p.m. Season premiere. Rumor is that Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) already has tired of new beau Jack Berger (“Office Space’s” Ron Livingston) by the third episode. You know what that means – bring on Mr. Big. The show begins a run of 12 new episodes and picks up again in January with eight more to end its sixth and final season.

Top sporting event: Tennis Channel, “Center Court with Chris Myers,” 7 p.m. Series premiere. In the new network’s second original series, the former ESPN anchor interviews luminaries from the tennis world. His first guest is Hall of Famer Jack Kramer; Pete Sampras will be featured in a future episode.

June 20, 2003© 2003 Media Life

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