‘30 Days’ offers fitness-makeover lesson
Last week on “30 Days” (10 p.m., FX), nearly 2 million viewers watched filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”) and his girlfriend, Alexandra Jamieson, spend a month subsisting on minimum wage.
Tonight, Spurlock cedes guinea pig status to a former high school swimming champ who has seen his once svelte physique become a tad too pear-shaped.
This 34-year-old married father of two decides to embark on a monthlong effort to turn back the clock (and his scale) by engaging in a radical diet and exercise binge, as well as daily injections of steroids and hormones and a fistful of over-the-counter nutritional supplements.
He swallows more than 25 pills a day.
As in the documentary “Super Size Me,” Spurlock’s 30-day experiment of eating only McDonald’s food, tonight’s subject undertakes this challenge under doctors’ supervision. And his doctors are quickly alarmed.
His liver functions go haywire, and his once-healthy sperm count plummets to near zero. This irks his wife, who shoots “I told you so” daggers with her angry eyes. They had been planning on a third child.
If we learn anything from this “30 Days” installment, it’s that it’s difficult to be the wife of a man who treats his body like a chemistry set.
Host Spurlock appears in several informative vignettes, traveling south of the border to demonstrate just how easy it is to score illegal steroids in Mexican border towns.
This funny and at times touching cautionary tale about the dangers of get-buff-quick regimes is all the more startling (and enjoyable) set against the advertising environment of basic-cable television, where a steady barrage of commercials tout effortless routes to thinner thighs, perfect abs and radical weight loss.
OK, boxer Evander Holyfield got the heave-ho on last week’s episode of “Dancing with the Stars” (9 p.m., ABC). Watched by more than 15 million people, it was by far the most popular show of the week.
Let me be the first to admit that I would never have predicted this series’ runaway success.
No one will ever confuse the former champ with Fred Astaire, but he gave it his best shot and appeared to be enjoying himself. You can’t ask too much more from summer reality programming.
And was his turn on the dance floor really that embarrassing? Not compared to his former rival Mike Tyson’s recent bout in the ring.
Other highlights
Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (8 p.m., CBS): a controversial medical treatment ends in death; an emerging kitchen star; and pianist Leon Fleischer struggles to regain the use of a damaged hand.
A fatal encounter with an old classmate on “Psychic Detectives” (8 p.m., NBC).
On back-to-back episodes of “Law & Order” (NBC), a parolee becomes the victim of a hit and run (9 p.m.), and a murdered tycoon’s bride and her hunky lover become suspects (10 p.m.).
A vigilante targets possible serial killers on “The Inside” (9 p.m., Fox).
A very deep end for a construction worker on “CSI: NY” (10 p.m., CBS).
Locke’s story leaks out as Jack makes a controversial proposal about the nonsurvivors on “Lost” (10 p.m., ABC).
Cult choice
Scientists (Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O’Brien and Donald Pleasence) become microscopic submarine explorers and enter the body of an ailing patient in the 1966 sci-fi favorite “Fantastic Voyage” (5 p.m., Fox Movie Channel).
Series notes
A prank goes awry on “That ‘70s Show” (8 p.m., Fox) … The squeakiest wheel – and smelliest diaper – get the most attention on “Supernanny” (8 p.m., ABC) … Lessons in come-ons on “Beauty and the Geek” (8 p.m., WB).
On back-to-back episodes of “Eve” (UPN), getting tested (8 p.m.), and a trial reconciliation (8:30 p.m.) … Stuart feels pressured on “Stacked” (8:30 p.m., Fox).
Doug feels derailed on “King of Queens” (9 p.m., CBS) … A stalker threatens Christmas on “Veronica Mars” (9 p.m.) … Salem’s lot on “Smallville” (9 p.m., WB) … Sammy may have special needs on “Yes, Dear” (9:30 p.m., CBS).