‘Rosie’s Family Cruise’ fairly calm
Is there anything duller than home movies of other people’s vacations? That question is put to the test with “All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise” (8 p.m., HBO).
Back in 2004, Rosie O’Donnell, her partner, Kelli, and 1,500 other couples and families embarked on a seven-day Caribbean cruise. They hoped that families of gay people could kick back and relax and not have to face the awkwardness and discrimination that often arises when kids have to explain why they have two daddies or two mommies.
Most of the action here is decidedly mundane. We see couples changing diapers, talking about school, adoption red tape and teenage petulance. A girl raised by two gay women discusses how and when she realized that she was attracted to boys, something her folks insisted was “perfectly natural.”
The only static on the funfest arrives at a beach resort where they are met with a lone man proselytizing against homosexuality on a street corner.
The film’s attempt to depict gay families as dull and normal as everyone else hits a few moments of choppy seas. After all, if you’re out to dispel stereotypes, why kick off the proceedings with a razzle-dazzle show tune (“Anything Goes!”) and then cut to a disco (“We Are Family”)?
Other highlights
Jeff Probst hosts “Survivor Panama: Exile Island” (8 p.m., CBS).
New Orleans reconstruction on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC).
Things change utterly for a college student (Lacey Chabert, “Party of Five”) when she gains custody of her half-sister in the 2006 drama “Hello Sister, Goodbye Life” (8 p.m., Family).
A psychic foresees his own demise on “CSI” (9 p.m., CBS).
On two episodes of “My Name is Earl” (NBC), a birthday party wrong needs righting (8:30 p.m.), and Earl’s ex (Juliette Lewis) has a score to settle with Joy (9 p.m.).
The college application process comes full circle on “The O.C.” (9 p.m., Fox)
California dreams converge on “American Inventor” (9 p.m., ABC).
Jeff flirts with the new sub on “Teachers” (9:30 p.m., NBC).
A father who lost a teen daughter vanishes after falling on hard times on “Without a Trace” (10 p.m., CBS).
A patient wakes up after a nine-year coma on “ER” (10 p.m., NBC).
Cult choice
Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster share a legendary screen smooch in the 1953 war drama “From Here to Eternity” (5 p.m., TCM), part of an all-night salute to Kerr’s films.