Disney sends a message with ‘Maggie’
Cartoons have a great deal of liberty when it comes to gender roles and body issues.
But will young girls identify with an adolescent fly? That’s the test of the new slapstick animated offering “The Buzz on Maggie” (8 p.m., Disney).
Maggie Pesky (the voice of Jessica DiCicco) is a ‘tween-age resident of Stickyfeet, a suburban town in fly world complete with junior high schools and shopping malls.
The insect aspects of “Maggie” offer plenty of opportunities for gross asides about curdled milk and decomposing food, but don’t go looking for the fashion-conscious Maggie to fly around sewers or just any rotten old thing.
Like many Disney offerings, “Maggie” wears its message on its sleeve. The show’s theme song, “Just the Way I Am,” offers kids an anthem of pride, acceptance and (I always use this word as if holding it with surgical tongs) “empowerment.”
In the first episode, Maggie tries to navigate between the world of teenagers and “babies” by defying her parents and sneaking into a violent PG-13 movie.
In the second installment, Maggie tries in vain to compete with a much hipper and richer new kid who just buzzed in from Beverly Hills.
“Maggie” strikes a decent balance between cartoon anarchy and Disney’s you-go-girl sermonizing, and Maggie’s inherently bugged-out status keeps the stories from getting too cute.
In the end, we learn that even fly girls just want to have fun.
“Dateline” (8 p.m., NBC) presents a hidden-camera investigation of garment factories in Bangladesh, where many domestic retailers buy fashionable clothes at very low prices.
One worker, Masuma, 21, describes the grim conditions: “I have to sit in front of the machine the whole time. I cannot move. I can’t even go to the bathroom without my supervisor’s permission.
“After sitting for so long, I feel pain throughout my body.”
She is later taken to a Wal-Mart store in the United States, where she gets to see the pants she made and meet an American shopper to discuss some of the hidden costs of “low, low prices.”
Several Lakota mingle with the white settlers in the second episode of “Into the West” (8 p.m., TNT).
Last Friday, this cable Western epic attracted more viewers than any network show except NBC’s “Dateline.”
TCM showcases the film noir movies of influential director Nicholas Ray (“Rebel Without a Cause”), including “They Live by Night” (5 p.m.), “In a Lonely Place” (6:45 p.m.) and “On Dangerous Ground” (8:30 p.m.).
Other highlights
On back-to-back episodes of “JAG” (CBS), Baghdad intrigue (8 p.m.), and an accidental drowning sparks a homicide charge (9 p.m.).
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star in the 1998 comedy “The Wedding Singer” (8 p.m., Fox).
Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds star in the 2001 racetrack drama “Driven” (8 p.m., UPN).
Ronnie Milsap and Los Lonely Boys perform together on “Crossroads” (8 p.m., CMT).
A sniper (Lou Diamond Phillips) helps catch a sharpshooter on “Numb3rs” (10 p.m., CBS).
An NBA player faces a murder charge on “Law & Order: Trial By Jury” (10 p.m., NBC).
Scheduled on “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC): the kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism with a modern trendy following.
Cult choice
Real-life husband and wife Mel Brooks and the late Anne Bancroft star in the 1983 comedy “To Be or Not to Be” (5 p.m., FMC) as married Polish actors who use stage skills to outwit their Nazi oppressors.
Series notes
A father and child reunion on “8 Simple Rules” (8 p.m., ABC) … On back-to-back episodes of “What I Like About You” (WB), Jenny McCarthy (8 p.m.), and work and pleasure (8:30 p.m.).
Hot-tub shenanigans on “Complete Savages” (8:30 p.m., ABC) … Van and the nanny on “Reba” (9 p.m., WB).
A Sapphic deception on “Hope & Faith” (9 p.m., ABC) … Lasik surgery is more than meets the eye on “Less Than Perfect” (9:30 p.m., ABC) … Family planning on “Living with Fran” (9:30 p.m., WB).