‘Trafficking’ tells stories of sex trade
The Network for Women gets serious about a major issue with the four-hour miniseries “Human Trafficking” (9 p.m., Lifetime, concludes Tuesday).
Mira Sorvino stars as a New York City cop who grows so disgusted by the number of foreign-born prostitutes flooding the streets that she joins a special federal agency headed by Bill Meehan (Donald Sutherland) dedicated to cracking down on the international sex trade.
“Trafficking” follows three parallel stories, each of them grim.
Helena (Isabelle Blais) is a single mother from Prague who is seduced and sold by a “nice guy.”
A teenager from Kiev thinks she’s won a modeling contest only to be forced into prostitution.
And a 12-year-old American girl is snatched from her vacationing parents on the streets of Manila and forced to participate in the sex “tourism industry.”
More informational than entertaining, “Trafficking” offers plenty of opportunities for polemical observations, particularly from Sutherland. The story and its lesson would probably be more effective had “Trafficking” focused more tightly on one victim.
Not for the squeamish, the four-hour film makes its point with scenes of extreme violence and abject horror, as in the opening moments when a young girl commits suicide rather than submit to her obese and repulsive “customer.”
“Trafficking” is certain to generate conversation and reflection and dispel the “Pretty Woman” myth of the “working girl.” There’s no small irony in the fact that “Trafficking” star Mira Sorvino won her Oscar for playing a happy hooker in the 1994 comedy “Mighty Aphrodite.”
No one can watch this movie and think of the sex trade as a victimless crime.
“Viva Blackpool” (7 p.m., BBC America) follows the brash casino promoter Ripley Holden (David Morrissey) as he tries to inject glitz, glamour and gambling profits into a faded sea resort, Britain’s equivalent of Atlantic City. Slightly more seedy, desperate and dangerous than Donald Trump, Ripley must also cope with a family spinning out of control.
And if the neon doesn’t keep your attention, the characters on “Viva” continually burst into song and dance, lip-synching their way through familiar hits from Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Diana Ross, Jimmy Cliff and the Smiths.
A curious karaoke musical with an edgy plot, “Viva” is like nothing else on television.
The sports reality series “Roush Racing Driver X” (8 p.m., Discovery) pits 23 drivers against each other. The winner emerges as a fully sponsored NASCAR driver.
The five-part series “I Love the ‘80s: 3D” (9 p.m., VH1) adds new depth to shallow commentary about the Shoulder Pad Decade. More than 3 million special glasses have been distributed at electronic retailers. Let the eyestrain begin!
Other highlights
Members of a Vienna sports club, forced into exile after Nazi occupation, reunite after six decades in the documentary “Watermarks” (6:30 p.m., Cinemax)
On back-to-back episodes of “Prison Break” (Fox), riots (8 p.m.), and a hidden agenda (9 p.m.).
The Falcons host the Jets on “Monday Night Football” (6 p.m., ABC).
Dating can be murder on “CSI: Miami” (10 p.m., CBS).
Nightmare visions of an office shooting on “Medium” (10 p.m., NBC).
Cult choice
Turner Classic Movies kicks off a seven-night, 36-film salute to Alfred Hitchcock, beginning with the 1973 documentary “The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock” (5 p.m., TCM).
Series notes
A salon fixation on “The King of Queens” (8 p.m., CBS) … Cirko (Rade Sherbedgia) knows too much on “Surface” (8 p.m., NBC) … The faces change, but the story never varies on “Wife Swap” (10 p.m., ABC) … Mistaken identity on “One on One (8 p.m., UPN) … A fretful trip to the hospital on “7th Heaven” (8 p.m., WB).
A memorable Halloween on “How I Met Your Mother” (8:30 p.m., CBS) … Bobby’s shocking decision on “All of Us” (8:30 p.m., UPN).
A case of the evil eye on “Two and a Half Men” (9 p.m., CBS) … Danny seethes on “Las Vegas” (9 p.m., NBC) … A question of maturity on “Girlfriends” (9 p.m., UPN) … Ben irks all on “Out of Practice” (9:30 p.m., CBS) … Joey Lawrence guest-stars on “Half & Half” (9:30 p.m. UPN).