‘Star Wars’ looks at the series
Thirty years ago, in an entertainment galaxy far, far away, nobody had ever heard of “Star Wars,” and that’s what made the movie’s smash success all the more fresh and surprising.
“Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed” (9 p.m., History) celebrates and discusses the film franchise and its use of myth and allegory. Folks from media, politics and academia weigh in on the ways “Star Wars” harks back to Buck Rogers and Greek fables and how it has assimilated Western mythology and made it fun, swashbuckling and as irresistible as popcorn.
While you have to admire any program that can unite Camille Paglia, Nancy Pelosi, Dan Rather and Newt Gingrich, “Legacy” often unfolds like a college literature survey course. In making the case for the deep cultural importance of the series, it overlooks the fact that the more recent films have been hard to watch.
What becomes of the brokenhearted? They join “The Ex-Wives Club” (9 p.m., ABC), a weird new entry in ABC’s lineup of tear-jerking reality fare. Hosted by a trio of famously abandoned celebrity wives – Angie Everhart, Shar Jackson and Marla Maples – “Ex” showcases two sob stories per hour, helping emotionally devastated women get their grooves back.
“Sunset Tan” (10:30 p.m., E!) follows the high-strung antics at the Hollywood ultraviolet-ray factory where Britney Spears comes to get her melanin excited.
“Tan” airs right after “The Simple Life Goes to Camp” (10 p.m., E!).
Other highlights
A daylong marathon of “Jaws” (5 a.m., Encore) movies unfolds.
Contestants submit their films on “On the Lot” (8 p.m., Fox).
A gambler and a medium trade situations on “Wife Swap” (8 p.m., ABC).
Whoopi Goldberg guest-stars on “Everybody Hates Chris” (8 p.m., CW).
Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez host Miss Universe 2007 (9 p.m., NBC).
A father-and-son surgeon team battles America’s vast waistband on “Big Medicine” (9 p.m., TLC).
A string of apparent mob murders mirrors a movie’s script on “CSI: Miami” (10 p.m., CBS).
Experts address summer anxieties on “More Swimsuit Secrets Revealed” (10 p.m., WE).
The spineless father of a 3-year-old enlists a “Supernanny” (10 p.m., ABC).