‘Loser’ returns – in the desert
Intrepid viewers not yet exhausted by summer’s “Fat March” can rejoice. “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m., NBC) returns for a fourth season.
Did anybody expect this show to last this long? Is this a sign of its appeal or of NBC’s desperation to fill an anemic schedule?
The show’s title easily could apply to the Peacock Network, since NBC has settled rather comfortably in the ratings cellar.
Three seasons apparently were sufficient for former host Caroline Rhea. Alison Sweeney (“Days of Our Lives”) will fill her shoes as “Loser” host.
This season begins with a dramatic twist as 18 contestants find themselves stranded in a desert, far from the posh spa locale of the show’s past. Trainers Bob Harper and Kim Lyons arrive in rather splashy fashion – via parachute.
And if the “Lawrence of Arabia” conditions were not enough of a letdown, six contestants will get the heave-ho in rather short order.
If you think tonight’s TV fare is a little on the slim side, look what was scheduled to air on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Fox was about to launch “Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage,” a dating variation on “Temptation Island” created by the makers of “The Real World.” “Dateline” was preparing its five millionth report on auto-crash-test results. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was entering its second season. (It just started its sixth.)
“Big Brother” was in only its second season. (It’s now in its eighth.)
Just like tonight, a repeat episode of “Gilmore Girls” was on the schedule.
Other highlights
A crime scene glows in an unsettling manner on “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox).
The town turns out for Rory on “Gilmore Girls” (8 p.m., CW).
House more than meets his match in a petulant teenage chess whiz on “House” (9 p.m., Fox).
Internet images explained on “i-Caught” (9 p.m., ABC).
Fears of divine retribution on “Eureka” (9 p.m. Sci Fi).
Fatal horseplay appears to have been staged for cameras on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC).
Scheduled on “Primetime” (10 p.m., ABC): crime.
Key testimony nears on “Damages” (10 p.m., FX).