What2Watch: Parents Beware: A New High School Musical Spinoff

If your kids keep watching them, Disney will keep airing them.
Nick Lachey works the crowd at Disney World for the first round of auditions on ABC's 'High School Musical: Get in the Picture'
Nick Lachey works the crowd at Disney World for the first round of auditions on ABC's 'High School Musical: Get in the Picture' - ABC
Charlie Toft

Of all the cash cows in show business today, none are mooing louder than the High School Musical franchise, which is entering its third year of world domination. We're at a stage in the phenomenon where virtually nothing new associated with it has any chance of failing, so I would expect High School Musical: Get In the Picture, which debuts this weekend (ABC, Sunday 8 PM), to easily be one of the top series of the summer, even if it's touchier and feelier than most reality competition shows.

The series gathers teenagers together for a musical camp where singing and dancing skills are honed. While no one gets sent home from the campus, those who do best will advance towards the ultimate goal: a starring part in a music video that will debut during the closing credits to the theatrical High School Musical 3. And there could be new benefits down the road; after all, the current HSM cast can't stave off college forever. Nick Lachey, last seen in Clash of the Choirs, hosts because Joey Fatone's phone number got lost.

Monk (USA, tonight 9 PM): The longest running of the cable summer series is back for a seventh season. Monk buys a new house to get away from neighbor hassles, and promptly confronts a contractor (Brad Garrett) who believes money is squirreled away inside. Tonight marks the debut of Hector Elizondo as Monk's new therapist, replacing the late Stanley Kamel.

Ashley Paige: Bikini Or Bust (TLC, tonight 10 PM and 10:30 PM): I neglected to say anything about the debut of this program, a pretty amazing oversight for something with both bikini and bust in the title. At 10, ditsy bikini designer Paige has trouble with an impatient landlord. At 10:30, Paige and her mother set about trying to find her a good man in Los Angeles.

Psych (USA, tonight 10 PM): A new season commences with Gus's boss giving him a hard time about his sideline at the agency. Shawn decides to stage a ghostly appearance at the boss's home in order to give Gus a reprieve; he also gets involved in drama newly stirred up by his returning mother (Cybill Shepherd).

Mad Men Season One marathon (AMC, begins noon Sunday): Prepare for next Sunday's season premiere with a recap of all 13 hours of the multiple Emmy-nominated debut season. Few series have ever been so good at evoking a moment in time. Don Draper and his colleagues are like the dinosaurs just before the comet hit.

Big Brother 10 (CBS, Sunday 8 PM): The return of the studio audience for the live eviction show was such an obvious idea, you wonder why it took them seven years and eight seasons to figure it out. Anyway, the relatively entertaining and intelligent (if overly game-agressive) Brian is gone, and Jessie must now face the intellectual and emotional challenges of being head of household, which could be a problem for a guy whose conversational ability is located in his pecs.

Bridezillas (WE, Sunday 9 PM): Having agreed to marry a man, a future bride then sets about trying to change everything about him before the wedding; a bridesmaid pays the ultimate price when a rehearsal goes bad. These people are hardcore.

ESPY Awards (ESPN, Sunday 9 PM): There's always tension between the average viewer of ESPN, who just wants his NASCAR highlights, and the brass in Bristol who keep trying to make sports all cool and showbizzy. The ESPYs (taped on Wednesday, probably because the baseball season was still on break) always draws some stars from outside of sports, and this year they got Justin Timberlake to host: not exactly Joe Sixpack's favorite singer, but hey. Among those singled out for special attention this year are 1968 Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos, and Texas Ranger/recovering drug addict Josh Hamilton.

Generation Kill (HBO, Sunday 9 PM): Now deep into Iraq, Sgt. Colbert prepares his green Marines for a first contact with the enemy, but even with the relative lack of resistance, problems inherent in war still arise. The realism this series achieves despite not filming in the Middle East is quite impressive.

I Love Money (VH1, Sunday 9 PM): I know this will seem hard to believe given the brain wattage of the contestants here, but one of the teams might actually decide to place romantic jealousy ahead of what might be best competitively. The news that a third Rock of Love is going to be happening after all would seem to bode well for more I Love Money seasons also.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, Sunday 9 PM): Goren and Eames get sucked into the magic world when an illusionist disappears in the middle of his own stunt. More criminals ought to learn magic: just keep disappearing yourself from the crime scene.


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