Sunday "Leverage" (8 p.m., TNT), the most intricate, most addictive con game on TV, returns for a third season in which Nate (Timothy Hutton) must finagle his way out of prison and deal with the return of his would-be girlfriend, played by Gina Bellman. Anyone looking for a small-screen version of "The Sting" need look no further.
Monday David Hasselhoff is back in one of his most beloved roles. No, he's not squeezing back into those "Baywatch" trunks (thank goodness). He's concluding a short return to "The Young and the Restless" (11 a.m., WCCO, Ch. 4) as Dr. William (Snapper) Foster Jr., a role he played from 1975 to 1982. Expect talks between "General Hospital" and K.I.T.T. to heat up.
Tuesday "Wipeout" (7 p.m., KSTP, Ch. 5) returns for another groin-slapping, muscle-pulling season of idiots trying to maneuver a wicked obstacle course that now includes such features as a "fence flapper" and a "bruiseball." That's followed by the premiere of "Downfall" (8 p.m., KSTP, Ch. 5), in which contestants compete on a 10-story building only to watch prizes topple from the roof. Kudos to ABC for resisting the urge to throw losing contestants off the edge.
Wednesday Jimmy Kimmel has ventured into prime time in recent months to shill for "Lost" and the NBA. Now he turns his attention to vampires in "Jimmy Kimmel Live: 'Twilight Saga': Total Eclipse of the Heart" (9 p.m., KSTP, Ch. 5), which features the entire cast. Kimmel should have his hands full because the movie's primary stars, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, can be as charismatic on talk shows as a couple of corpses.
Thursday It's been six years since a new episode of "Futurama" (9 p.m., Comedy Central) and, quite frankly, we didn't miss it. There's nothing particularly wrong with the sci-fi cartoon, co-created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, but there's nothing particularly endearing about it, either, with characters that are nowhere near as memorable or heartwarming as Groening's "Simpsons."
NEAL JUSTIN
