Pleased to meet you
"First Dates," which eavesdrops on couples breaking bread for the first time, could have been yet another opportunity to poke fun at lovesick singles, but executive producers Ellen DeGeneres and Drew Barrymore (who narrates) are romantics who seem genuinely interested in playing matchmaker. The sweet tone is more refreshing than the concept.
7 p.m. Friday, KARE, Ch. 11
Outbreak
"Unseen Enemy," a documentary co-produced by Sanjay Gupta and philanthropist Paul Allen, throws a lot of scary statistics at viewers about the devastating effects of disease pandemics, but nothing in this documentary will move you more than the testimony from Gwen and Terry Zwanziger of Owatonna, Minn., who bravely share the story of how their vibrant teenage daughter died from flu complications.
8 p.m. Friday, CNN
Criminal behavior
"You the Jury" takes courtroom drama to dangerous new territory by trying serious cases in front of a revved-up audience in an arena seemingly designed for gladiator fights. The first trial, focusing on the disappearance of a tourist in Aruba, is trivialized by both the "American Idol" format (viewers decide the verdict by phone) and host Jeanine Pirro's play-by-play color.
8 p.m. Friday, KMSP, Ch. 9
The world is not enough
It'd be too strange to cast Pierce Brosnan as a James Bond villain, but a black hat fits the former 007 quite snugly in "The Son," a new series that re-imagines "Dallas" as an early 20th-century western. Brosnan plays an ambitious oilman whose callousness may set off a land war and a split in the family. He's also sporting a dandy beard, something Bond could never pull off.
8 p.m. Saturday, AMC
Neal Justin
