6 Shows To Catch On Cable

By James Poniewozik

In a few weeks, the big broadcast networks will announce their new slates of shows to eager TV junkies. Because of year-round scheduling, though, most won't debut until fall or much, much later. In the meantime, the multichannel universe thankfully offers plenty of choices to discover--or rediscover. Do touch that dial.

Project Greenlight (Bravo, Thursdays, 10 P.M. E.T.) The moral of this Hollywood reality show, formerly on HBO, is that we get the movies we deserve. This year's victim--er, winner--John Gulager, is picked to shoot a horror flick by Dimension Films, only to be immediately undermined by paranoid executives. We end up rooting for him and against ourselves--since all those straitjacketing studio decisions are based on a thorough knowledge of what we will pay for at the box office.

South Park (Comedy Central, Wednesdays, 10 P.M. E.T.) It's hard to say that a cartoon that has featured talking fecal matter has "matured." But South Park has, after nearly eight years, grown into TV's sharpest topical satire. In a recent episode, a character becomes hooked on the Sony PSP, gets in an accident and hovers between life and death, only to find that the PSP was created by God as a weapon against Satan. Any cartoon that can successfully lampoon the right-to-die issue, an overhyped gadget and our apocalyptic obsessions at once is, like that PSP, heaven sent.

Oswald (Noggin, Daily, 5 P.M. E.T.) SpongeBob and Dora may be more popular, but this unassuming octopus and his pals offer a treat for preschoolers (and their parents) ready to turn the volume down a notch. The show stands out from its brasher peers with its dreamlike look and sound: pastel art, a lilting sound track and a cast that includes a daisy, a snowman and Weenie, a dog shaped like a frank-furter (complete with bun).

The Smoking Room (BBC America, Saturdays, 9 P.M. E.T.) The BBC's The Office introduced us to the uncomfortable pleasures of working. This sitcom introduces us to the uncomfortable pleasures of not working. Each episode, set in an office break room, follows the meandering conversations of office malcontents as they puff cancer sticks, stave off boredom and consider such weighty matters as how the theme song to Little House on the Prairie went. It's a worthwhile way to kill half an hour--without the risk of secondhand smoke.

Penn & Teller: B_______! (Showtime, Mondays, 10 P.M. E.T.) Penn Jillette and Teller are best known as magicians who give away the secrets behind their illusions. On their raucously funny docu-opinion show, they dispel other people's illusions, subjecting everyone from creationists to animal-rights groups to gleeful, foulmouthed scorn. You don't need to agree with their world view to enjoy their arguments and gags. This show may be neither fair nor balanced, but as provocative infotainment, it's no B.S.

Intervention (A&E, Sundays, 10 P.M. E.T.) Here's one reality show that doesn't single-handedly degrade people. Its subjects--addicts, hooked on drugs, shopping and more--have already started the job. Is it exploitative? Sure. But less so than the daytime shows that set up losers like pinatas for moralizing hosts to whack. Intervention simply lets addicts and their families--who are trying to get them into rehab--tell their own stories. Its stark, judge-for-yourself approach proves scarier and more edifying than Dr. Phil could ever be. --By James Poniewozik