What's on TV
Saturday 7/12
Hard Ground (Hallmark Channel, 9-11 p.m.): This Western has more (plot) holes than the prairie, but watching Bruce Dern and Burt Reynolds as grizzled lawmen who don't belong in the 20th century is still a pleasure. The dialogue can make you wince at times, but the Western formula still plays well.
Prince Charming (TNT, 8-10 p.m.): Since there's too much sexual innuendo for the tykes, it's hard to tell who this story is meant to delight. A handsome but promiscuous prince is turned into a frog, along with his squire (Martin Short). Short has all the good lines, but he can't rescue the prince or the picture. Christina Applegate, Bernadette Peters, and Sean Maguire costar. TV-PG
The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries (PBS, Sundays through Aug. 3): "Mystery!" host Diana Rigg revels in her role as Mrs. Bradley, the famous psychologist who specializes in Freud and in solving murders. The first in the series takes her back to her alma mater, a finishing school where she suffered the torments of the "scholarship" student bravely. Now she's come back to tell them all off. But then two people die under suspicious circumstances. TV-PG
The AMC Project: Hollywood and the Muslim World (AMC, 10-11 p.m.): This documentary visits a few Arab TV stations and interviews executives about the impact of US TV and film. From "Will & Grace" to "The Matrix," images of sex and violence can produce "a kind of shock and rejection and hatred" of American culture, as one executive put it. One smart teenager lets us know how angry and hurt Arabs feel about the way they are often portrayed in American films - as camel-riding fanatics. TV-PG
History Detectives (PBS, check local listings): Amusing and informative, this new series is truly cool for the hip history buff. Why did President Ulysses S. Grant sign his name in a small-town firehouse? The investigations tell complicated stories, sometimes humorous, but always entertaining. TV-G
2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (Fox, 8 p.m.): In a new twist this year, the winning league at Chicago's Cellular Field will be awarded home-field advantage for the World Series.
