NBC gets a hold on wrestling
Tonight, NBC takes a page out of its 1993 playbook, airing “Saturday Night Main Event” (8 p.m. tonight, NBC).
This marks the first time in 13 years that the World Wrestling Entertainment event has aired on the network. But don’t go looking for Hulk Hogan.
Tonight’s showcase features John Cena, Triple H, Trish Stratus, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Diva and Candice Michelle and WWE honcho Mr. McMahon.
Edward James Olmos directs the cable drama “Walkout” (8:30 p.m. tonight, HBO). Based on true events, “Walkout” recalls protests at high schools in East Los Angeles in 1968.
Could one storm flummox the entire American economy? “We Were Warned: Tomorrow’s Oil Crisis,” a segment on “CNN Presents” (8 p.m. tonight, CNN), ponders what might happen if a Category 5 hurricane struck Houston, followed by opportunistic terrorist attacks on oil-production plants. Some experts think that gasoline prices could rise to as much as $8 per gallon, with predictable effects on the cost of living.
A major Texas city also takes a beating in “Perfect Disaster” (9 p.m. Sunday, Discovery), the first of a six-part series exploring weather at its most violent and destructive.
In the first “Perfect Disaster,” conditions ripen for a super tornado to strike Dallas, during the middle of afternoon rush hour on a summer day. This smartly produced and compelling series combines a dramatic story – that of an emergency worker and his wife and son caught in the storm – with a documentary-style look at the natural forces behind tornadoes, violent thunderstorms and hailstorms. Many of the computer-generated effects rival those found in big-budget movies like “Twister,” filling “Perfect Disaster” with those “how did they do that?” moments.
The next “Disaster” (10 p.m.) looks at the possible effects of cyclical solar flare-ups that could cause a global electrical failure. This exciting exercise in meteorological paranoia continues next Sunday, with speculative glances at the effects of a mega-typhoon on Hong Kong and flood conditions that could sink London.
The nail-biting continues with “Time Bomb” (9 p.m. Sunday, CBS), a made-for-TV thriller starring David Arquette as a federal agent leading a squad out to defuse bombs designed to blow up a stadium during an NFL game. Oscar-nominee Angela Bassett co-stars as the head of Homeland Security.