What to Watch: TV Picks for July 26-August 1

MONDAY, JULY 26
'The Closer' (9PM, TNT)
She is once again a contender for the Best Actress in a Drama Emmy, and tonight's episode is yet another excellent example of why Kyra Sedgwick keeps racking up those nominations. First up, Brenda (Sedgwick) and the squad are investigating an alleged suicide, which leads them into a particularly nasty child custody fight: a dying man is battling his ex-wife, who's a meth addict. Meanwhile, back at police headquarters, Pope officially applies for the police chief job, but is surprised to find out who's going to have some influence on whether or not he lands the job: Brenda.

'The Bachelorette: Men Tell All' – It's the last ep before next week's finale, and it's a pretty safe bet that Frank and R-Rated will be big topics of conversation (8PM, ABC)

'Kid in a Candy Store' – Back-to-back new episodes find Adam travelling the country to get a peek at art made out of Peeps marshmallows, tattoo cakes and architecturally-inspired ice cream sammiches (8 and 8:30PM, Food Network)

'The Secret Life of the American Teenager' – Michael "Cristufuh" Imperioli pops in as Adrian's girlie parts doctor. Hey, sounds prettier than "gyn" (8PM, ABC Family)

'Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County' – 'Journeys with George' filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi is also behind this documentary, which follows a group of homeless kids who live in motels year-round, while attending school (9PM, HBO)

'Huge' – It's movie night at camp, which, of course, leads to drama when Ian decides to sit with Amber, which does not make Will a happy -- wait for it -- camper. Ha! (9PM, ABC Family)

'You're Cut Off' – It's graduation day, but the women have to prove to their families that they've matured before they're invited to return home ... uh oh (9PM, VH1) season 1 finale

'Rizzoli & Isles' – And here's 'Sopranos' guest star number two tonight, as Lorraine 'Dr. Melfi" Bracco guest stars as Jane's mom, who tries to play Cupid for her daughter. Meanwhile, Jane and Maura investigate the death of a young boy, whose death may have occurred during an exorcism (and no, his name is not Damian) (10PM, TNT)

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TUESDAY, JULY 27
'Breakthrough with Tony Robbins' (8PM, NBC) series premiere
People pay thousands of dollars to attend his seminars and buy his self-help programs, but now motivational guru Tony Robbins is going to dispense life-changing advice for free to six people, and their families, who are trying to make big changes in their lives. And speaking of life-changing, the premiere's couple, newlyweds Frank and Kristen find themselves in just such a situation, as Frank was injured in an accident -- during the couple's wedding -- that has left him in a wheelchair and Kristen as his full-time caregiver. The duo never had the chance to enjoy their life as a married couple, and with Frank so depressed that he doesn't want to leave the house and Kristen also losing hope for their future, Robbins sets out to convince them that they can still fulfill their dreams, as individuals, and as a couple.

'Cupcake Wars' – The occasion: a film festival. The challenge: make cupcakes using movie theater concession stand food as ingredients (9PM, Food Network)

'FUSE Presents: Maroon 5 Live' – As the band prepares to kick off its hot summer tour, Adam Levine and the fellas unspool a live show from the Beacon Theater in New York City (one of the best concert venues ever), which will include their new hit 'Misery' (9PM, FUSE)

'Masterchef' – Gordo Ramsay is one of the judges in this new series, in which amateur chefs try to cook up a win, which will earn them a $250,000 prize and the chance to publish their own cookbook (9PM, Fox) series premiere

'Warehouse 13' – When young models begin to age 50 years overnight, Pete and Myka have to go undercover to find out what -- wait for it -- fashion crimes (ha!) are being committed (9PM, Syfy)

'Growing Up Twisted' – Move over, Gene Simmons, and take your 'Family Jewels' with you; this celebreality series follows Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider and his family. In the opener, Dee and his wife Suzette put an O. Henry-ish spin on their anniversary when he tries to spruce up his "Suzette Forever" tattoo, and she plans to have her "Dee Forever" tattoo removed (10 and 10:30PM, A&E) series premiere

'Rescue Me' – After storming out of the house last week, Tommy drinks so heavily he blacks out. And while the guys try to get him cleaned up, they discover another problem: Colleen's missing (10PM, FX)

'Teen Mom' – Relationship drama is the theme tonight, as Gary tells Amber he wants to date someone else, while Tyler and Catelynn hit a rough patch when he finds out she lied to him (10PM, MTV)

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 28
'Plain Jane' (9PM, The CW) series premiere
Yes, fashion expert Louise Roe, the host of this new makeover series, is the same fashion expert Louise Roe who popped up on the recently-concluded second season of MTV's 'The City,' as the person we all hoped would take the Elle magazine gig that mean old Olivia holds. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, partly because Louise got another job offer: this one. She's the head makeover-er and dating advice giver for 'Plain Jane,' in which the titular made-under women are made glam and coached to ratchet their confidence levels up to the point where they're comfortable with finally letting their secret crushes know they're being crushed upon. In the opener, Louise meets Cristen, whose plain clothes and "one of the guys" personality keeps her from telling her guy best friend that she's diggin' him ... until Louise gets her makeover mitts on her, that is.

'In Performance at the White House: Paul McCartney' – Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Grohl, Faith Hill and the Beatles legend himself perform at the White House as President Obama presents McCartney with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, during a party that was filmed in June (8PM, PBS)

'Top Chef: Washington D.C.' – Oprah's former personal chef, Art Smith, is among the judges when the cheftestants create lunch for a fancy schmancy eatery (9PM, Bravo)

'Billy the Exterminator' – Billy and Rick deal with a pair of foxes and a whole infestation of roaches when they head to the Gulf Coast to see if they can help out with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (10PM, A&E)

'Man vs. Food' – Oh, Adam. He tackles 17 pounds of food when he hits Long Island: a 7-pound seafood dish, a 7.5-pound pasta dish and a 2.5-pound sundae, followed by a 10-pound bottle of Tums (9PM, Travel)

'Psych' – In 'Not Even Close ... Encounters," Gus and Shawn help an old friend (guest star Freddie Prinze Jr.) with an investigation involving an alleged alien abduction (10PM, USA)

'Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman' – The network has renewed the popular series, which was Science Channel's highest-rated premiere ever, for a second season, and season one wraps tonight with an installment about dark matter and dark energy (10PM, Science) season 1 finale

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THURSDAY, JULY 29
'Jersey Shore' (10PM, MTV) season 2 premiere
She's back. He's back. They're back! Snookers, The Situation and the rest of the Joisey gang head south for the summer, as season two kicks off in South Beach. But we quickly find out that while you can take the guidos and guidettes out of Jersey, you can't take the Jersey out of the guidos and guidettes, as The Situation and his boys concern themselves with GTL-ing and introducing the women of Florida to their spiky hair and abs, while the women are more concerned with existing romantic entanglements (we're looking at you, Ronnie and Sammi) and fighting with each other (we're looking at you, Sammi and JWoww). What we're most interested in seeing: just how much the cast's newfound fame, which has led to book deals, record deals and nightclub appearances that earn them thousands of dollars a night, has really gone to their super-gelled heads.

'Burn Notice' – Michael, Sam and Jesse have to spring into action when a job goes bad and Fiona's life is in danger (9PM, USA)

'Project Runway' – The new season kicks off with a new running time: Each episode will now be 90 minutes long (9PM, Lifetime) season 8 premiere

'Futurama' – When a glitch in The Professor's time machine means people can only travel to the future, the gang keeps going further and further into time, hoping that eventually they'll land in a time when the machine can be fixed (10PM, Comedy Central)

'Royal Pains' – Hank's professionalism is tested when he has to treat a bully from his childhood, while Evan is busy planning a blowout bachelor party for Raj (10PM, USA)

'On the Road with Austin and Santino' – 'Project Runway' alums Austin Scarlett and Santino Rice team up to travel around the country and provide makeovers to women who have a big event to attend (10:30PM, Lifetime) series premiere

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FRIDAY, JULY 30
'Wife Swap' (8PM, ABC)
Tonight's flipping families -- the Parkers and the Robinsons -- are quite opposite each other, but they do have one important, and unfortunate, thing in common: They both ignore their children. In the case of the Parkers, mom and dad Andrea and Robert actually have four kids, but all their attention, including Andrea's job as "momager," is devoted to just one, 9-year-old Chris, who's an aspiring hip hop artist. From booking him and advertising him on billboards to preparing him for gigs and spending significant amounts of money on all-things-Chris, the entire Parker fam revolves around Chris' quest, or rather, Andrea and Robert's quest, for fame. Meanwhile, Rob and Tracy Robinson are equally committed to their pursuits, namely, hunting down the "Swamp Ape" of Florida and hanging in Rob's hovercraft (really). So committed are they to their monster hunt, in fact, that Rob's son and Tracy's stepson, Josh, is left alone the majority of the time while his 'rents are off trying to find Florida's equivalent of Bigfoot. When Tracy and Andrea swap families, will they recognize their own family dysfunctions along with their temp families' issues?

'Nat Geo Amazing!' – A robot elephant and a man-eating snake are among tonight's quirky stars (7PM, NGC)

'Friday Night Lights' – In the last new episode before next week's season finale, Tami's career woes continue, as do Tim's when his criminal past rears its ugly head at the worst possible time (8PM, NBC)

'Eureka' – While the town is busy preparing for the Space Week Festival, Carter is more worried about his visit to Harvard to see Zoe (9PM, Syfy)

'Say Yes to the Dress' – Crossover alert! 'American Chopper' alum Paul Jr. brings his fiancé Rachel to Kleinfeld's to pick out her dream wedding gown (9PM, TLC)

'Flashpoint' – When Parker is lured into a trap, his only choice is to reveal a very disturbing secret from his past or be killed (10PM, CBS)

'Pillars of the Earth' – King Stephen collapses when he visits the cathedral worksite, while Jack discovers new skills while trying to carve a statue (10PM, Starz)

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SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, JULY 31-AUGUST 1
'Rubicon' (Sun., 8 and 9PM, AMC) series premiere
Another new AMC drama, and, no surprise given the network's short, but overwhelmingly successful track record, it's another good one. '24' and 'The Pacific' alum James Badge Dale stars as Will Travers, a government think tank employee who considers quitting his job when he begins to suspect the agency is part of a conspiracy. His evidence: a series of hidden messages in newspaper crossword puzzles, as well as the tragic death of someone close to him. In tonight's back-to-back episodes, Will ultimately decides to stay on at the think tank, and has to deal with his old colleagues in a new position, while gathering even more evidence to support his conspiracy theory. Meanwhile, the wife (Miranda Richardson) of a billionaire who was shocked by her husband's suicide, has even more surprises coming when she begins to uncover all of her late spouse's secrets, including some that tie him back to Will's agency.

'Lies Between Friends' – 'Burn Notice' star Gabrielle Anwar and 'One Tree Hill' alum Craig Sheffer star in this drama about two friends who were set to reconcile after a long-running feud, until their reunion is ruined by ... murder! (Sat., 9PM, Hallmark)

TCM Summer Under the Stars – The month-long fest features programming devoted to a different star each day, kicking off with Basil Rathbone and including Steve McQueen (Aug. 3), Warren Beatty (Aug. 9), Katharine Hepburn (Aug. 20), Paul Newman (Aug. 21) and Clint Eastwood (Aug. 31) (Sun., 6AM, TCM)

'Sons of Tucson' – Ron quits his gig as the boys' faux dad when they're unhappy about the amount of time he's spending with his girlfriend, but when they start to run out of money and can't afford a replacement, they begin to realize he wasn't so bad after all (Sun., 7PM, Fox) series finale

'Leverage' – Comedian Bill Engvall guests as the leader of a car-theft ring, meaning he's on this week's hit list for Nathan and the gang (Sun., 9PM, TNT)

'Shark Week 2010' – It's that time of year again, and this year's Shark Week activities include six new shark specials (including 'Shark Attack Survival Guide') and the always delightful Craig Ferguson as host (Sun., 9PM, Discovery)

'True Blood' – In this busy episode, Sookie makes a last-ditch effort to rescue Bill, Jason's looking for clues about Crystal, Sam steps in when Melinda and Joe Lee lead Tommy to dogfighting, Eric's scheming to get info from Sophie-Anne and Debbie vows to get even with Alcide (Sun., 9PM, HBO)

'The Glades' – A high school football star is the main suspect in the murder of a businessman, but Jim meets with much resistance during his investigation, because the locals have football fever (Sun., 10PM, A&E)

'Hung' – Ray tries to raise Mike's spirits by promoting him on the baseball team, while Jessica grows ever more frustrated with Ronnie (Sun., 10PM, HBO)

'Mad Men' – It's time for the office holiday party, but an uninvited -- and unwelcome -- guest may prove to the Grinch who stole the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Christmas (Sun., 10PM, AMC)

'My Boys' – P.J. plans a barhop to celebrate Mike's birthday, while Stephanie finds out that a movie producer in interested in adapting her book for the big screen (Sun., 10PM, TBS)