Tonight's TV Hot List: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
HawthoRNe
HawthoRNe
9 pm/ET TNT
Hello, nurse. This new character-fueled, med-centric drama should be good medicine for fans of both hospital dramas and Jada Pinkett Smith. A solid Pinkett Smith essays the titular character, Christina Hawthorne, a headstrong yet empathetic chief nursing officer at a Richmond-based hospital. The series opens with our widowed heroine coping with the first anniversary of her husband's death, but that doesn't stop her from racing to prevent a cancer patient's suicide attempt. Meanwhile, she also deals with her rebellious daughter (Hannah Hodson) and her former mother-in-law (Joanna Cassidy). — Dean Maurer
CMT Music Awards
8 pm/ET CMT
The stars come out in force to perform at the eighth annual event. Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Def Leppard, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban are slated to share the main stage. There are also plenty of big names scheduled to present awards, including Randy Jackson, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Bill O'Reilly and Luke Wilson. Funnyman Bill Engvall is the master of ceremonies. — Fred Mitchell
Real Housewives of New Jersey
10 pm/ET Bravo
It's back to the Garden State with the sudsy series' Season 1 finale. Expect some jawin' and clawin' when the Jersey girls congregate at Teresa's year-end bash, where surging tensions reach the breaking point, secrets are laid bare and alliances are exposed. While this is the finale, fret not, Jersey junkies: Teresa, Jacqueline, Dina, Danielle and Caroline will return in a crop of upcoming specials. A supplementary episode airs on Thursday; a two-part reunion is slated for next week; and The Real Housewives of New Jersey: The Lost Footage is scheduled to air July 9. — Dean Maurer
Frontline
9 pm/ET PBS
The collapse of Lehman Brothers last September triggered fears that a Depression-like economic free fall was fast developing. To head it off, of course, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson helped arrange the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger and, a month later, pressured the nation's largest banks to take $125 billion of taxpayers' money. Featuring interviews with Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis and former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, "Breaking the Bank" examines those goings-on through the prism of BofA and also explores the consequences of the infusion of public capital into the private sphere. — Jeff Gemmill
Saving Grace
10 pm/ET TNT
The unflinching crime drama with the spiritual bent (and perhaps one of TV's best theme songs) takes wing and opens its third season with hard-living top cop Grace Hanadarko investigating a domestic antigovernment faction that may be linked to a police officer's death. She also tries to form a bond with a mysterious female drug user (Yaani King) who shares a connection with Grace's last-chance angel, Earl. But Grace's haphazard investigation goes awry, resulting in an injury to the young addict. Meanwhile, Grace and Ham get caught in an embarrassing situation. — Dean Maurer
