Tonight's TV Hot List: Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hawthorne
9/8c TNT
Star and executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith's character-driven hospital drama opens its second season. This new nurse verse begins with a harsh reality: Richmond Trinity goes out of business completely, prompting several staff members to land employment at a decaying hospital set in a run-down neighborhood. There, series protagonist Christina Hawthorne promptly clashes with the nursing supervisor. And the change is a bitter pill to swallow for Tom as well: He must relinquish his administrative post. — Dean Maurer
Memphis Beat
10/9c TNT
The beat goes on in this new crime series starring Jason Lee of the now-defunct sitcom My Name Is Earl. Lee, minus his famed mustache from Earl, essays offbeat detective Dwight Hendricks, a Southern comforter who's on the beat and loves the beat — the Memphis-fused blues beat, that is. In the pilot episode, the Elvis-loving Dwight investigates the abuse of an elderly female disc jockey renowned for being the "First Lady of the Airwaves," but his loose crime-fighting manner constantly irritates his disciplined boss (Alfre Woodard). George Clooney serves as an executive producer. — Dean Maurer
Deadliest Catch
9/8c Discovery
On Feb. 9, 2010, fans were shocked and saddened to learn that Phil Harris, the captain of the Cornelia Marie, passed away after suffering a stroke in January. In this episode, the beloved skipper runs into trouble that has little to do with empty crab pots and rough seas. Elsewhere, Capt. Johnathan Hillstrand sets his sights on warmer waters. — Michael Chant
Primetime: Mind Games
10:01/9:01c ABC
ABC News launches a new Primetime that's something like Primetime: Crime (scheduled to return in August) but focusing on behavioral abnormalities. The opener recalls a 1980 case in which a man kidnapped a 36-year-old high-school teacher and her 8-year-old daughter, and held them in a closet in his home for seven weeks. He also raped the mother and killed a 6-year-old boy who witnessed the kidnapping. Why did he do it? He had been in her math class 15 years earlier and developed a crush that over the years turned into an obsession. — Paul Droesch
Downfall
9:01/8:01c ABC
Whew! Talk about your high stakes. Contestants in this game show compete from atop a 10-story high-rise in downtown Los Angeles, which is really taking the genre to new heights. Anyway, they must beat the clock with their answers to challenging trivia questions or risk seeing their possible prizes, which are riding a moving conveyor belt, plummet over the side of the structure and go crashing to the street below. It brings new meaning to the phrase "building suspense." WWE superstar Chris Jericho is the host. — Ray Stackhouse
World Cup Soccer
9:30 am/8:30c ESPN
The action is kicked up a notch in South Africa as teams embark on their third and final game of group play, with berths in the knockout round on the line. After both taking points from 2006 runner-up France, Mexico and Uruguay are tied atop Group A (four points each) entering their encounter in Rustenburg, with a draw guaranteeing each side a place in the second round. The incentive for securing a win, especially for "El Tri" (which trails Uruguay on goal difference), is a less-threatening round-of-16 opponent than Group B-leading Argentina. — Roger Leister
30 for 30
9/8c ESPN
While a slew of South American teams shine in the 2010 World Cup, this daring and disturbing documentary recalls one of the continent's darkest periods in Cup history in The Two Escobars. Colombia was a surging squad entering the 1994 tournament, but an own goal by Andres Escobar led to a loss to the host U.S., a failure to reach the second round, and just weeks later, the murder of Escobar back home in Medellin. Directors Jeff and Michael Zimbalist examine the events leading to Escobar's death, including the reign of drug lord Pablo Escobar and his involvement in Colombia's deadly marriage of drug cartels and sports. — Roger Leister