Tuning in: on TV this week

Sunday 1/11

Drake and Josh (TeenNick, 8-8:30 p.m.): Aside from the fact that their parents just got married, these boys couldn't seem more different: One is cool and slim and lazy, the other overweight, highly intelligent, and affable. Getting along isn't so bad, once compassion sets in.

Monday 1/12

Reconstruction: The Second Civil War (PBS, check local listings, continues Tuesday): This chapter in "The American Experience" drives us through one of the darkest periods of American history. The vast changes that went on after the Civil War are finally coming to Americans free of the romantic idealization of the "fallen South rising again." This excellent film, with its exposé of the brutality in the years following the war, reminds us how easy it is to deceive ourselves with illusions, rather than face the facts and fix them.

Friday, 1/16

The Goodbye Girl (TNT, 8-10 pm): Neil Simon's heartwarming comedy has been remade with Jeff Daniels and Patricia Heaton with an intimacy that suits the small screen well. Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") plays a dancer whose boyfriend deserts her one night for a film gig in Europe. Left with no money, a little girl to support, and a stranger banging on the door - claiming he's sublet her spare bedroom - she's faced with either taking him as a roommate or sleeping in the rain herself.

Monk (USA, 10-11 p.m.): He's back, as troubled as ever, but maybe twice as smart. Tony Shalhoub stars as a detective recovering from a variety of mental problems after having lost his wife in a murder not even he can solve. Coming episodes include one in which he solves three crimes by reading the newspaper, and another in which John Turturro guest stars as Monk's equally troubled brother.

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