Booty camp
The fitness biz has bold new ways to trim your butt (and build muscles)
Extreme fitness. Calling all irritating superachievers. A 2002 survey of 45,000 fitness instructors shows that prep classes for ultramarathons (100 miles), extreme cycling (200 miles), and mountain climbing are expected to be among the five most requested activities at health clubs in 2003.
Entertainment. Live drummers, striptease poles, comedians, samurai sticks, gospel choirs. The low-voltage workout is, well, so 2002.
Serial fillers
A rebel teen, a rebel senator, a rebel cleric . . . yep, it's time for midseason replacements.
Mister Sterling (NBC, Fridays at 8 p.m.; debuts Jan. 10). Boyishly indignant and acutely telegenic Bill Sterling (Josh Brolin) confronts cagey gray-hairs in the U.S. Senate. The show has some politico appeal, but West Wing it ain't. Can't wait for the episode on cloture votes.
Queens Supreme (CBS, Fridays at 10 p.m.; debuts Jan. 10). How is this law show different from all other law shows? It's about . . . judges. Colorful, ethnic judges grappling with gun-wielding jurors et al. at Queens County (N.Y.) Courthouse.
Veritas: The Quest (ABC, Mondays at 8 p.m.; debuts Jan. 27). "Hyperintelligent" teen joins academic dad, who secretly runs the Veritas Foundation. Together they solve mysteries of history. Coming soon: a trip to the North Pole!
Miracles (ABC, Mondays at 10 p.m.; debuts Jan. 27). Scorned by the skeptical church, a sullen scientific seminarian joins a splinter group to probe miracles and/or the paranormal in this dreary drama.
Dragnet (ABC, Sundays at 10 p.m.; debuts Feb. 2). Gruff Joe Friday (Ed O'Neill) still wants the facts, ma'am, but the crimes are cruder (think CSI: Dragnet) than the '60s series. So is the dialogue.
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