What to Watch this Weekend: July 27-29

• By
• Michael Roberds

Image by CTV, OMNI, OLN, Sportsnet Pacific & TSN, NBC
The Olympic torches will be lit in London this Friday, July 27th

Friday, July 27

XXX Summer Olympics: Opening Ceremony
1 p.m., CTV, OMNI, OLN, Sportsnet Pacific & TSN; 7:30 p.m.
Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) has designed the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games to show off the culture of the city and Britain in general. With appearances by Sir Paul McCartney and others, as well as a cast of 15,000 performers all set in a stadium designed to represent the British countryside — complete with live animals and controlled rain — this should be a smashing event.

Dick Tracy Special
6:55 p.m., TCM
Real-life movie critic Leonard Maltin interviews fictional cartoon detective Dick Tracy (played by Warren Beatty, reprising the role he played in his 1990 movie) that looks back at the history of the Chester Gould comic strip. Maltin and Beatty/Tracy discuss the evolution of the character as it went through its many incarnations in other forms of media, including radio, film and television.

Homeland: Immigration in America (New Series)
7 p.m., WTVS
This three-part series looks at the complex issues surrounding immigration — both legal and illegal — in America. The first episode deals with the role the immigrant population plays in the U.S. job market, as well as the intricate rules and regulations they must deal with.

In Studio
7 p.m., MC1; 12:40 a.m., MC3
Don McKellar hosts this one-hour special and interviews four Genie-nominated directors including David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method) and Larysa Kondracki (The Whistleblower) and actor Viggo Mortensen before a live audience in Toronto.

George Gently
9 p.m. & 1 a.m., Knowledge
When the body of a German businessman is discovered dead in a fishing village, Gently and Bacchus suspect a local bartender until certain clues lead them elsewhere.

Havana, Havana!
10 p.m., KCTS
For years, some Cuban musicians have been unable or unwilling to return to their homeland, but now Raúl Paz has convinced several other African-Cuban drummers, guajira guitarists and others like Descemer Bueno, Kelvis Ochoa and David Torrens to come back to Havana for a special concert to show how their outside influences can help inspire the younger musicians of Cuba today.

Saturday, July 28

100 Days
7 p.m., OLN
For four months, Survivorman graduate Brett Rogers rafted his way down the Yukon River from Yellowknife to the Bering Sea, through 1,800 miles of some of the most treacherous waterways in Canada. This special chronicles his once-in-a-lifetime adventure and the unbelievable things he witnessed along the way.

The Devils Ride
7 p.m. & 11 p.m., Discovery
This reality series about an outlaw biker gang takes a dangerous turn in tonight’s episode, as the rift heightens between ex-president Gipsy and the rest of the Devils, leading to a war erupting at the clubhouse. Things take an unforeseen turn, however, when the Devils’ world is turned upside down when one of the brothers is struck by tragedy.

Alaska Airlines Torchlight Parade
8 p.m., CBS
Seattle native and former Guns N’ Roses bass player Duff McKagan is this year’s rockin’ Grand Marshal of the Alaska Airlines Seafair Torchlight Parade, the largest parade in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the usual marching bands and floats, this year’s event will also feature a special tribute to the 1962 World’s Fair.

Heartbeat
8 p.m., Knowledge
After a spectacular thunderstorm, several villagers claim to have witnessed a UFO. Although Blaketon has trouble taking them seriously, he is forced to reconsider his beliefs after PC Ventress claims to be one of the eyewitnesses.

Steve Byrne: The Byrne Identity
9 p.m., Comedy
Steve Byrne, an American comedian who has appeared in such films as The Dilemma and Four Christmases, plays off of his Korean-Irish roots in this hour-long stand-up special.

Infinity Hall Live
11 p.m., KCTS
Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, who first made her name with the 1980s new wave band ’Til Tuesday before launching a solo career that included an Oscar nomination for her song “Save Me” from the soundtrack of Magnolia, takes the stage for this intimate concert that covers a wide-ranging selection of songs from both past and present.

Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
12:30 a.m., TCM
This documentary on the late movie icon makes a case that there was a lot more to Joan Crawford than Mommie Dearest, featuring interviews from fellow actors such Anjelica Huston, Diane Baker and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Sunday, July 29

Twenty Twelve (Season Finale)
9 p.m., Comedy
With the final days of groundwork for the Games looming over them, the Deliverance Team attempts to have everything ready to hand over to the Live Team. Meanwhile, Ian (Hugh Bonneville) not only finds himself out of work, but also newly single after the end of his marriage, while he struggles with what to do about his assistant Sally’s obvious infatuation with him.

Masterpiece Mystery
6 p.m., WTVS; 9 p.m., KCTS
In the final new episode of the sixth season of British mystery series Inspector Lewis, Lewis and Hathaway investigate the death of a controversial academic whose opinions are considered by some to be racist. It isn’t long before they rule his death to be a murder and find themselves with a number of suspects.

Political Animals
6 p.m. & 9 p.m., Bravo
After Elaine makes an important announcement to her family, the men decide to take a spur-of-the-moment fishing trip that yields surprising results. Meanwhile, Garcetti attempts to trip Elaine up with the help of an old friend.

The Beat (New Season)
7 p.m., OLN
The members of Vancouver’s Beat Enforcement Team (BET) are back for a second season of this reality series that follows Sgt. Toby Hinton and his team of police officers as they attempt to patrol the poorest postal code in Canada — Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. In the premiere episode, BET officers accompany a group of visiting teenage hockey players on a tour of the area to give them a shocking lesson in the harsh realities of life among the poor and addicted.

Flip Men
8 p.m., Spike
This ongoing unscripted series continues to follow the risky ventures of real estate entrepreneurs Doug Clark and Mike Baird as they take advantage of the economic crisis to buy inexpensive houses (usually at foreclosure auctions), fix them up and sell them for a profit while putting their own money and reputations on the line.