“Stylista”
Wednesday 9pm, CW
Remember how much you loved The Devil Wears Prada? The producers of “Top Model” and “Project Runway” hope you do, since they’ve basically copied it whole cloth for this new reality competition where aspiring fashionistas compete to win a job at Elle Magazine. The Meryl Streep to their Anne Hathaways is Elle Fashion News Editor Anne Slowey, who pitched in for Nina Garcia on “PR” a few times, and was every bit the harpy this show needs to attract a bitchy fanbase. The stylish wannabes competing for her approval seem like an interesting enough bunch. We’ve got a zaftig visual merchandiser named Danielle, Johanna the China military analyst (what presents a bigger threat to national security: the world’s largest Communist army or uneven hemlines?), and a young college graduate named Cologne. I love the smell of running mascara in the morning…
“Dexter”
Sunday 9pm, Showtime
He might be a vicious serial killer, but Dexter’s also a pretty great guy. He’s a devoted boyfriend (well, except for that whole Lila thing…), a hard worker, and a loyal brother. And now we’re going to see how he’ll do as a daddy. Season 3 of Showtime’s gripping police/horror show finds the darkly dreaming criminal killer facing impending fatherhood on one front, and taking on a partner of sorts after Jimmy Smits’ ADA, Miguel, catches him in the act of murdering the man he thinks murdered his brother. (Except Dexter is the one who killed him, by accident. Oops!) The exciting stuff is still to come, as “Dexter” seasons have a tendency to build and build until the tension is almost unbearable. And then our lovable madman always figures a way out of seemingly inescapable jams. He’s like the Houdini of mass murderers.
“Fear Fest ’08”
Saturday-Sunday, AMC
Instead of schlepping to the theater to see the latest installment of the Saw franchise, sate your horror thirst with scary movies that are actually good—or, at the very least, free. AMC’s “Fear Fest” technically runs October 24-31, but the meaty stuff airs this weekend, with nearly 48 straight hours of slasher flicks. They range from the legendary (the original Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street) to the underrated (2005’s fantastic Constantine) to the utterly baffling (Gus Van Sant’s shot-for-shot remake of Psycho; the horror comedy Motel Hell, in which a farmer sells unsuspecting people human sausages made from murdered hotel guests). I can’t make this shit up.
