Previews

Ricci and Hunter partner up

Grace Hanadarko (Holly Hunter) isn’t your typical cop; she’s chain-smoking, heavy-drinking and swears like a sailor. But then again, Saving Grace isn’t your typical cop drama.

In the first season, Grace hit a pedestrian while drinking and driving. She prayed for help from God, and God delivered her an angel. No, the drama set in Oklahoma City doesn’t feature a graceful beauty in white with a halo; the angel helping Grace is a beer-guzzling tobacco chewer named Earl (Leon Rippy). Who better to get through to the wild child, seeing as Grace’s priest brother can’t change her ways.

Saving Grace finally returned with the unconventional Oklahoma City police detective and her posse of law-enforcement officers, and well, forget CSI. Saving Grace swaps suave suits and sleek sunglasses for jeans and cowboy boots, and futuristic investigation rooms are replaced with lab desks and pale-blue walls.

Grace’s work hard/play hard lifestyle is interrupted when single mother Abby Charles (guest star Christina Ricci) enters her first day in Major Crimes, showing up late because her goldfish died. Abby will be Grace’s partner during her rotation, but Grace doesn’t trust Abby… yet.

Saving Grace goes back to basics with a catchy theme song, realistic characters and a well-written script. No need for technical mumbo-jumbo, the drama entices viewers the good old-fashioned way.

Saving Grace premières Tuesday, March 24, 10 p.m. ET, Showcase.

Holly Hunter chats about her character, Grace:

Lose weight with the ladies of ‘Stuck’

Are you loafing on the coach, cradling a bag of chips and a bottle of pop, having thrown in the towel on your latest diet fad? Try switching to W Network’s Stuck tonight for a heavy dose of motivation.

No, it’s not Richard Simmons’ tiny shorts, it’s ordinary women facing the same problem; they are stuck. So if you’re hoping to shed those pesky pounds in time for a summer beach bod, tuning in may just inspire you to escape your nest of candy, chocolates and pizza.

Unlike weight loss competition shows like The Biggest Loser, there is no competition, elimination or backstabbing. This doesn’t mean they’re going it alone either, like Georgian Ruby Gettinger on Ruby.

Season 2 of Stuck features seven women supporting each other on their weight-loss journey. In Week 1, the women share more than just dinner; they discuss how long they’ve struggled with their weight, how their fitness assessment went and what each person was like years ago.

It’s almost like a quirky club for struggling dieters, and if you’re too shy to attend the meetings, no worries, you can watch it on TV.

Who are the members? There is former fitness model Michelle, whose goal is to be a “sexy mummy” strutting around the mall with a stroller. With a crush on her young Egyptian trainer, 43-year-old single gal Laurie is ready to hit the town in better shape.

Chantal, who ate her way out of a modelling career, discovers that her blood pressure is sky-high, which requires she get a doctor’s clearance to exercise with the trainer. And former cheerleader Farrah shows new friends old photos of herself to tell them that the girl in the picture is who she really is, they just caught her at a bad “stage.”

Twenty-three-year-old young ‘un Veronica lives with her traditional Chinese family who have called her fat her entire life. Even though Veronica wants to shed the weight, she wants to gain the confidence to stick up for herself. She has a long way to empowerment as she cries to the women at dinner about her pushy personal trainer whose fitness assessment lasted two hours, unlike the 45-minute assessments the other women had. This resulted in a group hug.

Teri, a 52-year-old mother of two who feels like a “slug,” shows viewers the inside of her closet, which contains clothes she can no longer wear. In a touching moment, Teri takes out her favourite dress, a long black evening dress, and confides that deep, down inside she is an “elegant” older woman.

Rounding out the group is Melanie. Once a promising improv star in Los Angeles, Melanie has gained weight and lost friends. She says that despite her accomplishments professionally, she has nothing to show for it because she’s alone.

Melanie stopped talking to her family after her grandmother’s death, and lacks friends because she feels very awkward in social situations. She hopes that losing the weight will help improve her social life, as she doesn’t want to be single forever. The ladies in the support group are all Melanie has to get through this experience.

Will Chantal get her doctor’s note? Will Melanie make friends? Will Laurie hit on her trainer? Tune into Stuck for some calorie-free fun.

Stuck Season 2 airs March 4 at 10 p.m. ET on W Network.