Tuesday's TV highlights

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Greg House

8.30PM, TV3
HOUSE
You wouldn't expect a healthy prognosis for a series about a humourless doctor more interested in illnesses than his patients, but House has been a hit in the US and has helped TV3 chip away at TVNZ's stranglehold on the ratings. House (Hugh Laurie) is working on the diagnosis of a man with a swollen tongue when he is shot by the husband of a former patient. Confined to a hospital bed, House continues to work on the case of the patient with the enlarged tongue. His assailant, who was shot by security, is handcuffed to his bed. As House slips in and out of consciousness, he struggles to get a grip on reality.

The third season of House is scheduled to screen in September in the US and TV3 plans to show it next year.

Pop culture trivia: House series creator Bryan Singer is the man who has brought Superman back to the big screen.

8.30PM, TV2
WITHOUT A TRACE
When a young Korean woman goes missing during her shift at the family deli, the team learns she had recently broken off an engagement to a Korean man her parents liked. She had also been doing a lot of online dating and found herself involved with the wrong kind of men, including one who wouldn't take no for an answer.

9.30PM, TV ONE
THE SPERMINATOR
Documentary telling the disturbing story of an American doctor who helped women to get pregnant but didn't bother to mention he'd done it with his own sperm. Dr Cecil Jacobson has probably passed on more DNA than Bob Marley - investigators suspect he fathered up to 75 children in the close community of Alexandria in Virginia. Not such a great thing for their social lives when they're old enough: Who's your daddy? Uh, same as yours.

9.30PM, C4
POP GOES THE WEASEL
It's "haere ra" from the weirdest music show to grace our screens. New Zealand music icon Sir Howard Morrison and Mike Chunn from Split Enz and Play It Strange go head-to-head in the season finale with local hip-hop lads Mareko and Savage from the Deceptikonz.


MOVIES
[rated out of 5]

8.30PM, SKY MOVIES 1
BAD SANTA
Herald rating: * * *
Billy Bob Thornton plays an obnoxious con artist posing as Father Christmas to rob department stores in this crime comedy. With his partner-in-crime, a midget in elf costume, the two rob department stores. Their plan falls over when they meet an 8-year-old boy who ultimately teaches them the true meaning of Christmas. (2003)

8.30PM, RIALTO SKY DIGITAL
BROKEN WINGS
Herald rating: * * *
Moving Israeli drama about the way a family reacts when the father dies. Nine months after his death, the mother is working as a midwife and her daughter is full of resentment because she'd rather be performing in a rock band than dealing with the responsibilities of home life. (2002)


SPORT

11.10PM, SKY SPORT 1 LIVE
CYCLING: TOUR DE FRANCE
At the time of writing, Ukrainian Sergei Gontchar was wearing the yellow jersey, but American Floyd Landis was looking likely to mount a challenge. Tonight's demanding stage through the mountains, the 187km Gap-L'Alpe d'Huez, is often where riders look to attack.