What’s On

ESPN • Monday, July 9 (10 p.m.)

New York in the late 1970s was a city in turmoil. Crime was on the rise, the Son of Sam killer was stalking the streets and the city was in the midst of a bitter mayoral race. And for a city that had reached the boiling point, the perfect representation on the baseball field were the New York Yankees.

ESPN’s new eight-part miniseries The Bronx Is Burning, based on the book by Jonathan Mahler, uses the city and its troubles as background. The series follows two main threads: the investigation into the Son of Sam slayings and, of course, the tempestuous Yankees team that often seemed on the verge of implosion.

The main figures are Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt), manager Billy Martin (John Turturro), star outfielder Reggie Jackson (Daniel Sunjata) and Yankees captain Thurman Munson (Eric Jensen). While Turturro is believable as Martin, Platt plays Steinbrenner way over the top, turning him into the cardboard cutout of a tyrant with knee-jerk reactions that comedians have portrayed for decades. But the two do a good job portraying the beginning of the contentious relationship that had Martin in and out of pinstripes over the next 10 years.

The Munson-Jackson dynamic is much the same with the superstar outfielder alienating the long-time catcher from the first day of spring training in 1977. When the Sport magazine article in which Jackson famously said, “I am the straw that stirs the drink,” came out, the rift between Jackson and Munson grew.

The series is augmented with file footage from games and news reports on the killings and mayoral race, as well as excerpts from Jimmy Breslin’s Daily News columns.

Overall, ESPN did a worthy job of capturing the atmosphere of the city and the team in 1977.

— Eric J. Smith

Bravo • Thursday, June 28 (10 p.m.)

Paging Simon Cowell. Celebreality hits an all-time low in Bravo’s Hey Paula, a new docu-series following the hectic life and times of Los Angeles Laker Girl-turned-recording artist-turned-American Idol judge Paula Abdul. Even die-hard Idol fans will be singing “Hey Paula, I want to cancel you,” by the time the series opener is over.

Neither entertaining nor revealing, the show follows Abdul and her entourage — which includes a hairdresser, publicist, wardrobe assistant and chihuahuas — as she (to paraphrase Abdul herself) crams 48 hours into a typical whirlwind day. In the first installment, poor Paula has to hit the red carpet at the Grammy Awards and then red-eye it to Philadelphia to hawk jewelry on QVC. Such non-events are presented matter-of-factly, giving the dramatically starved proceedings an appropriately drab and dreary look.

Earlier this year, asked about reports of erratic behavior, Abdul kidded David Letterman that she had been abducted by aliens. Viewers of Hey Paula should be so lucky.

— George Vernadakis