To me the TV choice tonight is clear: I’ll be watching the “ESPYS" awards on ABC (8-11 p.m., Channel 9) to see Devon and Leah Still be honored….and tape the Lachey Brothers’ new “Lachey’s Bar” reality show premiere (10:30 p.m., A&E).
The Bengals lineman and his daughter will be presented the ESPYS' Jimmy V Perseverance Award during the live broadcast from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC says Devon will be honored for “his unwavering strength, determination and devotion to his daughter, Leah, in her fight against cancer and in the face of a continuing serious personal struggle.”
Leah, 5, will not attend. She returned to her Philadelphia home on June 22 after spending 49 days at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after complications after a stem cell transplant.
Inspirational Mount Saint Joseph's basketball player Lauren Hill, who died April 10 at age 19, also will be honored in a special presentation. at the ESPYS.
The “Lachey’s Bar” premiere comes 11 months after A&E announced it was filming a 10-episode reality show about brothers Nick and Drew opening a sports bar at 56 E. 12th St. in Over-the-Rhine. It’s part of A&E’s new Wednesday summer lineup featuring fresh episodes of “Duck Dynasty” (9 p.m.), “Wahlburgers” (9:30 p.m.) and “Donnie Loves Jenny” (10 p.m.).
"Drew and I always wanted to open a bar, and we just thought the timing was right,” Nick told me in November. He splits his time between Los Angeles (where wife Vanessa gave birth to their second child in January), New York (where he hosts VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz Live”) and Cincinnati. Drew and Lea Lachey live in Cincinnati.
After finding fame and fortune with their 98 Degrees boy band in the late 1990s, the Lacheys have spent much of the past decade in reality TV: “Taking the Stage,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Clash of the Choirs,” “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica,” “The Sing-off,” “Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann,” “HGTV $250,000 Challenge” and “Stars Earn Stripes.”
In the preview video at AETV.com, the narrator says the Lachey brothers have “two passions in life – good old-fashioned boy-banding and serving brews to hard-working Americans.”
Actually they have three: They love reality TV. And if this show is canceled, they’ll likely get another... and another. So I'll watch "The ESPYS."
One more TV note: If you missed the Home Run Derby, it repeats at 8 p.m. on ESPN tonight.