Wednesday TV: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Nightmares and Dreams capes Go!, 10.30pm Stephen King's numerous books, films and TV spin-offs are usually aligned with the fright and gore genres, even though his best work is more akin to speculative science fiction, where pointy-head science takes a back seat to big-ticket philosophicalmusings. Based on a King short story from 1986, The End of the Whole Mess is a rumination on crime, violence and the doctrine of original sin. Advertisement: Story continues below It takes the form of a video diary in which a filmmaker (Ron Livingstone) remembers his child-prodigy brother (Henry Thomas).From an early age, Robert displayed signs of mad genius, later becoming obsessed with humankind's self-destructive urges, which leads him to discover a potion that can reduce aggression. Naturally, there's a caveat to this experiment, which impliesthat nature has equipped humankind with both greatness and baseness. This US series was filmed in Melbourne (and has previously airedon pay TV), which explains the many familiar faces in supportingroles (Rebecca Gibney, Nicholas Bell, among others) and locations. Getting On ABC1, 8.35pm This is funny and smart. Really smart. Not in a tricky,brainy-plotted Lost kind of way but in the manner of a show whosegenuinely inventive script, cracking dialogue and imaginativecharacters transcend all the conventional props of scripted dramas.Funny, too, in a darkly pessimistic vein. Co-written by the threemain actors - lacerating British comedienne Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan (The Thick of It) and Vicki Pepperdine (a study insuperciliousness to match Rosetta Stone Robyn Butler's excruciatingpassive-aggressive turn in The Librarians), it riffs off the simpleidea of a bunch of doctors and nurses emasculated by nanny-statebureaucracy, terminal boredom and brazen indifference for theirmostly hopeless patients. The language, coupled with its bleak view of an institution that TV generally treats with reverence and sentiment, makes this a show that won't appeal to all. For everyone else, be quick: tonight isthe second of only three episodes. Shrink Rap ABC2, 9.30pm Dr Pamela Connolly's interview series usually straddles thecomfort-discomfort zone, except for tonight, when it plungesheadlong into the latter. The doctor lets loose on a barelyrecognisable Carrie Fisher, reminding the actress, author, bipolarsufferer, substance-abuser and all-round Hollywood casualty of herf lamboyantly troubled life. At times addled and barely coherent, Fisher wheels out a few of her much-quoted quips ("bad reality, good anecdote") but the painrests squarely with Connolly, who several times fails to explain,for the benefit of viewers, who Fisher is talking about. This makes the discussion about as exciting and engaging as a flip through the phone book. Upon hearing one of the many bizarre twists of Fisher's endlessly kooky life, she even has the gall to ask, "Are you saying that this was a very funny spin on what actually happened, or that these things truly occurred?" To me, at least, it doesn't look like Fisher is making any of it up. The Rat Pack ABC2, 8pm Inspector Rex's place as TV's favourite canine is under threat.Meet Charlie, a nine-year-old Jack Russell whose favourite pastimeis hunting down rats and snapping their necks in his jaw. A pair of London brothers is reviving the bygone practice of deploying aterrier to deal with the city's rising rat population. With tonguefirmly in cheek and zero pity for vermin, this squeamish, throwaway show follows the knockabout lads on their rounds.