TV REVIEWS : ‘A Day in the Life’ of Country Hype

“A Day in the Life of Country Music” (tonight at 9 on CBS, Channels 2 and 8) is less a documentary than it is a two-hour infomercial, pitching country stars’ professionalism and virtue to the converted. Don’t expect to see anyone without makeup on, literally or figuratively.

Shot by 20 crews in 81 locations, “A Day in the Life”--which takes off from the similarly titled series of photo books--promises “a fly-on-the-wall look at one full day” in the industry, but despite the compressed shooting time, the impressive feature-film production values are an immediate tip-off that cinema verite this ain’t.

The day chosen for this exercise just happened to be the day that Kenny Rogers went to the White House to shoot his own portraits of the President and First Lady. (“How should I sign this?” Rogers asks Clinton, seemingly hoping--in vain--that the President will tell the singer to just call him Bill.) Coincidences like these are abetted when you’re managed by Ken Kragen, who’s also the executive producer of this puff piece.

Other Kragen clients prominently on hand include Trisha Yearwood, seen pitching her perfume line at a department store, and Travis Tritt, accompanied by the documentarians as he makes a patriotic visit to a veterans’ hospital. (Tritt adversary Billy Ray Cyrus is absent, the special apparently not being big enough for the both of ‘em.)

Even the less salesman-like moments are remarkably unrevelatory. Lyle Lovett gets his hair trimmed; Waylon Jennings tries one of his kiddie tunes on an uninterested grandson; Reba McEntire takes a break from filming with Burt Reynolds to talk earnestly about wanting to show “the different sides of Reba” through acting; Tammy Wynette cooks lunch.

Fortunately, people do stop homilizing (or pretending to talk inside-industry talk) and start singing every few minutes. The better timeouts include Yearwood--in the world’s glossiest sound check--turning in a tremendous “Down on My Knees,” and Clint Black’s rousing arena encore of “Put Yourself in My Shoes.”