What’s Worth Watching: Proof of (After)Life

Proof, “Pilot” (Tuesday, June 16, 10/9c, TNT)

What do you do when a dying billionaire offers to donate his entire fortune to your favorite charity if you investigate the existence of life after death? If you’re heart surgeon Carolyn Tyler (Jennifer Beals), you hem and haw about it in tonight’s Proof premiere. Dr. Tyler firmly believes that we die when our bodies do. So when a cancer stricken tech guru (Matthew Modine) asks her to study ghost sightings, reincarnations, and the like to prove whether or not that’s correct, she doesn’t exactly run for her proton pack. Then she meets a sweet little girl who convincingly claims she spent a week in heaven while in a coma—and Dr. Tyler begins to question her initial theory. It’s a good start for a series that tickles an idea we’d all fancy: The big sleep could actually just be a little nap.