Mischief: I Hate My Bald Head (BBC3, 10pm), This World: The Race For The Beach (BBC2, 7.30pm), MY Name Is Earl (C4, 10pm)

BY the time they are 30, one in ten men will be on their way to going bald. On the head, that is. The thing about getting older is that you get hairier, but not necessarily in the right places.

At 26, Robert Murray is already bald. Anyone who thinks not having hair alters people's opinion of your age should take note of the presenter's street poll asking people to guess his age. All put him over 30, one said 41 and all thought his lack of hair made them regard him as older.

His Mischief documentary sees him set out on a hair-brained scheme to come to terms with his baldness. He tries hot oil massage, takes pills bought on the internet (which can burn your head and cause impotence, so be careful). He rejects a hair transplant after seeing a man have a strip of his scalp sliced off, the hairs separated and then planted on his head.

He puts on a man-made wig (£84, looked dreadful) and a real hair wig (£500, pretty convincing). He talks to magician Paul Daniels, who famously went bald after years of wearing a hair piece. Wife Debbie McGee mischieviously recalls the public occasion when he sneezed and blew his wig off.

Wisely, perhaps, Murray decides just to shave his head and facial hair, and be proud to be bald. Best of all, he says he feels more comfortable totally hairless. He won't give much hope to anyone hoping for a miracle cure for baldness. It really is a case of no hair today and still no hair tomorrow.

Think lifeguard and, chances are, the image of Pamela Anderson bouncing along the beach in a red swimsuit springs to mind. Race For The Beach puts a different angle on lifeguards, following Sydney student Meccaa Laalaa in her quest to become the world's first devout Muslim woman to be a lifeguard.

This comes a year after local riots between Muslim gangs and white youths. Meccaa and two dozen other Muslims undergo a 12-week training programme to show they're "no less Australian than anyone else".

Muslim leader Dr Jamal Rifi sees this as sending the right message to the community that integration is something everyone wants. This feeling isn't shared by several of the middle-aged Australian people on the beach who feel the lifeguard idea is misguided, although being Aussies they're more forthright in their language.

A full body and head swimming outfit - the burqini - is designed so Maccaa can follow tradition and keep her head and body covered, even while rescuing swimmers.

Dr Rifi's motives are admirable, but Meccaa isn't the strongest of swimmers and struggles to gain the qualification needed to be a recognised surf lifeguard.

It is, as an observer notes, never been harder to be Muslim and Australian. There's no doubt that she's being used as propaganda to improve race relations. Dr Rifi spins a rare good news story from the Muslim lifeguards.

But it seems an awful lot to place on the young shoulders of a student, especially as she still hasn't passed the lifeguard exam the day before the red and yellow burqinis are due to be unveiled to the media.

US comedy series My Name Is Earl returns with its hero still determined to make amends for past mistakes. His ex-wife Joy wants him to give her a surprise party, unable to understand why it won't be a surprise now that she's asked for it.

The comedy is a long way from the usual US sitcom, what with a severed earlobe and a gag about selling Iranian babies. We Brits get a couple of mentions too. "British people don't steal trucks. They drink tea and live in castles," someone says. And a man who attempts to talk with a British accent is told: "You sound like a gay Kermit the frog".