thursday
Best Bets | Daytime | Primetime | Late Night
Do you have a Livejournal account? Maybe you’re already reading my personal journal there. I just created a tvpicks community journal there and I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to post picks there in addition to here (and via email) or just post links there each day after I complete picks (so it’s yet another way to find out when I update) or maybe just open it up for free flowing tv discussion or what. But I thought I’d mention it. Nothing may come of it at all. I’m still pondering ways to make this site more interactive . . . as I get awfully lonely doing these and never seem to have the fun of actually discussing the stuff I mention. Well, except for when y’all email, that rocks.
Remember that you can receive these picks via email (they’re a plain text version with no bold or other formatting). And if you’d rather read them in web page format, you can just view the emails as a notification that the website has been updated and head on over here when you receive the emails.
Three hour version of part 1 of Married In America (A&E, 7pm, 11pm).
“The Interview” episode of M*A*S*H (FX, 7:30pm)
Harrison Ford on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Tom Cruise, Natalie Merchant on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm)
“Identity Crisis” episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Court TV, midnight)
Kyle Secor plays an AIDS patient during a storyline that’s airing currently on St. Elsewhere (Bravo, Noon). (Thanks, Beth!)
Baseball: Chicago White Sox at Philadelphia Phillies (WGN, Noon).
Ricki Lake, Vincent Irizarry (of All My Children, Guiding Light), Kristin Chenoweth on The Rosie O’Donnell Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“How to Make Strong Connections with Your Children” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Earth declares martial law on Babylon 5; a seer (Majel Barrett) has a surprising prophecy for Londo” in the excellent “Point of No Return” episode of Babylon 5 (Sci-Fi, 4pm, letterboxed). One of my favorite episodes, if I recall correctly.
“Prophecy Girl” is the season 1 finale of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (FX, 5pm). “When She Was Bad” is the season 2 premiere of Buffy (FX, 6pm). Both season one and season two are available on DVD. If you’d rather see the episodes uncut and without commercial interruption.
College Baseball: NCAA World Series, Game 12 (ESPN, 6pm). It just keeps going and going.
Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzalez run a Fantasy Island of their own in Daffy Duck’s Movie: Fantastic Island (Cartoon Network, 6pm).
Baseball: Detroit Tigers at Atlanta Braves (TBS, 6:30pm).
When all else fails, both A&E and TNT have episodes of Law & Order. Me? I’m ready for the Law & Order network.
Classic M*A*S*H: An old flame of Hawkeye’s (played by Blythe Danner) visits the camp (FX, 7pm) and a journalist interviews camp personnel (FX, 7:30pm). Love that “Interview” episode, even more so knowing that the actors improvised a lot of their lines.
Three hour version of the first installment of Michael Apted’s Married In America (A&E, 7pm-10pm, 11pm-2am). Follows several couples over the course of a decade. My apologies if you watched the two hour version earlier in the week and didn’t know there was gonna be a three hour version (hey, I didn’t know either). It’s a fascinating series, truly good TV.
If you’ve seen all the episodes of C.S.I. (or at least the one airing tonight), you might want to watch back to back episodes of Medical Detectives (TLC, 7pm, 8pm).
Teen Choice Presents: Summer Music Mania (FOX, 7pm-9pm). I have no idea. And somehow didn’t care to do research to find out more. Don’t hate me.
More primetime Price Is Right (CBS, 7pm).
Hour-long Thanksgiving episode of Will & Grace (NBC, 7:30pm). Wherein they visit all their dysfunctional families.
“The team is called to investigate the case of a missing college freshman” on C.S.I. (CBS, 8pm).
Remember when Dizzy Gillespie visited The Cosby Show (Nick, 8pm)? Sure you do.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Stranges On A Train (TCM, 8:30pm).
“An ambitious journalist plans a story that will endanger a Russian general” on The Agency (CBS, 9pm).
Ken “The White Shadow” Howard and the late Malik Seely guest star in a Diagnosis Murder (PAX, 9pm) involving basketball players.
Yet another airing of the first episode of The Dead Zone (USA, 9pm). Anthony Michael Hall stars. Nicole de Boer (of Deep Space Nine) is also in it. And David Odgen Stiers (of M*A*S*H).
Randy Newman songs are used in the musical episode of Ally McBeal (FX, 10pm). Some numbers worked, some really didn’t. Still interesting (especially if you’re like me– a fan of Newman’s and a fan of Ally). I just wish it’d been better.
Henry Fonda presents The Best of All In The Family (Nick, 10pm, 10:30pm).
David Cross & Bob Odenkirk on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).
Harrison Ford, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).
Tom Cruise, Marie Rudisill (“the fruitcake lady”), Natalie Merchant on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).
Another airing of the Elvis Costello episode of Musicians (Bravo, 11pm). I enjoyed it. Pretty good interview, good songs (or at least song snippets).
David Cross & Bob Odenkirk on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).
I’ve raved about the “Identity Crisis” episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Court TV, midnight) before. It’s a shining gem nestled in the mostly forgettable final season of this great series. Great work for Austin Pendleton here, and just a fun episode with detectives working different cases. It reminds me of episodes from early seasons of the show. Shows that it would’ve been possible to have great episodes of the show even during the last couple of seasons. Oh, well.
Raphael Saadiq on The Late Late Show (CBS, check your local listings).
Christine O’Donnell, Malcolm McDowell, Niger Innis, French Stewart on Politically Incorrect (ABC, check your local listings).
Freddie Prinze Jr., Seven and the Sun on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).
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