Laurel’s TV Picks

Gilmore Girls (WB, 7pm)
Smallville (WB, 8pm; rerun on Sunday)
NYPD Blue (ABC, 9pm)

If you ordered the Homicide: Life on the Street DVD set at amazon.com via this site, I know some sets shipped this past weekend and more are shipping today. The set should hit most stores (that carry such things) today. Thanks so much for your support of this site, and you’re gonna love the DVDs. Homicide: The Movie has been marked down at amazon.com, it’s really worth owning if you’re a fan of the show (though I don’t recommend watching it unless you’ve seen all seven seasons of the series first).

Boston Public drops four castmembers. Thank goodness. I hate to say it, but those four were part of why I stopped watching during this past season, I just couldn’t bring myself to care about any of them (well except maybe the one who played Brooke, but I think that character is best as a recurring character not a regular).

TV DVDs released today: Seasons 1 & 2 of Homicide; Charlie’s Angels; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; and Supercar.

TV DVDs released next Tuesday: More episodes of Andromeda; premiere episode of Law & Order: SVU; premiere episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; season 2 of South Park; and season 3 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Check out what the TV schedule will look like next season: 2003-04 Fall Schedule Grid. Read about the new shows, see what shows were cancelled, all that jazz.

You can now pre-order Season 3 of Babylon 5 on DVD, the set will be released on August 12th. [More Babylon 5 | More TV on DVD]

Ruben Studdard, Steve Irwin, Mark Feuerstein on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Yoko Ono, Tom Cavanagh, guest co-host Lisa Ling on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Bunch of episodes of the Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade (Sci-Fi, 10am-3pm).

Gabrielle Reece, Tom Papa on The Caroline Rhea Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Naysayers and Passive-Aggressives” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Shocking Teen Girls Hazing Incident” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

Felicity Huffman and Jeff Kober are two of the guest stars in the chilling “Ice” episode of The X-Files (TNT, 4pm).

“The Cage” is the original pilot for Star Trek (Sci-Fi, 5pm). Star Trek will air weekdays at 5pm. Replacing Roswell which seems to have been pulled from SciFi’s schedule completely (just when I finally had time to try and catch up with the episodes I’d missed. Argh).

“Faith, Hope & Trick” and “” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 5pm, 6pm).

I’d like to thank the networks (CBS, ABC, WB) who are actually airing reruns of their shows in usual timeslots, rather than replacing ‘em with reality series or specials. Just saying. ‘Cuz it gives shows a chance to find an audience, gives us a chance to catch episodes we may have missed or try series that we skipped ‘cuz of schedule conflicts during the regular season.

Now’s a great time for you to recommend shows to me that you think I might’ve missed during the regular season.

It’s also a good time to tell me about individual episodes or scenes from this past season that you thought were great– so I can try to catch them this time around and/or tell the rest of the folks who read this site to check them out. Heck, if you want to submit a guest blurb or review of a series, you can talk with me via email about that, too.

Baseball: Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves (TBS, 6:30pm).

“Rory and her mother seek help filling out Harvard application; Lane falls for a musician” in the “Application Anxiety” episode of Gilmore Girls (WB, 7pm). If you still haven’t tried this show or haven’t watched it regularly, maybe ‘cuz you were watching Buffy, here’s your chance. Really is my favorite show of those on the air currently and one of my favorite series of all-time. Third episode from this past season.

“Mac investigates a Navy whistle-blower who says a top-secret device is defective; a lawyer (Gavin MacLeod) and his client threaten Harm with a lawsuit” on a rerun of JAG (CBS, 7pm). Not a bad series, but I can’t imagine ever choosing it over Gilmore Girls (or Buffy).

NHL Hockey: Stanley Cup Final, Game 1 (ESPN, 7pm).

Baseball : Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs (WGN, 7pm).

Dog Eat Dog (NBC, 7pm, 8pm) returns. Not that I think there was a big outcry for it to return or anything. “Six players compete against each other in a series of mental and physical challenges.”

No Buffy the Vampire Slayer, just a rerun of America’s Next Top Model (the show that premiered after the Buffy finale, proving once again that UPN really doesn’t understand the Buffy audience).

“Bridget defies her father to date a college-age drummer (Nick Carter)” on a two-part 8 Simple Rules (ABC, 7pm, 7:30pm). Did we ever find out what those rules are?

“Clark must save telepathic friend Ryan from a doctor who wants to control the boy’s abilities” on Smallville (WB, 8pm; rerun on Sunday). If you were watching 24 this past season, you might’ve missed Smallville. I’m told the show is better than it was early in the first season (when I gave up on it). Not great art, but fun if you like this sort of thing.

Reasons I might give The Guardian (CBS, 8pm) a try? Regulars include Wendy Moniz, Alan Rosenberg, and Dabney Coleman.

Is it strange that I’m considering watching Less Than Perfect (ABC, 8:30pm) because Andy Dick is a castmember?

“A famous actor makes a deal with Lucky to be his technical adviser” on Lucky (FX, 9pm). John Corbett stars. With Ever Carradine and Giancarlo Esposito. Followed by a rerun of last week’s episode.

A teenager is killed for his bicycle on NYPD Blue (ABC, 9pm). Googy Gress guest stars. I like saying “Googy Gress.” (Plus he was on GvsE).

Rae Dawn Chong and Veronica Cartwright guest star on Judging Amy (CBS, 9pm). My parents watch this show regularly and are still agog over the season finale (we’ve decided this show is now doing some of the same annoying stuff that Providence did). Their biggest complaint is also that the title character is just “so stupid.” D’oh. I stopped watching when Vincent (Dan Futterman) left town, though I still check in from time to time.

“Dating in the 21st century; hi-tech dating bars; four singles seek their soul mates” on Dateline NBC (NBC, 9pm).

Rerun of The Bachelor: After the Final Rose (ABC Family, 9pm).

“Tie Shopping With Conan O’Brien” on The Isaac Mizrahi Show (Oxygen, 9:30pm).

Bill Kristol! on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Mae West and Cary Grant in She Done Him Wrong (TCM, 10:30pm).

Ashton Kutcher, Jack Hanna, Alex Bell (of Survivor) on a rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Dr. Phil McGraw, Shia LaBeouf, India.Arie on a rerun of The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Dave Chapelle, Wilmer Valederrama (of That ’70s Show), Jason Mraz on a rerun of Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

William Shatner, Aisha Tyler, Queens of the Stone Age, guest co-host Jamie Kennedy on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Matt Dillon, Randy Jackson, the Doors on a rerun of The Late Late Show (CBS, check your local listings).

Gretchen Mol, Lil’ Kim on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Kids in the Hall (Comedy Central, 1am-3am).

Jeff Gordon, Caroline Kennedy, Clay Aiken on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

John Spencer (of The West Wing), James Van Der Beek, guest co-host Lisa Ling on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Fran Drescher, Eric Idle, Racheal Ray on The Caroline Rhea Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Dr. Phil’s Vault” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings). Outtakes, bloopers, Q&A with Phil and his wife.

“The Best Money I Ever Spent” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

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