Laurel’s TV Picks

That ’70s Show (FOX, 7pm, 7:30pm)
Bernie Mac Show (FOX, 8pm)
South Park (Comedy Central, 8:30pm, 9pm and 11pm)
Night Bites: Women and Their Vampires (We, 9pm)
Chappelle’s Show (Comedy Central, 9:30pm and 11:30pm)

Reading Rainbow in danger of being cancelled.

Why the first ever episode of Law & Order didn’t air as promoted by NBC.

Baby Bob returns to CBS for an 8 episode run this summer. No, I’m not kidding. You know, I hope this makes some money for the very talented actors on the show: Adam Arkin, Joely Fisher, Elliott Gould, and Holland Taylor. Though I’d rather see them get far better material.

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.

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.

TV DVDs released yesterday: Seasons 1 & 2 of Homicide: Life on the Street; 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.

More TV on DVD.

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).

“Bad Girls” and “Consequences” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 5pm, 6pm).

Baseball : Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees (ESPN2, 6pm).

Some shows fall through the cracks during the regular TV season, a lot of the time I’ll skip certain sitcoms figuring I can catch them later. So summer for me may involve catching up with very funny series like That ’70s Show and The Bernie Mac Show.

Sometimes if a TV synopsis gets cut off before the end, it can be very interesting. Such as ” Eric buys an engagement ring for Donna; Red gets menopausal” on That ’70s Show (FOX, 7pm). Okay, that should read “Red gets menopausal Kitty a dog to lift her spirits.” D’oh.

Series premiere of Fame (NBC, 7pm-9pm). New reality series from the producers of Pop Stars. Multitalented performers audition, those that are selected go to some sort of dance/star “boot camp” that’s run by Debbie Allen (of Fame fame). Joey Fatone hosts the premiere episode.

In case you care and in case you missed it, the WB reruns the series finale of Dawson’s Creek (WB, 7pm-9pm).

The Big Clock (TCM, 7pm).

“Archer must choose between saving Reed or fleeing Romulan airspace” on Enterprise (UPN, 7pm).

Heath Ledger et al in Roar (Sci-Fi, 7pm).

“Donna scores higher on the SAT than Eric” on That ’70s Show (FOX, 7:30pm).

“Strawberry Sky” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 8pm and 11pm).

“Matt (Vincent Ventresca) undergoes an unusual transformation after ignoring a black man’s (Hill Harper) plight; a writer (Adrian Pasdar) breathes life into his fantasy woman (Shannon Elizabeth)” on The Twilight Zone (UPN, 8pm).

Carpool complications are the subject du jour on The Bernie Mac Show (FOX, 8pm).

Junkyard Mega-Wars: Speedway Showdown (TLC, 8pm-10pm, 11pm-1am)

A piece about the forthcoming animated feature Finding Nemo and one about female suicide bombers (could the topics be any more different?) on 60 Minutes II (CBS, 8pm).

South Park (Comedy Central, 8:30pm, 9pm and 11pm). In the first episode, “a futuristic life form helps destroy a superbeing; kindergarten elections heat up.” And in the second episode “the boys learn about the politics of war and the consequences of homework.”

Night Bites: Women and Their Vampires (We, 9pm). ” Author Anne Rice and producer Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) reveal why some women fall for very dark characters.” Features clips of vampires as depicted in film and movies, plus interviews with Rice, Noxon, and others (wish I knew who the others were, but I guess I’ll find out tonight).

Baseball : Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants (ESPN2, 9pm).

“A man motivated by religious convictions is the prime suspect in a double homicide” on Law & Order (NBC, 9pm).

48 Hours (CBS, 9pm) looks at “The Canal Street Brothel.” “Three generations of women from one family work in a New Orleans brothel.”

“A ‘realistic’ look at Pretty Woman and The Matrix” on Chappelle’s Show (Comedy Central, 9:30pm and 11:30pm).

Futurama (Cartoon Network, 10pm).

Lisa Ling on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Steve Martin in Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (TCM, 10:30pm).

Michael Douglas, Todd Rundgren on a rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Rosie O’Donnell, Neal McDonough, Boomkat on a rerun of The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

LL Cool J, Joe Pantoliano, Neil Finn on a rerun of Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Ashton Kutcher, Pat O’Brien, Cypress Hill, guest co-host Slash on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Kirk Douglas, Leslie Bibb, Chantal Kreviazuk on a rerun of The Late Late Show (CBS, check your local listings).

Ed Burns, Les Nubians, Talib Kweli on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Dilbert (Comedy Central, 1am).

Clerks (Comedy Central, 1:30am).

Phil Keoghan, Pat Sajak on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Jane Krakowski and “Barbara makes a special announcement” on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Laura Prepon, Trista Rehn on The Caroline Rhea Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Surviving Divorce” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Topic was still “To Be Announced” as of this writing for Thursday’s Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).
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