Laurel’s TV Picks

Duck Dodgers (Cartoon Network, 10:30am, 3pm)
Another new designer on Trading Spaces (TLC, 7pm and 10pm; 8pm and 11pm)
Series premiere of Date Patrol (TLC, 9pm and midnight)
Woody Guthrie is Bound for Glory (TCM, 10pm)

You can now pre-order Firefly on DVD, which will be released on December 9th.

Wow, you can now pre-order season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which will be released on July 6th, 2004.

You can also now pre-order Season 2 of The Shield (due out on January 6th) and Season 5 of M*A*S*H (due out on December 9th).

TV Land’s obituary for Larry Hovis.

You can now pre-order Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale. Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD at amazon.com. a set that contains seasons 1-4 of Buffy, seasons 1-4 of M*A*S*H, season 2 of Dark Angel, and Brooklyn South (the complete series) on DVD.

DVDs due out on Tuesday: (still time to pre-order) Season 1 of I Love Lucy, Season 1 of Smallville, and Black Scorpion.

Don’t forget to check out the 2003-04 Fall Schedule Grid (with premiere dates) and the TV on DVD page.

SpongeBob SquarePants (Nick, 8am, 8:30am); The Fairly Oddparents (Nick, 9am, 9:30am);

“Raising the Steaks” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 8:30am). If you love Good Eats, you’ll want to get Alton Brown’s award-winning book I’m Just Here For the Food and also his new book Alton Brown’s Gear for Your Kitchen

The Horrors of Spider Island on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Sci-Fi, 8am).

Looney Tunes (Cartoon Network, 9am).

Ally McBeal (FX, 9am, 10am).

The brilliant short-lived Emmy-winning sketch comedy series The Ben Stiller Show (Comedy Central, 9am, 9:30am).

Duck Dodgers (Cartoon Network, 10:30am, 3pm). Fun new show! Worth watching just for the opening credits (with theme song performed by Tom Jones & the Flaming Lips).

A&E weekend lineup: The Incurable Collector (A&E, 11am), House Beautiful (A&E, 11:30am), All Year Round with Katie Brown (A&E, Noon), The Well-Seasoned Traveler (A&E, 12:30pm), Sell This House! (A&E, 1pm), Makeover Mamas (A&E, 1:30pm).

Reruns of Trading Spaces (TLC, 11am), While You Were Out (TLC, Noon), and What Not To Wear (TLC, 1pm).

Reruns of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm).

Burning Man: Where’s the Fire (Trio, 5pm).

Trading Spaces Family (TLC, 5pm).

Yet another airing of the Late Night With Conan O’Brien 10th Anniversary Special (Comedy Central, 5:30pm and 1:30am). Where else can you see John Tesh, Abe Vigoda, and William Shatner on a bicyle built for three?

Baseball: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates (WGN, 6pm).

While You Were Out (TLC, 6pm).

The cast of Casa De Los Babys joins Jon Favreau on Dinner for Five (IFC, 6:30pm).

A new designer named Rick Rifle makes his debut in back to back new episodes of Trading Spaces (TLC, 7pm and 10pm; 8pm and 11pm). Rick and Laurie and Ty in Ohio; Rick and Doug and Ty and the “prison of love” also in Ohio in the second episode.

Couple of reruns of recent episodes of Reno 911! (Comedy Central, 7pm and 10:30pm, 7:30pm and 11pm). Funny funny stuff.

NBC reruns the first two episodes of two of their new sitcoms. Yes, you can see the first two episodes of Whoopi (NBC, 7pm, 7:30pm) and Happy Family (NBC, 8pm, 8:30pm). In case you missed them the first time and are curious about them. I honestly think there are probably better things you could do with those two hours of your life, but if you’re like me, you like checking out new series (even the bad ones) when there isn’t much else on. To refresh your memory: Whoopi stars as a woman who was a pop singer, had one big dance hit during the disco era, and who now owns and operates a little hotel in New York City. She’s got a wacky maintenance man from Iran and a straightlaced brother and his white girlfriend who talks more like what one might expect some black people to talk. Lots of politically incorrect humor. Digs at the President, sure; but also lots of jokes relating to middle east countries and terrorism and the like. The pilot did nothing for me; reactions so far are very mixed (some find it funny, others fine it unbearable). On Happy Family, the very likeable and talented John Larroquette and Christine Baranski are wasted as they play parents to three grown children who have all sorts of problems. The youngest son didn’t graduate from any sort of college and when they kicked him out of the house, he shacked up with ther older, divorced, neighbor lady. Their daughter is needy and a bit creepy and spends a lot of time with them and wonders why she can’t get a boyfriend and . . . ugh. And their oldest supposedly together son is engaged to one woman, having an affair with another, and can’t seem to decide between the two. Eh. The kids bug me and the shows are about Larroquette and Baranski dealing with the kids. Not good. (Want to watch something funny? Tune in to Comedy Central for episodes of Reno 911! and Chappelle’s Show instead.

Dream a little (or a lot): Outrageous Millionaire Services Travel, 7pm and 10pm); World’s Richest Penthouses (Travel, 8pm and 11pm); More Billionaire Toys (Travel, 9pm and midnight).

Lots of reruns of Law & Order: SVU on USA. Beware: these are from the mostly-awful first season of the show.

Coal Miner’s Daughter (TCM, 7pm).

Chappelle’s Show (Comedy Central, 8pm, 8:30pm).

50 Greatest Album Covers (VH1, 8pm).

Experts (on relationships and dating, I guess) turn ) a “nice guy” into a “naughty but nice guy” on the series premiere of Date Patrol (TLC, 9pm and midnight).

Battle Swallow’s Nest on Iron Chef (Food Network, 9pm and midnight).

’70s Disco House episode of Monster House (Discovery, 9pm and midnight).

A forensics expert is suspected of slaying his wife on Crossing Jordan (A&E, 9pm and 1am). More Miguel Ferrer than usual in this episode, if I recall correctly.

Tate Donovan on The Orlando Jones Show (FX, 9:30pm).

Woody Guthrie is Bound for Glory (TCM, 10pm) in Hal Ashby’s biopic of the legendary folk singer. David Carradine stars.

Lucille Ball hosts “The Best of” Three’s Company (Nick, 10pm, 10:30pm).

Jasmine Guy on The Orlando Jones Show (FX, 10pm).

Rerun of MI-5 (A&E, 10pm and 2am).

New MAD TV (FOX, 10pm).

Christopher Walken hosts (a rerun of) Saturday Night Live (NBC, check your local listings). With musical guest Foo Fighters.

Spoon, Ben Kweller on Austin City Limits (PBS, check your local listings).

Kitsch-en: Welcome Back, Kotter (TV Land, 11pm); WKRP in Cincinnati TV Land, 11:30pm); Square Pegs (TV Land, midnight); Tabitha (TV Land, 12:30am).

Yet another airing of the old Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (USA, midnight). Chris Noth returns to Law & Order-land.

Picks for Sunday will be online late Saturday or early Sunday (by Noon if at all possible).

Part 1 of the 2-part series finale of China Beach (History Channel, 5am Sunday).

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