Laurel’s TV Picks

Series premiere of Joan of Arcadia (CBS, 7pm)
Series premiere of Miss Match (NBC, 7pm)
Season premiere of Life with Bonnie (ABC, 8:30pm)
Season premiere of Boomtown (NBC, 9pm)
Series premiere of The Handler (CBS, 9pm)
Season finale of Dead Like Me (Showtime, 9pm)
Rosie O’Donnell, Boy George, Jack Black on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm)
“Turkeys Away” episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (TV Land, 11pm), followed by three more great episodes

My Mom ended up taking an ambulance to the hospital yesterday afternoon after she passed out. It does sound like it wasn’t anything too serious and with any luck she’ll be going home this afternoon. Details in my online journal. This is why picks are late today, I’ve been a bit . . . preoccupied.

Gordon Jump passed away.

Great deals through October 1st at the A&E Shop. Click here. Their biggest sale ever, up to 25% off a lot of their DVDs and videos. (Remember that if you visit the site via my links here, I get a cut of what you spend).

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

Celine Dion, Mary Steenburgen, Ernie Hudson, Marjorie Johnson on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Daryl Hannah, David Alan Grier, Pat Benatar on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings). More info.

Stephen Dorff, Ming-Na, Alyn Libman (a transgendered teen), Hanson on The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Dr. Phil’s Confidence Course” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Real People Who Solved High-Profile Crimes” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Into the Woods” and “Triangle” eipsodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 3pm, 4pm).

Series premiere of Joan of Arcadia (CBS, 7pm). Joan (Amber Tamblyn) is the teen daughter of Arcadia’s police chief (Joe Mantegna). She’s got two brothers, one’s kinda geeky (Michael Welch), the other is in a wheelchair (Jason Ritter, son of the late great John Ritter); she also has a reasonably cool Mom (Mary Steenburgen). And then Joan starts receiving messages from God. I loved the many clips of the show that I saw as part of a CBS preview. TV Guide raved “Joan of Arcadia is the season’s most unexpected and unusual delight, an offbeat family drama laced with irreverent whimsy and genuine wonder. It wrestles with spirituality but never takes itself too seriously.” You’ve gotta love a show which has a forthcoming episode titled “Bringeth It On.”

Series premiere of Miss Match (NBC, 7pm). Alicia Silverstone plays a divorce lawyer who inadvertantly ends up known as a matchmaker. Ryan O’Neal plays her Dad, other co-stars include David Conrad, Lake Bell, Jodi Long, and James Roday. Charisma Carpenter guest stars next week. TV Guide calls it “perfect end-of-the-week fluff” and predicts it’ll be a hit. Most reviews have been favorable, it sounds like a show that’ll do well in Providence’s old timeslot. Pity two of the best-reviewed shows (this one and Joan of Arcadia) are on (and premiere) opposite each other. I’ll be trying to watch both (thanks to my Tivo and my VCR) myself.

A look at a century of animation (wow!) on The Animated Century (Bravo, 7pm and 11pm).

The President is schedule to make a visit to George and his crew on the season premiere of George Lopez (ABC, 7pm).

Back to back episodes of While You Were Out (TLC, 7pm, 8pm; 10pm, 11pm). Room or yard makeovers done in one day with $1500. Followed by a new What Not To Wear (TLC, 9pm and midnight).

UPN reruns the second and third episodes of The Mullets (UPN, 7pm, 7:30pm).

I was surprised by how much I liked the premiere of Like Family (WB, 7:30pm). It’s a series that has a good heart and I also like the matter-of-fact handling of white folks moving in with a black family. Holly Robinson Peete and Diane Farr star.

Series premiere of Hope & Faith (ABC, 8pm). Faith Ford stars as Hope (confused yet?), a down-to-earth happily married mother of three. Things get wacky when her sister Faith (Kelly Ripa) moves in. Faith is a former soap star and is decidedly high maintenance. Hijinks ensue. Both Ford and Ripa are good at comedy, much will depend on how well-written this show is. Sounds like the comedy may be more of the broad type that kids will like (which befits the T.G.I.F. lineup). Ted McGinley plays Hope’s husband.

Harm and Mac are in Paraguay on the season premiere of JAG (CBS, 8pm). Picks up where last season’s finale left off.

Sounds like it’s mostly about cheerleaders tonight on Boston Public (FOX, 8pm). And will the mothers of the cheerleaders go too far? Of course they will. You remember that case a number of years ago. Sean Young guest stars as the cheerleader’s Mom who goes too far. And Milo Ventigmilia (Jess from Gilmore Girls) plays another “bad boy” character, this time he faces off against that new teacher. Some student (could that be Milo?) thinks he’s Jesus.

Rerun of the season premiere of Jake 2.0 (UPN, 8pm).

David Alan Grier’s house burns down (or something) and he ends up moving in with Bonnie and family on the season premiere of Life with Bonnie (ABC, 8:30pm). The show was wildly uneven last year, but the bits with David Alan Grier were usually way funnier than the bits with just Bonnie and her family– so having him move in at least temporarily should be a Good Thing for the show.

Season finale of Dead Like Me (Showtime, 9pm).

Kelly Hu and Rebecca DeMornay guest star on the season premiere of Boomtown (NBC, 9pm). Vanessa Williams joins the cast for at least half the episodes this season. The reporter Andrea (as played by Nina Garbiras) is no longer on the show and paramedic Teresa is now a cop. Guess this confirms that we probably won’t be seeing tales told from all those different points of view like in early episodes of the show. Darnit. But I’m betting it’s still one of the best shows on the air.

Series premiere of The Handler (CBS, 9pm). Emmy-winner Joe “Joey Pants” Pantoliano stars as an FBI agent who “handles” a unique team of chameleon-like FBI agents. His co-stars are: Hill Harper, Anna Belknap, Lola Glaudini, and Tanya Wright. Sounds like it’s one of those dramas leavened with plenty of comedy (though one hopes not quite as lighthearted as Nash Bridges, if it is, will be easy to choose Boomtown over it). Sounds like it has plenty of potential and should do well in this timeslot (’cuz while Boomtown is critically acclaimed, it hasn’t exactly drawn big ratings). Worth checking out.

“Mr. Monk and the Very Very Old Man” on a rerun of Monk (USA, 9:30pm and 11:30pm).

2nd ever episode of The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime, 10pm).

Rerun of C.S.I. (TNN, 10pm).

Joe Pantoliano, Outkast on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Rosie O’Donnell, Boy George, Jack Black on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Gordon Jump passed away last week. In tribute to the Big Guy, it’s an all-WKRP in Cincinnati edition of the Kitschen starting with the classic “Turkeys Away” episode (TV Land, 11pm), followed by three more episodes that feature The Big Guy. Will be doing all-WKRP edition on Saturday night, too.

The Rock, Isaac Mizrahi on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Jennifer Garner, Danny Nucci, Zach Wyld on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Tom Selleck on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (CBS, check your local listings).

Jason Biggs, Lili Taylor, Damien Rice, Miss America, Jim Florentine, Biz Markie on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Will try to have picks for Saturday online later tonight, but I make no promises.

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