Laurel’s TV Picks

Picks for Saturday and Sunday are included in this special weekend edition of the picks. Just keep on scrolling (or use the navigation links above).

Hectic end of the week here, sorry if picks aren’t as good as usual. Hope to do better next week.

Thanks to both Felicia and Scott for their donations in support of this site via Paypal. You rock!

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

Joan of Arcadia (CBS, 7pm)
Miss Match (NBC, 7pm)
Life with Bonnie (ABC, 8:30pm)
Boomtown (NBC, 9pm)
The Handler (CBS, 9pm)
Robin Williams on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Rob Lowe, Howie Mandel, Dido on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Co-host Carnie Wilson on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Seann William Scott, Danny Nucci, John Edward on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

The Rock, Brittany Snow (of American Dreams), five-year-old skateboard prodigy on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings). More info.

Wanda Sykes, Anthony Clark, Eddie Izzard, Thicke on The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“What’s Your Personality?” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Outrageous Medical Mistakes” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

Baseball Tonight (ESPN, 2:30pm).

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Florida Marlins (ESPN, 3pm). NLDS, game 3.

“Tough Love” and “Spiral” eipsodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 3pm, 4pm).

“Rm w/a Vu” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm).

Baseball Tonight (ESPN, 6:30pm).

Baseball : Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs (ESPN, 7pm). NLDS, Game 3.

More of The Blues (PBS, check your local listings).

“Joan enrolls in advanced-placement chemistry, after God asks her to stop being an underachiever” on Joan of Arcadia (CBS, 7pm). So the first episode was okay, but I thought the pacing was quite slow. Solid performances, I like the actors and the roles they play, but somehow was disappointed in the show after all the raves (and after seeing a good preview). I’ll keep watching, but hope for something more in the second episode.

Amanda Foreman (of Felicity) guest stars on Miss Match (NBC, 7pm).

Sting: Sacred Love (A&E, 7pm and 11pm).

Lisa Rinna hosts the series premiere of Merge (Lifetime, 7pm). Newlyweds have their places redecorated while on their honeymoon. Or something. Yet another Trading Spaces sortof show.

Like Family (WB, 7:30pm). Holly Robinson Peete and Diane Farr star. One of the better sitcoms of the new crop (if not the best).

Mac is assigned to defend a female petty officer who has been found living in Iraq, meanwhile Harm’s kinda out of a job on JAG (CBS, 8pm).

“A female student makes a serious accusation against Danny; a political debate puts a student’s life in jeopardy” and then there’s that stupid love triangle on Boston Public (FOX, 8pm).

Rosie O’Donnell, Boy George, Alicia Silverstone on Dateline NBC (NBC, 8pm).

“Hosts test urban legends: exploding gas-pumps; exploding silicone-implants; shattering CD-ROMs” on the series premiere of MythBusters (Discovery, 8pm and 11pm).

“Bonnie hears David talking about her in his sleep and becomes convinced he has a crush on her” on Life with Bonnie (ABC, 8:30pm).

Fresh out of rehabilitation, McNorris prosecutes accused cop killer Sabrina Fithian (Rebecca De Mornay) on Boomtown (NBC, 9pm).

“Darnell poses as a carjacker and infiltrates a drug-abusing gang of bank robbers; Lily goes under cover as a bartender in a case involving a corrupt federal judge” on The Handler (CBS, 9pm).

Classic “Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater” episode of Monk (USA, 9pm and 11pm).

3rd ever episode of The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime, 10pm).

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

Robin Williams, jump rope team Summerwind Skippers on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Sir Elton John, Cedric the Entertainer on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

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

Lisa Kudrow, Jeremy Piven, Grandaddy on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Dean Cain, Pennywise, guest co-host Kermit the Frog on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Ray Romano, Rena Sofer on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (CBS, check your local listings).

Miss America, Anthony Anderson, Molly Sims, Fuel, Will Hoge, Kevin Brennan on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Saturday, October 4, 2003

Duck Dodgers (Cartoon Network, 10:30am, 3pm)
Trading Spaces (TLC, 7pm and 10pm; 8pm and 11pm)
Hack (CBS, 8pm)
Season premiere of L.A. Dragnet (ABC, 9pm)
Season premiere of Saturday Night Live (NBC, check your local listings)

Rocket Power (Nick, 6am, 6:30am); Rugrats (Nick, 7am, 7:30am); SpongeBob SquarePants (Nick, 8am, 8:30am); The Fairly Oddparents (Nick, 9am, 9:30am).

“Fry Hard 2: The Chicken” 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

Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Sci-Fi, 8am).

Looney Tunes (Cartoon Network, 9am).

Sting: Sacred Love (A&E, 9am).

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

Duck Dodgers (Cartoon Network, 10:30am, 3pm).

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).

Baseball: New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins (ESPN, Noon). ALDS, Game 3, series is tied 1-1, is a best of 5 series. Slight chance I’ll be at the game; my Dad will be there for sure.

Baseball: Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs (FOX, 3pm). NLDS, Game 4.

Rocket Power (Nick, 2pm, 2:30pm); The Fairly Oddparents (Nick, 3pm, 3:30pm); and SpongBob SquarePants (Nick, 4pm, 4:30pm).

Trading Spaces Family (TLC, 5pm).

The Thin Man (TCM, 5pm).

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

While You Were Out (TLC, 6pm).

USA airs lotsa reruns of Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: SVU.

More Baseball (ESPN, 6:30pm).

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (TCM, 7pm).

Back to back new episodes of Trading Spaces (TLC, 7pm and 10pm; 8pm and 11pm).

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

“Olshansky and Marcellus try to help a young black man who has been erroneously arrested by the FBI” on Hack (CBS, 8pm). David Morse and Andre Braugher star.

Spam Cook-Off (Food Network, 8pm and midnight).

The series known last year as Dragnet returns this year as L.A. Dragnet (ABC, 9pm). Season premiere. Ethan Embry is gone, replaced by a slew of new castmembers (Desmond Harrington, Evan Dexter Parke, Eva Longoria, and Christina Chang). Yes, Ed O’Neill still stars in the show. Probably worth giving the series another shot if you aren’t watching The District or something else at this time (and are up for yet another show to watch).

The new police chief makes a mistake that costs someone their life on The District (CBS, 9pm). Mannion sees this as an opportunity, I guess.

Battle Sea Urchin on Iron Chef (Food Network, 9pm and 1am).

New MAD TV (FOX, 10pm). Tony Hawk guest stars.

Jack Black hosts the season premiere of Saturday Night Live (NBC, check your local listings). With musical guest John Mayer.

“Classic: Stevie Ray Vaughan: The Outtakes” on Austin City Limits (PBS, check your local listings).

Classic “Thanksgiving” episode of Felicity (We, 11pm).

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).

“The Puppy Show” episode of Ellen (Lifetime, midnight).

WarGames (TCM, 1am).

Sunday, October 5, 2003

Part 1 of the 2-part pilot of China Beach (History Channel, 5am)
Everwood (WB, 5pm in most markets)
Trading Space$ 100 Grand (TLC, 7pm and 10pm)
Series premiere of Tarzan (WB, 8pm)
Alias (ABC, 8pm)
The Lyon’s Den (NBC, 9pm)
Sharon Stone on The Practice (ABC, 9pm)
Series premiere of Extreme History with Roger Daltrey (History Channel, 9:30pm and 1:30am)

Part 1 of the 2-part pilot movie of China Beach (History Channel, 5am). Be warned that if you have a Tivo a season pass for the series, it might not pick up the movie (I know, it’s strange). Watch this great series from the beginning, it’s one of my favorite series of all-time. An amazingly talented group of people worked on this show, quite a lot of actors, directors, producers, and writers went on to fame on other series and in movies after stints on this show. Dana Delany stars with Marg Helgenberger, Robert Picardo, Nan Woods, Concetta Tomei, Michael Boatman, Brian Wimmer, Jeff Kober, Tim Ryan, and Chloe Webb. James Cromwell and Gail O’Grady guest star in the pilot movie. Written by William Broyles Jr. and John Sacret Young, directed by Rod Holcomb. “A nurse, a singer and a Red Cross worker cope at a military-support facility in Vietnam.” Yeah, that’s how it all starts at least.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Nick, 5am, 5:30am).

“True Brew IV: Take Stock” (homemade stocks) on Good Eats (Food Network, 8:30am).

Peacemakers (USA, 9am).

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

Trading Spaces Family (TLC, 10am).

Bravo reruns their Reality of Reality series (Bravo, 11am – 2pm).

Trading Spaces (TLC, 11am).

While You Were Out (TLC, Noon).

Baseball: Division Series: Teams TBA (ESPN, Noon, 3pm). If necessary.

A&E weekend lineup: The Incurable Collector (A&E, 2pm), House Beautiful (A&E, 2:30pm), All Year Round with Katie Brown (A&E, 3pm), The Well-Seasoned Traveler (A&E, 3:30pm), Sell This House! (A&E, 4pm), Makeover Mamas (A&E, 4:30pm).

MythBusters (Discovery, 3pm).

Trading Spaces Family (TLC, 3pm – 6pm).

Rerun of this week’s episode of One Tree Hill (WB, 4pm in most markets). I haven’t had time to watch this episode yet, but I thought the pilot showed promise so wanted ot check this one out. Chad Michael Murray stars.

Really nifty episode of Everwood (WB, 5pm in most markets). Claudia Christian guest stars (but just for a brief flashback, she plays Edna when she was younger). Marcia Cross begins a run on the show as Dr. Abbott’s sister. The ensemble is doing fine work this season, this really is one of the best shows most people aren’t watching.

Film essential: The Philadelphia Story (TCM, 5pm). One of my favorites. Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart.

Mark Curry is the host of the series premiere of Animal Tales (PAX, 5pm). New show all about pets and other animals.

“Sausage: A Beautiful Grind” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 5:30pm).

Newly hooked on Smallville? Or curious about the show? Miss some episodes along the way? Well, you can see the first season from the beginning as Smallville: Beginnings (WB, 6pm) begins airing this Sunday. Yes, it’s the first season again. Starting with the pilot (which wasn’t too bad, actually).

Baseball: Division Series: Teams TBA (FOX, 6:30pm, if necessary).

Trading Space$ 100 Grand (TLC, 7pm – 9pm; 10pm – midnight). Usually they can only spend up to $1000 on each room; in this special episode, they can spend up to $50,000 on each room. Doug and Laurie are the designers, both Ty and Amy Wynn are on hand as carpenters.

Inside the Actors Studio: Clint Eastwood (Bravo, 7pm – 9pm; 11pm – 1am). Season premiere.

Paris Barclay directs a new Cold Case (CBS, 7pm).

A black cat leads to some bad luck and strangeness on 10-8 (ABC, 7pm). Created by Jorge Zamacona (of Oz and Homicide), exec produced by Aaron Spelling.

Meg wants to return to American Bandstand of course on American Dreams (NBC, 7pm).

Charmed (WB, 7pm).

Duck Dodgers (Cartoon Network, 7pm).

Season premieres of Doc (PAX, 7pm) and Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye (PAX, 8pm).

Part 1 of the 2-part series premiere of Tarzan (WB, 8pm). Yes, it’s a modern day retelling of the same old tale. With a WB twist. Or something. Reason I’m intrigued: Mitch Pileggi (of The X-Files) and Lucy Lawless (Xena her own bad self) play Tarzan’s relatives. Doubt this show will last long.

Alias (ABC, 8pm). Two years have passed since (most of) the events of last season and Syd’s still trying to figure out what’s going on (and where she was for the last two years). The fabulous Melissa George guest stars tonight, she plays Vaughn’s wife. A terrorist organization wants Sark.

A plastic surgeon and two contact-lens salesmen are murdered on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, 8pm; airs again on USA in a couple of weeks).

Surviving Nugent (VH1, 8pm, 10pm). “Seven people compete within the rock legend’s personal frontier.”

“A reclusive heiress and her live-in handyman develop a strong bond while caring for an abandoned newborn. Based on a book by Anna Quindlen.” Blessings (CBS, 8pm). Mary Tyler Moore stars along with Kathleen Quinlan.

Sci-Fi reruns part 2 of the Emmy award-winning 10-part miniseries Taken (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10pm). Will air on Sundays. Part 1 airs at 6pm.

Carnivale (HBO, 8:35pm).

Robert Picardo guest stars on The Lyon’s Den (NBC, 9pm).

The Practice (ABC, 9pm). Sharon Stone begins a three-episode guest stint. James Spader is now part of the much-smaller cast.

Roma Downey is the new host of It’s A Miracle (PAX, 9pm). She takes over from Richard Thomas.

“A man and a woman who have known each other for six years allow their families and friends to plan their wedding” on For Better, For Worse (TLC, 9pm and 1am).

Series premiere of Extreme History with Roger Daltrey (History Channel, 9:30pm and 1:30am). “Daltrey takes on the Colorado River in a replica of the boat used by one-armed Major John Wesley Powell and climbs one-armed along the 500-foot-high river walls.”

K Street (HBO, 9:35pm).

Rerun of the season premiere of Law & Order: SVU (USA, 10pm). An expectant mother is abducted during a carjacking.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast (Cartoon Network, 11pm).

Dilbert (Comedy Central, 11:30pm).

The Critic (Comedy Central, 12:30am, 1am).

Crusade (Sci-Fi, 1am).

Duckman (Comedy Central, 1:30am).

Picks for Monday may be a bit later than usual, will have them online by Monday afternoon at the latest if all goes according to plan.
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