Laurel’s TV Picks

Picks for daytime Thursday are in the “tomorrow” section, full edition of picks for Thursday should be online by 9am or 10am.

Prince on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings)
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (TCM, 7pm and 11:30pm)
Angel (WB, 8pm)
The O.C. (FOX, 8pm)
The West Wing (NBC, 8pm)
Good Eats (Food Network, 8pm and midnight)
Law & Order (NBC, 9pm)
Ben Stiller, Robert Randolph and the Family Band on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

Season 1 of Monk is now available for pre-orders. Cool! Set is due out on June 15th. Will have some extras including a number of featurettes about aspects of the character and the show.

You can also now pre-order Season 3 of Cheers and Season 3 of Frasier. Both are due out on May 25th. [More TV on DVD]

Jean Harlow movies all day on TCM.

Sci-Fi mini-marathon du jour: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Sci-Fi, 10am – 3pm).

Best Bet: Prince, Brittany Murphy on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Anthony Anderson, Matthew Settle, Alison Sweeney, Train on The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings; WGN, midnight).

Jeff Gordon, Ed Begley Jr., The Four Tops, Kristan Cunningham on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“My Big Day Was Ruined” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, and other celeb couples do “The Celebrity Spouse Challenge” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

MLB Preseason Baseball: New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN, Noon). Yay! Baseball is back!

“Out of Mind, Out of Sight” and “Prophecy Girl” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 3pm, 4pm; also Thursday at 6am, 7am). Last two episodes of the first season.

“Epiphany” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm).

“The State Dinner” episode of The West Wing (Bravo, 6pm and 10pm).

Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (TCM, 6pm).

Premiere of new documentary Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (TCM, 7pm and 11:30pm). Sydney Pollack narrates this fine look at Chaplin by Richard Schickel. I didn’t know much about Chaplin before watching this and so really learned a lot, I can’t say how interesting the piece would be if you already know quite a bit about Charlie Chaplin. Runs through his career in order with anecdotes, film clips, info on his personal and professional life. Plus interviews with family (sons Michael and Sydney and daughter Geraldine), colleagues (Norman Lloyd and Claire Bloom), directors (Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Milos Forman), performers (Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Marcel Marceau, Richard Attenborough), and others. This kicks off a month-long Chaplin festival at Turner Classic Movies wherein they’ll air 47 Chaplin pieces (including both movies and shorts) as well as 12 different documentaries. Also tonight: The Kid (TCM, 9:15pm), Chaplin Today: The Kid (TCM, 10:15pm), The Idle Class (TCM, 10:45pm), Tillie’s Punctured Romance (TCM, 1:45am), Chaplin at Essanay Studios III (TCM, 3am), and Chaplin at Essanay Studios IV (TCM, 4:45am).

Kelso burns down the police academy on That ’70s Show (FOX, 7pm). Shannon Elizabeth and Billy Dee Williams guest star.

Clark gets a prophetic phone call and rushes to try and save Lana on Smallville (WB, 7pm).

T’Pol is left in charge when Archer goes off on some important suicide mission on Star Trek Enterprise (UPN, 7pm). I’m betting he doesn’t die. Wouldn’t it be cool if they used the music they always used on Star Trek when Kirk was beamed out of danger at the last second?

Isaac Mizrahi, and a story about how a teen athlete’s suicide is linked to steroids on 60 Minutes II (CBS, 7pm).

Under Sea House on Monster House (Discovery, 7pm and 10pm).

Hour-long episode of My Wife and Kids (ABC, 7pm) where the characters “find themselves reminiscing.” Sounds like a clip show to me.

If you watched Angel (WB, 8pm) last week, I don’t need to tell you to tune in to tonight’s episode to see what happens next. Things have taken a dark turn (but then this show works well when it’s dark). Expect a very intense episode.

Anna decides to move back to Pittsburgh (darnit, I liked her) on The O.C. (FOX, 8pm). Ryan’s ex decides to stick around. And Luke and Lady Heather . . . I mean, Julie . . . continue seeing each other (and presumably they’re in danger of being caught). This is the 21st episode of the series. The good news? They’re doing 27 episodes this season.

“I Pie” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 8pm and midnight). Alton Brown “goes undercover for a look at the lemon meringue pie.”

Ellie Bartlet (Nina Siemaszko) comes under scrutiny and this has everyone at The West Wing (NBC, 8pm) a bit upset. Meanwhile, the First Lady does a PSA with the muppets of Sesame Street. I’m sure there are other storylines, too.

Series premiere of Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital (ABC, 8pm – 10pm). First two hours of this 15-hour series about a mysterious and creepy hospital. Regular timeslot will be 9pm Wednesdays. I’m amused by the description in the tv listings: “Spectral forces haunt the halls of a hospital, perturbing the patients and staff.” I’m betting they may get more than “perturbed.” Andrew McCarthy, Diane Ladd, Bruce Davison, and Ed Begley, Jr. star. With Jack Coleman, William Wise, Lena Georgas, Janet Wright, Meagan Fay, Del Pentecost, Jamie Harrold, Brandon Bauer, and Jennifer Cunningham.To learn more, check out the show’s website at ABC.

Jon Favreau plays Doug’s grade school nemesis on King of Queens (CBS, 8pm).

Bill Maher on Larry King Live (CNN, 8pm, 11pm, 2am).

Rerun of this year’s edition of the Academy Award Fashion Police (E!, 8pm).

Rerun of this year’s very funny Thanksgiving episode of Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS, 8:30pm). It’s titled “The Bird” and it’s not the bird you’re thinking of. Chris Elliott, Fred Willard, and Georgia Engel guest star.

Pieces of a body are found in several trash cans or dumpsters on Law & Order (NBC, 9pm). Let’s hope there isn’t another victim posed in a shower who looks like Sara from C.S.I.. Dennis Boutsikaris guest stars

New episode of Soul Food (Showtime, 9pm).

Another airing of the “Mr. Monk Gets Married” episode of Monk (USA, 9pm).

Rerun of the “Grissom Versus the Volcano” episode of C.S.I. (CBS, 9pm). A federal officer is killed by a car bomb, the wife of a singer dies in a hottub.

Charlie Chaplin in The Kid (TCM, 9:15pm).

“Barnstormers” episode of The Shield (FX, 10pm). From season 2. FX is airing season 2 episodes each day ’til the premiere on Tuesday.

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

Lunchbox treats Unwrapped (Food Network, 10pm and 2am).

Chaplin Today: The Kid (TCM, 10:15pm).

“Crust Never Sleeps” (pie crust) episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 10:30pm and 2:30am).

Futurama (Cartoon Network, 10:30pm and 1:30am).

Ben Stiller, Robert Randolph and the Family Band on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Carmen Electra, Benny “Boom Boom” Koskey, Yellowcard on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Charlie Chaplin in The Idle Class (TCM, 10:45pm).

Snoop Dogg, Paul Bettany, Mr. Geography on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Co-host Tracy Morgan, Molly Sims (of Las Vegas) on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Jeff Gordon, Richie Sambora, Wyclef Jean on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (CBS, check your local listings).

Brian Williams, the Sounds on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Charlie Chaplin in Tillie’s Punctured Romance (TCM, 1:45am).

Collections of classic Chaplin shorts: Chaplin at Essanay Studios III (TCM, 3am) and Chaplin at Essanay Studios IV (TCM, 4:45am).

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, Steven Cojocaru on Today (NBC, 7am – 10am).

Singers compete for a chance on Broadway on Good Morning, America (ABC, 7am – 9am).

The “Dave Price Primetime Challenge” winner on The Early Show (CBS, 7am – 9am).

Ben Stiller, Jessica Simpson on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Michael Imperioli (of The Sopranos), Clay Aiken (of American Idol), Andrew Morton on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

How to get your lawn and garden off to a good start this spring, self-sown seedlings, how to plant lilies, and a visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden?s spectacular Magnolia Plaza on Martha Stewart Living (syndicated, check your local listings).

Sci-Fi mini-marathon du jour: Star Trek (Sci-Fi, 10am – 3pm).

Debra Messing, Burt Bacharach & Ronald Isley, Sue Johanson on a rerun of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Antonio Sabato, Jr., Billy Boyd (of Lord of the Rings), Wyclef Jean on The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Doris Roberts, Andrew Krasny. hot new toys, Vienna Teng, Joey Green on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“A Family Divided: Robin’s Intervention” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Rerun of the “Suburban Teens: The New Prostitutes” episode of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

MLB Preseason Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs (ESPN, 1pm).

“When She Was Bad” episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 3pm). First episode of season 2.

“Disharmony” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm).

“Enemies” episode of The West Wing (Bravo, 6pm and 10pm).

In primetime on Thursday: new episodes of Survivor: All-Stars, Will & Grace, The Apprentice. No new Friends, C.S.I., Without A Trace, ER. First part of Princess Diana: The Secret Tapes. Rerun of the pilot of Tru Calling and of another episode. Sweeps ended on Wednesday.
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