Laurel’s TV Picks

Just a reminder that picks for Friday daytime are available in the “tomorrow section” towards the bottom of the page. Full picks for Friday, including a review of the new series The Help, will be online later this morning (by Noon for sure).

MLB Preseason Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs (ESPN, 1pm)
The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime, 9pm)
Princess Diana: The Secret Tapes (NBC, 8:59pm)
Series premiere of Tripping the Rift (Sci-Fi, 9:30pm and 11pm)
Willem Dafoe on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight)
Viggo Mortensen, Sting on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

Don’t forget to pre-order season 4 of Homicide: Life on the Street, it’s due out on March 30th. I’ve seen the set already and it’s wonderful. The episodes themselves are among the best ever to air on TV, the featurette is nifty, and the commentary track is fabulously funny and interesting. I only wish there were more extras, but I’m just so delighted the show is being made available on DVD uncut and with all the original music intact. I’ve posted a first draft of my review of the new set. Also available: seasons 1 – 3 of this groundbreaking series (it’s probably my favorite show of all time).

You can now pre-order the final season of The X-Files, which is due out on May 11th. The great news? The set costs much less than previous X-Files season sets. The even better news? The price of all X-Files sets will be lowered in May (if not sooner). I’ll let y’all know as soon as the new pricing shows up. If you’ve already bought all the sets, this news may make you cranky (but then you’ve had the sets to enjoy!); if you’re like me and only have some of the sets, you now might be able to afford to complete your collection.

You can now pre-order season 1 of The Jetsons on DVD. Due out May 11th.

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. [More TV on DVD]

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; WGN, midnight).

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).

NBA basketball doubleheader on TNT (TNT, starting at 6pm).

TV Land airs a mini-marathon of Starsky & Hutch (TV Land, 7pm – 1am). Presumably ‘cuz of the movie premiere tomorrow. Episodes are “Savage Sunday,” “The Fix, ” “The Psychic,” “Murder on Stage 17,” “The Action,” and “Satan’s Witches.” Stars who appear in these episodes include: Jeff Goldblum, Suzanne Somers, Robert Loggia, Edward James Olmos, James Sikking, M. Emmet Walsh, John Carradine, and Charles Napier.

The True Story of Hidalgo (History, 7pm).

Rocky (TCM, 7pm, letterbox), Rocky II (TCM, 9:15pm, letterbox), Rocky III (TCM, 11:30pm, letterbox), and Rocky IV (TCM, 1:15am). Back when I was in high school, I used to watch the first three Rocky movies on tape (or videodisc) a lot. Not as much as I watched the Star Wars movies, though. Anytime my parents would leave me home alone for a few hours, I’d be watching those movies. You know what? Those first three Rocky movies are still good (and even Rocky IV has some decent stuff in it). I never bothered with any later Rocky films.

Someone has “an explosive reaction” (whatever that means) on a new Survivor: All-Stars (CBS, 7pm).

Fans voted for their favorite episodes of Friends. Tonight NBC airs the 6th most popular Friends (NBC, 7pm) according to the fans who voted. No, I don’t know which episode; the truly curious will have to tune in (or read about it tomorrow).

Jason Priestley will be joining the cast of Tru Calling later this month. In case you’re a latecomer to the series or plan to start watching it ‘cuz of Priestley, FOX is showing the very first episode again (FOX, 7pm), followed by another old episode (FOX, 8pm). The other episode is the 7th episode, the one where Tru wakes up next to her dead boyfriend (eek!). Hudson Leick and Callum Keith Rennie guest star in the pilot. Do I recommend the show? Not really. I found the pilot weak and the episodes I’ve seen since then have been better, but not great. It’s one of those shows I would only watch if there isn’t anything else on I truly like or if I’m curious ‘cuz of a particular plot or guest star. Eliza Dushku deserves a better project.

What’s New in Vegas? 2004 (Travel, 7pm and 10pm).

John Cleese, Minnie Driver, and Dave Foley guest star (again) on Will & Grace (NBC, 7:30pm). Part 2 of a 2-parter wherein Will & Grace try to “flip” an apartment. Jack and Stuart want the apartment they’re selling, but what happens when they get a better offer from someone else?

Series premiere of Mad Mad House (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10pm). Sci-Fi channel description: “Five practitioners of “alternative lifestyles”– a Wiccan, a Naturist, a Modern Primitive, a Voodoo Priestess and a real-life Vampire (known collectively as the Alts)– rule the roost. Meanwhile, 10 ordinary folks move into the House as the Alts’ Guests– and compete against one another for the $100,000 jackpot.” Wanna know more? Check out the official website. Could be interesting or just plain lame, it’s really hard to say.

Gil goes to Jackpot, Nevada after he receives a human head in the mail on a rerun of C.S.I. (CBS, 8pm). Jeffrey Combs guest stars.

Katie Couric on Larry King Live (CNN, 8pm, 11pm, 2am).

Cyndi Lauper guest stars on The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime, 9pm; also Friday and Saturday at 11pm). Chris has a yard sale and accidently sells something precious to Cyndi Lauper.

Premiere of Princess Diana: The Secret Tapes (NBC, 8:59pm). Part 1 of a 2 part special report. Features the world premiere of audio and video footage of one-on-one interviews with Princess Diana. The special also features interviews with some of Diana’s closest friends and confidants, some of whom haven’t spoken in public before about her death (and life).

If you normally watch ER and aren’t interested in the Diana tapes, I heartily recommend this rerun of Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm). Rerun of the “Copycat” episode. A woman is missing and the facts of the case seem to fit a case Malone worked years ago. Is it legit or is someone messing with Malone? I wonder if this is the episode that earned LaPaglia his Golden Globe . . . I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Directed by Tim Matheson.

Season premiere of Making the Band (MTV, 9pm). This time the band gets to live with P. Diddy.

Another airing of this weeks new episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo, 9pm). Featuring Warren, who writes musicals.

Academy Award Fashion Police (E!, 9pm).

Season premiere of Scare Tactics (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11:30pm).

Series premiere of Tripping the Rift (Sci-Fi, 9:30pm and 11pm). Series based on a short CGI animated film that was quite popular for a while. You can find out more about the show on the Sci-Fi site. The short was a cute bit of animated sci-fi, so it’s possible this will be a decent series. Stephen Root and Gina Gershon do voice work on this show. All of these Sci-Fi Channel shows will air at least a couple more times on Sci-Fi, too.

“Scar Tissue” episode of The Shield (FX, 10pm). From season 2. Season 3 starts on March 9th.

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

Breakfast food Unwrapped (Food Network, 10pm and 2am).

“Apple Family Values” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 10:30pm and 2:30am). Alton Brown rocks.

Jim Norton, Greg Giraldo, Nick DiPaolo, Keith Robinson on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Viggo Alert: Viggo Mortensen, Sting on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Christina Ricci, kid inventors, Mya on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Michael Imperioli (of The Sopranos), Tom Jones on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Co-host Tracy Morgan, with guests Jerry Springer, Phil McCracken, Ben Stein on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Carmen Electra, Tricia Helfer, Diane Schuur on The Late Late Show (CBS, check your local listings).

Damon Wayans, Anna Paquin, the Von Bondies on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Jill Hennessey (of Crossing Jordan), Carmen Electra, chef Clare Crespo discusses twinkie sushi (!) on Today (NBC, 7am – 10am).

Omar Sharif, Joel Siegel, Jim Karas on Good Morning, America (ABC, 7am – 9am).

Survivor: All-Stars castoff on The Early Show (CBS, 7am – 9am).

Viggo Alert: Viggo Mortensen, Jill Hennessy (of Crossing Jordan) on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Snoop Dogg on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

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

Gwyneth Paltrow, Alicia Keys on a rerun of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Jennifer Tilly co-hosts, with guests Daisy Fuentes, Dayna Devon, and Johnathon Schaech on The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Jacqueline Bisset, Tom Kenny, Sean Patrick Thomas, Peter Cincotti, Sean Conway on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Single and Sick of It” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Rerun of the “Meet the Golden Globe Nominees” episode of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). With guests Charlize Theron, Jennifer Garner (of Alias), the cast of Will & Grace.

MLB Preseason Baseball: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees (ESPN, Noon).

“Some Assembly Required” and “School Hard” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 3pm, 4pm). Spike appears for the first time on the show in “School Hard.”

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

In Friday primetime expect: New episodes of Stargate SG-1, Hope & Faith, Life With Bonnie, Third Watch, Dweezil & Lisa. FOX airs the special Test The Nation 2. Joan of Arcadia is a rerun, lots of other reruns. Ethan Hawke (of all people) on 20/20. Series premiere of The Help. Season finale of Monk. Full coverage in my picks for Friday.
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