Laurel’s TV Picks

Luke may finally ask Lorelai out on Gilmore Girls (WB, 7pm)
The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (CBS, 8pm)
David Mamet directed tonight’s episode of The Shield (FX, 9pm, 10pm)
Tim Russert on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight)
David Hyde Pierce, David Byrne on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

ABC will air a couple more episodes of Line of Fire as a movie.

TV DVDs due out next Tuesday include: Prime Suspect 6, Providence, Part 1 of Season 6 of Sex and the City, Season 2 of Smallville, Season 2 of Star Trek: Voyager, and Season 2 of The West Wing. You can also order sets that contain Season 1 & Season 2 of Smallville or Season 1 & Season 2 of The West Wing. (In some cases it’s cheaper to buy sets together than separately). [More TV on DVD]

TV DVDs due out today: Series finale of Friends, Season 1 of Have Gun Will Travel, Invader Zim Volume 1, Season 1 of Jonny Quest, Season 1 of Survivor, Season 1 of The Waltons, and Season 9 of The X-Files.

Also The rest of the X-Files sets are now available at lower prices than ever before (hooray!). [More TV on DVD]

Sci-Fi Channel Mini-Marathon: The Outer Limits (Sci-Fi, 10am – 3pm).

David Schwimmer (of Friends), Gabrielle Union on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Mario Lopez, Debi Mazar, Julianne Nicholson, Chris Botti on The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Scott Bakula, McKenzie Westmore, Janette Barber, Jane Child on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Relationship Rescue Retreat” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Tour Oprah’s house, a room makeover with designer Nate Berkus, and the first interview with Marcus Dixon since he’s been released on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

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

“Home” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm). Final episode of last season. So this means the first episode of the series ever likely airs tomorrow. Really is worth catching from the beginning, whether you’re a Buffy fan or not.

“Manchester, Part 2″ episode of The West Wing (Bravo, 6pm and 10pm).

Mac and cheese episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 6pm).

Little League Unwrapped (Food Network, 6:30pm).

ESPN has NHL playoff action, TNT has NBA playoff games.

Luke and Lorelai attend Luke’s sister’s wedding together on Gilmore Girls (WB, 7pm). And yeah, Luke is looking at Lorelai differently these days. Rory confronts both Dean and Jess. Expect lots of quirky Stars Hollow stuff at Liz’s Renaissance-themed wedding. Episode was written by Daniel Palladino. Next week is the season finale, written & directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino.

The team investigates the death of a Marine ordnance specialist on Navy NCIS (CBS, 7pm).

Reruns of two recent episodes of Frasier (NBC, 7pm, 7:30pm) that feature Frasier’s relationship with Charlotte (Laura Linney). Aaron Eckhart also guest stars.

Donna Summer is a guest judge on a disco-themed night of American Idol (FOX, 7pm).

Adam Arkin guest stars on 8 Simple Rules (ABC, 7pm).

Reruns of Providence (Lifetime, 7pm) begin airing regularly on Lifetime. The very first episode airs tonight.

The best of Frasier Crane– on Cheers, that is (TV Land, 7pm – midnight).

Baseball: Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals (TBS, 7pm).

Johnny Staccato (Trio, 7pm and 10pm, 7:30pm and 10:30pm).

If you’re a fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show, you probably won’t want to miss The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (CBS, 8pm). Carl Reiner wrote what is essentially a new episode of the series, but set in the present. Sure, there are some clips interspersed here and there as characters think back on the old days, but mostly it’s new material. Is the material any good? It’s not great and it may not be as good as most or even all of the old episodes, but it’s still fun to watch if you’re a fan. Is it a little sad to see the actors and characters so much older? Yeah. And hard to know that Morey Amsterdam and others are no longer with us. But I still found it fun to see Rob and Laura still happy together and still in touch with Sally and Millie and how they react when Alan Brady calls. I suspect a lot of the negative reviews come from not wanting to see the characters aged and because it’s nowhere near as funny as the original series was. I just admire them for trying a reunion special like this, rather than yet another clip show or interview show (those things have been done for this series before anyway). The Dick Van Dyke Show is one of my favorite series of all time, possibly my favorite sitcom of all time, so I was tickled to receive a review copy of this and to see this special air.

Kate Couric goes behind the scenes of the final episode of Frasier and also interviews the cast of the show on Dateline NBC (NBC, 8pm).

It’s 10am and there are still two episodes left of 24 (FOX, 8pm). I’ve only watched occasionally this season, but my parents tune in for every episode. My Mom has been hooked on the show since the start of the series and my Dad enjoyed the show once upon a time. These days, though, I take it he’s not too happy with the show. Last time I mentioned the show to him, my Dad (who isn’t one for swearing or using any sort of coarse language) referred to 24 as “that piece of crap.” Hee! He’s also already told my Mom that if she wants to watch the show next season, she’s on her own. There’s another web special on after the show.

Season finale of One Tree Hill (WB, 8pm). Which will (unfortunately, IMHO) be back for another season.

Owen, Claude, and company play a game of “Pimp Hat” on Less Than Perfect (ABC, 8:30pm).

Claudette and Dutch close in on the “cuddler rapist” and Aceveda enlists Vic to help him take out his own rapists on The Shield (FX, 9pm, 10pm). Episode is directed by David Mamet. Series star Michael Chiklis directed last weeks episode.

Tom Skerritt guest stars as an arrogant judge on Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm). Marlo Thomas, Cynthia Gibb, and Barry Bostwick also guest star. The case involves the poisoning of a child.

Season finale of NYPD Blue (ABC, 9pm).

A teenager runs away ‘cuz he wants to join the circus on Judging Amy (CBS, 9pm). Adrian Pasdar and Cheech Marin continue their guest stints on the show. Dan Futterman returns next week as Vincent (yay!).

Baseball: Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers (WGN, 9pm).

The “Flowers For Matthew” episode of NewsRadio (Biography, 10pm and 2am). Whenever people tell me that the last season was awful, I tell them to watch this episode.

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

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

Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

David Hyde Pierce, David Byrne on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Pamela Anderson, Lance Burton, Clay Aiken on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

The “Dumb Bunnies” episode of Karen Sisco (USA, 11:30pm). Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Kevin Dillon guest star.

Eric Bana, Sondre Lerche on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Shannon Elizabeth, Lionel Richie on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Bill Russell, Guy Pearce on The Late Late Show (CBS, check your local listings).

Kate Beckinsale, Mila Kunis, Johnathan Rice on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Kids in the Hall (Comedy Central, 1am – 3am).

I hope to have full picks for Wednesday online sometime late tonight.
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