Laurel’s TV Picks

Laurel is taking Saturday off, will be back with picks for Sunday. Computer problems are still making things difficult, y’all.

A science fictional While You Were Out (TLC, 8pm and 11pm)
John Waters, Colin Quinn, Danny Aiello, Delroy Lindo, and Jon Favreau on Dinner For Five (IFC, 9pm and midnight)
Tom Brokaw, Kevin Costner, Phil Alden Robinson, Los Lonely Boys on On The Record with Bob Costas (HBO, 10pm)
P. Diddy, Jim Gaffigan on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Tom Hanks, Jackie Chan, 311 on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm)
Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Suarez, Demetri Martin on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm)

There’s still time to pre-order these great TV DVD sets which are due out on Tuesday: Season 1 of Dead Like Me, Season 1 of Monk, Season 2 of Nero Wolfe, Season 1 of Nip/Tuck, Season 4 of The Simpsons, and Seasons 1-3 of Futurama. [More TV on DVD]

You can now pre-order Season 1 of Everwood on DVD; the set hits stores on September 7th. It’s a great season of a great show. [More TV on DVD]

Special coverage of the death of former President Ronald Reagan may still cause last minute changes to the schedule or schedule changes that aren’t reflected in your local listings (or on Tivo and other PVRs).

I’ve updated my Fall 2004 Schedule Grid Preview a few times since it was originally posted, to reflect announced schedule changes from CBS & the WB, and also add some more information. You can even jump right to the grid for the Central timezone or for Eastern/Pacific. In addition to the schedule for next season, those pages also include lists of midseason series and of those that won’t be returning.

The Funeral of President Ronald Reagan will air on most of the major networks and on all the news stations, starting at 9am or 9:30am in most cases (I believe MSNBC’s coverage starts at 8am). May run as late as 1pm on the networks, later on the news channels. This is the funeral in Washington, there’ll be another one in California tonight. And there may be coverage between the two, so some preemption or interruption of regular programming is possible.

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

Robert Downey Jr., Mary J. Blige on a rerun of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Bachelor Bob Guiney, Leah Remini on a rerun of The Sharon Osbourne Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Kathy Griffin, Gail O’Grady. more of America’s best teachers on The Wayne Brady Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Take It Away!” (people who are addicted to their gadgets) on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Rerun of the “Notorious Trials: The Inside Story” episode ofOprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Bring on the Night” and “Show Time” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 3pm, 4pm).

“To Shanshu in L.A.” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm). Season One finale.

“Sausage: A Beautiful Grind” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 6pm).

Chicken Unwrapped (Food Network, 6:30pm).

MTV has a Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica marathon.

Expect lots of coverage tonight of President Ronald Reagan’s Funeral at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, FNC, and more. I’ve liked the NBC coverage the best, for what it’s worth, as they’ve usually had folks like Bob Dole, former President Gerald Ford, and lots of other big names join Tom Brokaw. I’ve watched more of this than I thought I would, I find the traditions fascinating and also it’s fun seeing so many current and former world leaders all hanging out together. Interesting stuff, no matter how you feel about Reagan’s presidency.

Premiere of a third Zenon movie for all you kids out there: Zenon: Z3 (Disney Channel, 7pm and 8:40pm).

Rerun of the final part of 5 Days to Midnight (Sci-Fi, 7pm). The miniseries will run in its entirety on Sunday.

Reruns of the three latest episodes of Deadwood (HBO, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm). To catch you up by Sunday, I guess.

A man sends his brother off to a science fiction convention and then he and the While You Were Out (TLC, 8pm and 11pm) gang set about turning “his brother’s bar into an intergalactic hideaway.”

BBQ With Bobby Flay (Food Network, 8:30pm and 12:30am) visits Austin, Texas.

John Waters, Colin Quinn, Danny Aiello, Delroy Lindo, and Jon Favreau on Dinner For Five (IFC, 9pm and midnight).

Rerun of this week’s new Touching Evil (USA, 9pm and 11pm).

Baseball: Chicago Cubs at Anaheim Angels (WGN, 9pm).

Hookah Dining, Black Tie BBQ, cakes of the future, Japanese cream puffs, designer puddings on What’s Hot! What’s Cool! (Food Network, 9:30pm and 1:30am).

Tom Brokaw, a “roundtable discussion” about the film Field of Dreams with star Kevin Costner and director Phil Alden Robinson, musical guest Los Lonely Boys on On The Record with Bob Costas (HBO, 10pm).

A detective dies on a rerun of the third season finale of C.S.I. (Spike TV, 10pm).

Rerun of this week’s intense episode of The Shield (FX, 10pm). Part 1 of the 2-part season finale.

P. Diddy, Jim Gaffigan on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Tom Hanks, Jackie Chan, 311 on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Chris falls for a rock journalist on The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime, 11pm).

Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Suarez, Demetri Martin on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Modest Mouse on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Guy Pearce, Bill Russell, Guy Pearce Band on a rerun of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (CBS, check your local listings).

Jason Bateman, Brooke Burke, Dane Cook, Juliette Lewis and the Licks on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

TV Land has a Gunsmoke marathon this weekend (TV Land, 5am Saturday - 5am Monday).

I’ll be back with picks for Sunday sometime after midnight and before Noon Sunday.
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