Laurel’s TV Picks

Remember that you can read about daytime Friday TV in the tomorrow section of these picks. Full picks for Friday should be online by Noon.

Joey (NBC, 7pm)
Series premiere of life as we know it (ABC, 8pm)
C.S.I. (CBS, 8pm)
Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm)
Donald Trump, Brian Binnie (pilot of the X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne), musical guest Minnie Driver on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

Series premiere of life as we know it (ABC, 8pm).

Fans of Freaks and Geeks will definitely want to check out the series premiere of life as we know it (ABC, 8pm) which is produced by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah (of Freaks and Geeks) along with Stuart Bloomberg (of ABC). The series is based on the novel Doing It by Melvin Burgess, which was a frank look at the lives of three teenage boys. The focus here is sex; before I saw the show, I would casually refer to it as “the teenagers having sex show.”

Well, the series is much more than that. At first, I found the first person narration from the teenage boys about their sexual desires a bit much, but before too long the series does become about a whole lot more than that. I’ve seen the first three episodes (including tonight’s pilot) and it’s good stuff. Not as sublime as Freaks and Geeks, it’s a little more like The Days or The O.C. except with parents who are much more flawed.

Dino is the heartbreaker of the three, who has already had sex, but is now hooked on one girl in particular who isn’t quite ready to take that plunge yet. He plays hockey, he’s got a little brother, and he’s got a pretty cool family (including a Dad played by D.B. Sweeney, which makes me feel old). His pal Jonathan takes pictures for the school paper and is close friends with a girl (played by Kelly Osbourne) that he really likes; but at first he’s a bit wary of going out with her. Shy Ben is smitten with a schoolteacher and then a bit in over his head when she does seem to be interested in him as well.

The show is darn frank about sex and how teenagers think about it a lot. But it also allows that they’re lives are pretty complicated; that they also think a lot about their families, friends, and their places in the world. It’s not all about sex; it’s about trying to figure that stuff out right along with other things.

Anyway. Give the show a shot. Particularly if you enjoyed Freaks and Geeks, The Days, My So-Called Life, Once and Again, and shows of that stripe. The series has potential. (I liked subsequent episodes better than the pilot, but that’s probably because I had a better feel for the characters by then; I also think by then there was less narration by the leads). It’s not as if C.S.I. isn’t rerun all the time and The Apprentice airs again on Saturday.

The series premiere of life as we know it airs tonight on ABC at 8pm; the show’s regular timeslot is Thursdays at 8pm.

More of the big Farscape marathon (Sci-Fi, 7am – 3pm).

Jerry O’Connell (of Crossing Jordan), Molly Sims (of Las Vegas) on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“What Parents Need To Know” on The Jane Pauley Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Teri Hatcher, Henry Simmons on The Tony Danza Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Family First: Follow-up” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Can This Suburban Mom Stop Drinking?” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

Baseball: Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves (ESPN, 3pm). National League Division Series, Game 2.

“Harm’s Way” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm).

“The Deer Hunters” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 4pm). Scott Cohen and Michael Chad Murray guest star.

“In This White House” episode of The West Wing (Bravo, 6pm and 10pm).

“For Whom The Cheese Melts 2″ (mac & cheese) episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 6pm).

Black Sky: The Race for Space Part 1 of 2 (Discovery, 6pm and 10pm). Followed by Black Sky: The Race for Space Part 2 of 2 (Discovery, 7pm and 11pm); and Black Sky: Winning the X Prize (Discovery, 8pm and 1am).

Joey (NBC, 7pm) auditions for a bunch of plays, but only ends up as an understudy.

Baseball: Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals (FOX, 7pm). National League Division Series.

Survivor (CBS, 7pm; airs again on Saturday).

Will & Grace (NBC, 7:30pm) meet a stranger on the elevator and end up wondering whether they’re too nice to strangers. And Jack has difficulties running a Gay Network.

Series premiere of Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show (WB, 7:30pm). It’s another improv series from Carey and friends. This time they do improv in front of a green screen, so later artists draw in stuff to go with the improvs, I guess. If you liked Whose Line Is It Anyway, you’ll probably want to check this out.

Series premiere of life as we know it (ABC, 8pm).

Two bodies are found in storm drains on a new C.S.I. (CBS, 8pm). Tivo/DVR Alert: This episode may be erroneously listed as a rerun because it was originally scheduled to air a week or so ago, but then the schedule was changed late in the game (and this episode did not air). Episode title is “Down the Drain” and it is a new episode (airing for the first time tonight).

Both teams sell products on QVC on The Apprentice (NBC, 8pm; airs again on Saturday).

A nurses aid disappears Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm).

Dr. Carter is depressed, Abby is facing some tough cases as a new doctor; everybody’s got some drama going on tonight on ER (NBC, 8:59pm). Shane West (of Once and Again) is this year’s new edition to the show.

Bill O’Reilly on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Nick Di Paolo, Greg Giraldo, Ross Bennett, Rick Shapiro on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Donald Trump, Brian Binnie (pilot of the X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne), musical guest Minnie Driver on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Ryan Cabrera on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Drew Carey, Carolyn Kepcher, Mo Rocca on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Jeff Ross, Larry Fischer on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Adam Carolla guest hosts; with guests Kathy Griffin, Connie Britton, Mark Knopfler on The Late Late Show (CBS, check your local listings).

Bill Maher, Amanda Beard, Ambulance Ltd. on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

“Shadow” and “Listening To Fear” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 6am, 7am).

“Parting Gifts” episode of Angel (TNT, 7am).

More of the big Farscape marathon (Sci-Fi, 7am – 3pm).

Tim McGraw on Today (NBC, 7am – 10am).

Emeril on Good Morning, America (ABC, 7am – 9am).

Hilary Duff, latest Survivor castoff on The Early Show (CBS, 7am – 9am).

Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Kiedis on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Minnie Driver sings, Amanda Bynes on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Wanda Sykes, Carl Reiner on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Friday Night Lights” with Billy Bob Thornton, H.G. Bissinger on The Jane Pauley Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Barry Manilow, Scott Bakula on The Tony Danza Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Is My Spouse Normal?” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Surandon” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

“The Deer Hunters” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 10am).

“Into The Woods” and “Triangle” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, Noon, 1pm).

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

The excellent “Cinnamon’s Wake” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 4pm).

“Deep Space Slime” (jello) episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 6pm).
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