Laurel’s TV Picks

Lost (ABC, 7pm – 8:01pm)
Alias (ABC, 8:01pm – 10pm)
Lots of season finales (see below)
Lots of Star Wars related specials (see below)
Chris Rock, Nicolette Sheridan on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Andy Richter, Matthew Fox, Nick DiPaolo on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)

CBS announced their Fall 2005 schedule today, I’ve incorporated that data into my Fall 2005 Schedule Grid where the CBS data joins the schedules for NBC, ABC, and WB. I’ll be adding links to more info on the CBS shows later today (you can read the press release toward the bottom of that page). UPN and FOX make their announcements tomorrow.

Neither Joan of Arcadia or Judging Amy made the CBS schedule.

Did your Tivo/DVR or VCR miss the last minute of last night’s season finale of Gilmore Girls? It happened to lots of people. There was no indication anywhere that the episode would run a tiny bit long or I’d've warned y’all. This is the worst possible episode for this to have happened, because the last line of the episode is Major. Argh! I’ve sent inquiries to the WB to see if they might rerun the episode sometime soonish since it was such a cool episode and many of you did miss that last crucial minute (judging by the ton of email I’ve received and the number of people finding this site by searching for “gilmore girls season finale rerun”). I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.

Daytime Wednesday TV info can be found in the tomorrow section of yesterday’s picks.

Baseball: St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies (ESPN, 6pm). Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies (ESPN2, 6pm).

Part 1 of 2 or 3 (depending on how you look at it) of Lost (ABC, 7pm – 8:01pm; airs again on Saturday, May 21st). Just as Michael and Jin prepare the raft to set sail, the French Woman (Mira Furlan of Babylon 5 fame) makes an appearance. This is the first hour of a three hour season finale titled “Exodus.”

Season finale of That ’70s Show (FOX, 7pm). This is the final regular episode for Topher Grace as Eric Foreman and Ashton Kutcher as Kelso, though guest appearances by Kutcher next season are certainly likely. Eric prepares to leave for Africa. I’ve seen this episode and enjoyed it. This is an episode that will reward longtime viewers with some scenes you may have wanted to see and some references to past episodes. A good sendoff for Eric, really. I’m not wild about the new guy and I’m not so sure the show will work as well without Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher around regularly, but it’s too soon to tell. Tommy Chong makes a guest appearance.

Season finale of America’s Next Top Model (UPN, 7pm; airs again on Friday).

Everyone seems to want some magic crystals (or something) on the 90-minute season finale of Smallville (WB, 7pm – 8:30pm). You just knew graduation day in Smallville wouldn’t go well, didn’t you? There are also supposed to be an 8-minute sneak preview of the forthcoming movie Batman Begins airing sometime during this 90 minutes.

Science of Star Wars: War, Weapons and the Force (Discovery, 7pm and 10pm). Followed by two episodes of Mythbusters.

60 Minutes (CBS, 7pm) looks into payday loans.

Sonia Braga, Isabella Rossellini, and Angela Bassett guest star on a special two-hour episode of Alias (ABC, 8:01pm – 10pm). It sounds like this episode should be Derevko-tastic. I can’t wait! Tivo/DVR Alert: Some listings and some recorders may list this as two separate episodes, most should list it as one two-hour episode.

Part 6 of 6 of Revelations (NBC, 8pm; airs again on Bravo). Dr. Massey and the Sister try to stop the birth of the anti-Christ and find Massey’s (former?) stepson. Bravo will air all six parts of this limited run series soon, in case you’ve missed it or missed a part or two.

Sarah’s birth mother sues for sole custody of the child on the season finale of Kevin Hill (UPN, 8pm). Meagan Good, Wayne Brady, Idina Menzel, and Toni Braxton guest star. We’ll find out tomorrow if this show will be back for another season, but I fear it won’t. Which would be a shame because it’s a decent show that deserved a better timeslot (and it might’ve done better).

Icons (G4, 8pm today; 2pm Thursday) looks at the history of Star Wars computer games.

Animal Icons: Star Wars Creatures (Animal Planet, 8pm, 11pm, 3am). Animal Planet looks at the creatures of Star Wars.

When a neighbor passes away, Doug and Carrie decide to buy her house and then “flip it” on the season finale of King of Queens (CBS, 8pm). Anne Meara (wife of Jerry Stiller, mother of Ben Stiller) guest stars.

Basketball: Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns (TNT, 8pm). Game 5 of the Western conference semifinal.

One of the guys continues to try and woo Skyler (Pamela Anderson) and Skyler attends a knitting group and, according to the press release, “finds that the company of women is quite different than she expected” on Stacked (FOX, 8:30pm). This show is actually funny, if it airs this summer it could be fun fluff to watch when most other things are reruns (or reality shows). Not a great sitcom or even a particular good one, but it has a mix of humor that reminds me a little bit of Frasier at times. Plus it’s mostly set in a bookstore, I like that.

“The Puffy Shirt” episode of Seinfeld (TBS, 8:30pm).

Rerun of the episode of Living With Fran (WB, 8:30pm) where the parents of Fran’s much younger boyfriend show up and are surprised by her age. John Schneider (of Smallville) and Marilu Henner guest star.

Greg (Anthony Clark) takes a job as a mascot at a pizza parlour and has other bad stuff happen on the season finale of Yes, Dear (CBS, 8:30pm). Dave “Gruber” Allen guest stars.

A commuter train is derailed when it crashes into an SUV that someone parked on the tracks on the season finale of Law & Order (NBC, 9pm). I’m assuming the person wasn’t part of a suicide cult, ‘cuz that just happened on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Penelope Ann Miller guest stars on the season finale of CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm). There’s a shooting at a diner where Mac (Gary Sinise) has his breakfast.

TV Land picks their favorite eccentric TV characters on Top 10: Loveable Losers: Geeks & Nerds (TV Land, 9pm and midnight).

Star Wars: Empire of Dreams (A&E, 9pm – 11pm; 1am – 3am). A&E reruns this look at the “cultural phenomenon” and how it changed moviemaking.

Kathleen Turner on a rerun of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Iron Chef America : Batali vs. Morimoto (Food, 10pm and 2am).

Chris Rock, Nicolette Sheridan (of Desperate Housewives) on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Julie Scardina with Sea World animals, Ryan Phillippe, and music by Juliette Lewis on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Scooby and Shaggy are busted on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (Cartoon Network, 11pm and 2am).

Andy Alert! Andy Richter, Matthew Fox (of Lost), Nick DiPaolo on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Michael Irvin, Audioslave on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Sela Ward (of Once and Again, Sisters, House), director Michael Tucker, Acceptance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, check your local listings).

Donald Faison (of Scrubs), Cheryl Hines, Trillville featuring Lil Jon on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

I (heart) Daria (Noggin, 1am, 1:30am).

Debra Mooney (of Everwood) and Stephen Root (of NewsRadio, King of the Hill) guest star on a rerun of Roseanne (Nick, 1am).

Joel gets the flu in the “Three Doctors” episode of Northern Exposure (Hallmark, 1am).

Timothy Busfield, Mo Gaffney, Dul? Hill, Danny Masterson, and James Woods on Celebrity Poker Showdown (Bravo, 1am – 3am).

“The Killer In Me” and “First Date” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 6am, 7am).

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

Sci-Fi mini-marathon du jour: Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 7am – 3pm). The original, that is.

Noah Wyle (of ER), the cast of The Apprentice, Jason Alexander on Today (NBC, 7am – 10am).

Muppet Alert! The Muppets and an All My Children wedding on Good Morning, America (ABC, 7am – 9am).

Bobby Flay on The Early Show (CBS, 7am – 9am).

Donald Trump, Miss Piggy on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Noah Wyle (of ER), Mark Burnett, Merv Griffin on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

“Say Goodnight, Gracie” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 10:30am).

Rerun of the very first episode of Ed (TBS, 11am). If you’re looking for a cool show to watch in reruns, especially with most regular seasons of shows ending about now, this is a fun one. I know I liked it a lot, especially the first season. Episodes air most weekdays at 11am on TBS.

“Storytellers” episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 1pm).

Vance Degeneres (of The Daily Show) guest stars with his sister Ellen (Oxygen, 1pm).

Ray Romano (of Everybody Loves Raymond), James Denton (of Desperate Housewives), five-year-old anatomy expert Matthew Sawchuk on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Nicolette Sheridan (of Desperate Housewives), Scott Wolf (of Everwood, Party Of Five), Suze Orman on The Tony Danza Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Video Game Addiction” on The Jane Pauley Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Alcohol and Abuse” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“The Two-Headed Baby Miracle” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Here Comes The Son” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 4pm). Episode that was meant to be a pilot for a new series spun off of Gilmore Girls, but the show wasn’t picked up. Rob Estes and Sherilyn Fenn guest star.

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

“Kiss and Tell” and “Raising Arizona” episodes of Felicity (We, 5pm, 6pm).

“Art of Darkness II” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 6pm).

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

A special two-hour season finale of CSI directed by Quentin Taratino.

And season finales of The Apprentice, Blue Collar TV, ER, The OC, Without A Trace, and Will & Grace.

I’ll have full coverage of Thursday primetime and late night TV, as well as a preview of Friday TV, in my picks for Thursday.
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