Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Series premiere of Celebrity Duets (FOX, 7pm – 9pm)
New Eureka (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 11:05pm)
New Rescue Me (FX, 9pm, 10:04pm, runs 64 minutes)
Zach Braff (of Scrubs), Jeff Bredenberg, the Roots on Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

Katrina Remembered

Nova: Storm That Drowned a City (PBS, check your local listings)
All four hours of Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (HBO, 7pm – 11:30pm)
Katrina: Send in the Guard (History, 7pm and 11pm)
After Katrina (Discovery Times, 7pm)
Saving Jazz (Sundance, 8pm)
Song for New Orleans (TV One, 8pm)
Rebuilding New Orleans (Discovery Times, 8pm)
Katrina: One Year After (Link TV, 8pm)
In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests (Sundance, 9pm)
New Orleans: My Home, My Life, My Love (TV One, 9pm)
Katrina: American Catastrophe (History, 10pm and 2am)
In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina (Sundance, 10pm)

Recommended Reruns

Veronica Mars (UPN, 7pm, 8pm)
Gilmore Girls (WB, 7pm, 8pm)

News & Notes

Thanks to longtime reader Michael for sending me a $24 donation for me to put toward two months of Showtime! What an excellent gift.

‘Tis the season for me to try and get all my ducks in a row for the new TV season. Is there anything in particular you want me to cover this season? Is there anything you’d like to see me add to the site? Do you work for a network or studio or PR company and want to add me to your mailing list or doublecheck that you have the correct info for me? Please get in touch with me (there’s a link to a contact form on all the pages on this site).

Times listed on this page are for the Central time zone, please add an hour for Eastern/Pacific.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Series premiere of Celebrity Duets (FOX, 7pm – 9pm). Wayne Brady hosts this new series produced by Simon Cowell (of American Idol). David Foster will be a judge, viewers will get to vote for their favorites. Celebrities (who aren’t thought of as singers) compete as they perform duets with other celebrities (who are actually famous for singing). Participants include: Lucy Lawless (of Xena), Jai Rodriguez (of Queer Eye), Alfonso Ribeiro (of Silver Spoons and Fresh Prince of Bel Air), Lea Thompson (of Caroline in the City), Cheech Marin, Chris Jericho, Carly Patterson, and Hal Sparks. Some of the singers participating are Clint Black, Michael Bolton, Belinda Carlisle, Taylor Dayne, Peter Frampton, Macy Gray, James Ingram, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, Brian McKnight, Aaron Neville, Smokey Robinson, Randy Travis, Dionne Warwick, and Lee Ann Womack (with more that may be added later). This could be fun, if you like this sort of thing. Regular timeslot for the performance part of the show will be Thursdays at 8pm.

Back to back episodes of Veronica Mars (UPN, 7pm, 8pm). In “Nevermind the Buttucks,” Veronica tries to find out who ran over a classmate’s dog. In “Look Who’s Stalking,” Veronica tries to find out who has been stalking a friend of hers and Logan and company decide to throw an “alterna-prom.”

Gia: “Wow, how Mission Impossible! I feel like at any moment Tom Cruise is gonna dangle from the ceiling on cables.”
Veronica: “Great, now I won’t be able to sleep. I hope he doesn’t try to marry me.”
  from Veronica Mars

“Bridesmaids Revisited” and “Vineyard Valentine” episodes of Gilmore Girls (WB, 7pm, 8pm). If I read the schedule correctly, the WB is airing them in that order, even though the original sequential order has “Valentine” before “Bridesmaids” so this order is probably a bit confusing. I’m just saying, is all. In “Bridesmaids Revisited,” Rory ends up very unhappy with Logan after a discussion with the bridesmaids at his sister’s wedding and Lorelai babysits for Christopher’s other daughter. In “Vineyard Valentine,” Rory and Logan and Luke and Lorelai all spend Valentine’s Day at Logan’s family’s place on Martha’s Vineyard.

Lorelai: “What is it about cucumber water that makes it so much more refreshing than non-cucumber water?”
Rory: “I think it’s the cucumbers.”
  from Gilmore Girls

Two research teams are pitted together in the new “Blink” episode of Eureka (Sci-Fi, 8pm, 11:05pm; also at 9pm on Thursday). And some people end up using a more advanced sort of speed.

Whoopi Goldberg guest stars in the “To The Bone” episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, 8pm). Detectives Logan and Barek investigate a foster mother when her foster kids commit crimes. Carolyn McCormick returns as Dr. Olivet and has a session of sorts with Det. Logan. Some revealing stuff about Mike Logan (Chris Noth) in this one.

Will the guys all pursue their plans to possibly leave the firehouse? Will Tommy go to the beach house with Sheila? And how is Janet and everyone coping? Find out in the season finale of Rescue Me (FX, 9pm, 10:04pm; also at 10pm on Friday and 9pm on Sunday). DVR/VCR Alert: Runs 64 minutes. The show will be back for another season, in case you were wondering, as this episode does end with something of a cliffhanger. I have mixed feelings about this show and this season of this show; it does seem that Tommy and the other characters just get too much to deal with. Some funny stuff in this episode and some angst (of course) and some disturbing things (of course).

The manager of a health club wants the Fab 5 to help him lose weight on Queer Eye (Bravo, 9pm and 11pm; more times this week).

More Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty (Oxygen, 9pm, 9:30pm). In case you care.

The “outsiders” series on Primetime (ABC, 9pm) looks at sex scandals in Amish communities.

A couple of guys are accused of rape and murder after a Canadian student disappears in the “Gone” episode of Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm). Michael Boatman (of China Beach, Spin City) and Barry Bostwick (of Spin City) both appear again as attorneys, but this is the first time they’ve both been in the same episode of this show. Susan Saint James (of Kate and Allie, McMillan & Wife and Judith Light (of Who’s The Boss?) also guest star.

Late Night:

“Oat Cuisine” episode of Good Eats (Food, 10pm and 1am).

Rebroadcast of last night’s new episode of Weeds (Showtime, 10pm).

Zach Braff (of Scrubs), Jeff Bredenberg, the Roots on Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm). Are you reading Braff’s weblog?

Rebroadcast of last night’s new episode of The Closer (TNT, 11pm) in case you missed it the first time around.

Donald Trump, Ray LaMontagne on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm). Conan’s first broadcast post-Emmys, so there may be some mention of the Emmy Awards– I’m just saying, is all.

Check out Sue Trowbridge’s Late Night Lineups page for a full list of late night talk show guests.