Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Say goodbye to the WB with pilots of some of their signature series (WB, 4pm – 9pm)
Season premiere of The Amazing Race (CBS, 7:30pm – 9pm or so)
New episode of The Wire (HBO, 9pm)

News & Notes

One year ago today I headed down to the Metrodome with Kevin where we met up with family and friends. Twins great Tony Oliva signed our marriage license, T.C. Bear got drunk and disorderly at our pre-game wedding reception, our friends held up signs as we walked onto the baseball diamond, Kevin and I got married, Johan Santana struck out thirteen, Joe Nathan struck out three, and the Twins beat the White Sox 5-0. It was a great day, even if the baseball game was crazy early (an 11:10am start? Yikes!). We had a reception after the game which was a lot of fun too (we served peanuts and cracker jack among other things). It all flew by far too fast, just as this year has flown by really fast. We’re very happy.

As always, once football season starts, shows on some networks (those that carry football) may start late or run late. It looks like CBS is assuming 60 Minutes will start a half hour later than usual and is scheduling accordingly, but that’s guesswork on their part– if a game runs really long, it could push that start back even further and then there’s a domino effect on the schedule for the rest of the night. So if you’re a fan of The Amazing Race, you may want to pad your recording time for the show or tune in a little early to see how things are going.

Times listed are for the Central timezone, add an hour for Eastern.

Primetime Grid

Featured Pick

Season premiere of The Amazing Race (CBS, 7pm).

I’ve got to admit, I’ve only watched a few episodes of this show over the years despite always liking what I saw. So when I had an opportunity to view the season premiere, I decided to have CBS send my review copy of the premiere to fellow Vidiot Jason Snell (of TeeVee) as he’s a longtime fan of the show and I was sure he could do a better review than I ever could. Here’s what Jason has to say about the premiere of the 10th round of The Amazing Race:

Given the furor over Survivor’s racially-charged format, it’s not surprising that nobody’s really been focusing on The Amazing Race, which premieres Sunday at 8/7 Central. But CBS’ multi-Emmy-winning reality series is also shaking things up.

Sure, the cast is slightly more diverse than usual for Amazing Race (which has always been a more racially and socially diverse series than Survivor) — but so’s the format. At the very beginning of the race (in a rainy Seattle park), host Phil Keoghan warns team members that there will be some unexpected twists to come. Sure enough, before long one team discovers the hard way that teams aren’t always safe when they’re not running to a Pit Stop.

Another clever twist: the episode’s final check-in involves a strenuous physical challenge. As a result, we spend the show’s final minutes watching exhausted racers dig deep to cross the finish line, instead of watching a dozen couples run down a grassy hillside and jump on Phil Keoghan’s Mat of Fate. It’s hard to say from a single episode if this season’s Amazing Race will shrug off the show’s recent stumbles and return it to its best-in-class form. But it’s certainly off to a running start.

You can check out a longer version of Jason’s review at TeeVee.

Late afternoon & Primetime

It’s the last day for the WB, I’ve gotta say I like the way they’ve decided to say “goodbye” to the airwaves. They’ll air the first episodes of classic WB series: Felicity (WB, 4pm), Angel (WB, 5pm), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB, 6pm – 8pm), and Dawson’s Creek (WB, 8pm – 9pm). The CW launches on Monday.

Four more season one episodes of Arrested Development (G4, 5pm – 7pm).

Marge suffers “retrograde amnesia” in a rerun of the “Regarding Margie” episode of The Simpsons (FOX, 6pm). She doesn’t remember Homer; can Homer help her remember him?

The debate over legalizing Internet gambling; former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski; controversial radio host Howard Stern. on 60 Minutes (CBS, 6:30pm).

Rerun of the series premiere of ‘Til Death (FOX, 6:30pm). Check out Jason Snell’s review of the first episode or (better yet), watch the Nobody’s Watching guys watch the show.

The team builds a “high-tech home for a New Jersey family with several legally blind members” on a two-part episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC, 7pm, 8pm). Marlee Matlin is a special guest “team-leader.”

Jack & Meg White guest star on a new episode of The Simpsons (FOX, 7pm). Bart messes up a funeral and somehow this leads to him taking drum lessons and jamming with jazz musicians.

The local priest decides to retire from the church and marry and the town’s people confess to each other after the ex-priest suggests it on a new episode of Three Moons Over Milford (ABC Family, 7pm).

The season premiere of The Amazing Race (CBS, 7:30pm or so) is titled “Run Fast! Quack, Quack!” which does make one wonder what happened in the episode (titles for this show are quotes from the episode in question). This is the featured pick for the day, check out what my colleague Jason Snell wrote about the show earlier on this page.

Prez gets ready for his first day as a teacher, Carcetti gets to drop a bombshell during a debate, Herc finds the mayor in a compromising position, and all sorts of other stuff happens in a great new episode of The Wire (HBO, 9pm).

Tommy and Michael’s father resurfaces on Brotherhood (Showtime, 9pm, 10pm).

Yet another airing of the most recent episode of Nip/Tuck (FX, 9pm). Richard Chamberlain guest stars.

Rerun of the final episode of last season of Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9pm). The season premiere airs next Sunday.

Anthony Bourdain in Beirut (Travel, 9pm and midnight).

Jason Priestley guest stars in a rerun of Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm); season premiere airs next Sunday (yup, the show’s new timeslot is Sundays at 9pm. Check out the Fall Schedule Grid to see when all the shows are supposed to air this fall and when they have their premieres.

Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam (HBO, 10pm).

Monday Daytime

Ben Affleck, Howie Mandel, James Franco on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Dr. Phil McGraw, Robin McGraw, Lionel Richie on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Naomi Campbell’s former assistant tells her story of the alleged physical and emotional abuse she received from her boss on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Stand Up for What You Want” on The Greg Behrendt Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Katharine McPhee and her sister on The Dr. Keith Ablow Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Will Ferrell and Jenny McCarthy on the series premiere of The Megan Mullaly Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Diane Sawyer, Rachael jumps out of an airplane for the first time, Rachael makes a “7 minute meal” on the series premiere of The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Oprah and Gayle drive from L.A. to New York City on the season premiere of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). Okay, they don’t do all that in the premiere, but the premiere takes a look at their trip and has them talking about it. It’s “Oprah and Gayle’s Big Adventure.”

A couple moves into the “Dr. Phil House” on the season premiere of Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (of The New Adventures of Old Christine, Bradley Whitford (of Studio 60, The West Wing), LeToya on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Monday Primetime Preview