Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets:

New Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, 7pm and 11pm)
New Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10pm)
New Men in Trees (ABC, 8pm)
Richard Brooks returns/guest stars on a new Law & Order (NBC, 9pm)
New Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm)

News & Notes:

Jericho has been picked up for a full season.

It’s now official, Medium will return on November 15th. Will air regularly on Wednesdays at 9pm on NBC (taking over the timeslot formerly occupied by Kidnapped, currently occupied by Dateline).

In case you’re wondering what happened to MI-5, A&E will air the rest of the episodes of this season on October 21st.

The Paypal link for donations was broken for a couple of weeks; it should be working again now should you want to donate a few dollars (you can use any major credit card or a Paypal account).

Sorry, you’ll have to wait for the results of the Scrubs contest ’til next week. (Believe me, I’m frustrated about this).

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

Daytime

Baseball: Detroit Tigers at Oakland A’s (FOX, 3:30pm). Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

Primetime Grid:

Featured Pick

I’m utterly smitten with Men In Trees (ABC, 8pm). It’s fun, it’s light, it’s a pleasant way to spend an hour. I’m surprised that I find myself looking forward to new episodes, but maybe it’s because whenever I face my TiVo, there are too few shows I can actually watch while eating dinner. Last night my husband and I were having dinner and wanted to watch something and I kept scrolling past shows and ruling them out as “too icky” or just plain dark to watch while eating: Bones, CSI, Criminal Minds, House, Prison Break, even NCIS. Just not dinner fare, you know? I’m hooked on the new shows Kidnapped, Heroes, Jericho, and The Nine, but they aren’t exactly easy shows to watch either. Nor is Battlestar Galactica, much as I like it.

There have been bright spots on the TiVo that are a relief from all the serial killers and autopsies and intense thrillers: Men in Trees, Eureka, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars (the dark is usually balanced enough with light), Friday Night Lights, Ugly Betty, and the occasional half-hour comedy.

Everyone compares Men in Trees to Northern Exposure and it’s an apt comparision. The shows are similar and not just ‘cuz they’re both set in Alaska. I wouldn’t say Men in Trees is anywhere near as good or original as Northern Exposure, but it’s fun in many of the same ways and for many of the same reasons.

If you haven’t yet given the show a shot, give it a look sometime. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Primetime:

The Doctor visits a haunted school and runs into an old friend on Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, 7pm and 11pm). I’m assuming Rose is there too.

Rerun of last night’s new Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 7pm). I enjoy reading Grey Matter the day after a new episode airs, though it doesn’t look like there’s a post about last night’s episode yet.

Kevin Weisman (”Marshall” on Alias) and Roma Maffia (of Nip/Tuck) guest star on Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 7pm). Camryn Manheim (of The Practice) is now a series regular and Jay Mohr (of Action) has a recurring role. Still doesn’t make this a good show.

Adama prepares to return to New Caprica on a new episode of Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10pm; also airs on Monday at 10pm and Tuesday at 3pm). We were sure left with a cliffhanger last week, weren’t we? I love this dark twisted show.

Marin wonders aloud (on the radio) whether men and women can be friends after they sleep together on Men in Trees (ABC, 8pm). Gosh, I can’t imagine why she’s wondering about that (I kid, I did actually watch last week’s episode). And how will Patrick and Annie’s relationship change after the events of last week’s episode? And what about everyone else? There’s no way I can describe this show and do it justice. On paper, it shouldn’t work. In my head as I watch, I see flaws– but it’s still just so darn fun that I don’t care.

A woman tells her ex that her father (a deacon) committed a murder, but when the police talk to her– she denies what she said on Close To Home (CBS, 8pm). Series regulars now include David James Elliott (of JAG), Cress Williams (most recently seen as Wallace’s Dad on Veronica Mars and Bailey’s husband on Grey’s Anatomy), and Jon Seda (”Falsone” on Homicide). Troy Evans (of ER, China Beach) guest stars. Emmy winner Jennifer Finnigan stars.

Series premiere of 1 vs. 100 (NBC, 8pm). Bob Saget hosts. Here’s how NBC describes the series: To stay in the game, the player must answer trivia questions and get every one right– wrong answers from the mob eliminates them from the game, driving up the cash prize for the player. If the player can eliminate all 100 members of the mob, which will also be stacked with surprise opponents, such as geniuses, valedictorians, grandmothers and other game show champs, he will go home with the $1 million top prize. However, if the player gets one answer wrong, the game is over and “the mob” will split the player’s winnings up to that point and a new contestant gets to take on “the mob.” Sounds mob-tastic.

A hit-and-run kills an interpreter on Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm), but was it really a hit-and-run?

A young man from the Middle East is killed in what appears to be a hate crime on Law & Order (NBC, 9pm). Richard Brooks returns yet again as Paul Robinette (who is now a defense attorney).

Rerun of the series premiere of Threshold (Sci-Fi, 9pm). If you missed this series last season, you might want to check it out now. Granted, it didn’t get many episodes to tell the story, but it sure has an interesting cast. Carla Gugino, Peter Dinklage, Brent Spiner, and Charles S. Dutton are among the stars of this shortlived sci-fi series. Sci-Fi Channel will air all the episodes that were made.

TV listings say ” A Coast Guard team rescues a pregnant woman whose legs were mangled in machinery on a fishing vessel in the Bering Sea; the Internet helps spread stories of poor customer service; public apologies” on 20/20 (ABC, 9pm).

Rebroadcast of the most recent new episode of The Wire (HBO, 9pm).

Late Night

Actor Ben Affleck, TV host Lou Dobbs, Middle-East specialist Danielle Pletka, entrepreneur Richard Branson, former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.) on Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 10pm).

Rebroadcast of the most recent episode of Dexter (Showtime, 10pm).

Things get really twisted on a rebroadcast of the latest episode of Nip/Tuck (FX, 10pm - 11:05pm). And if I’m calling something “twisted” on this show, that’s really saying something. Brooke Shields and Larry Hagman guest star.

“Pop Culture” (popcorn) episode of Good Eats (Food, 10pm and 1am).

Scott Foley (of The Unit and Felicity) guest stars on House (USA, 10pm).

Late night talk show listings are now linked to in the sidebar on the right (on the website).