Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Everybody Hates Chris (CW, 7pm)
New How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7pm)
New Prison Break (FOX, 7pm)
New Heroes (NBC, 8pm)
New Two and a Half Men (CBS, 8pm)
New Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, 9pm)
Will Ferrell, Jack Hanna on Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Hugh Laurie (of House), America Ferrara (of Ugly Betty), the Cheetah Girls on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm)
Russell Crowe, Jorge Garcia (”Hurley” on Lost) on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)
Val Kilmer, Rebecca Gayheart, Paolo Nutini on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm)
Lauren Graham (of Gilmore Girls), Ricardo Chavira, Anita Baker on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings)

Primetime Grid

News & Notes

By default the times listed are for the Central timezone and that’s what you’ll see if you’re reading these picks via feed or email; on the website you should be able to toggle between timezones (will be up later today).

Primetime

Ted and Barney try to convince Marshall his new girlfriend is crazy on How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7pm). Morena Baccarin is one of the guest stars (she was “Inara” on Firefly) and Tom Lenk is another (he was “Andrew” on Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I guess they’re feeling the Whedon love on this show, eh? I think it’s cool that so many people from Joss Whedon shows and from Freaks and Geeks have appeared on this show given that alums from both series are regulars on the show (Alyson Hannigan of Buffy and Jason Segal of Freaks and Geeks). Surely it’s only a matter of time before we get special appearances by former cast members of Doogie Houser.

Jason Alexander (of Seinfeld, Duckman) guest stars as the new principal of Chris’ school on Everybody Hates Chris (CW, 7pm; airs again on Sunday at 5:30pm in many markets).

Mahone and Kellerman try to keep Michael and Sarah apart and lots of other stuff happens on Prison Break (FOX, 7pm). Honestly, you don’t want me to tell you what’s going to happen, do you? That would ruin all the fun.

All the usual ABC Monday shows are pre-empted tonight in favor of the 40th Annual CMA Awards (ABC, 7pm - 10pm). That’s the Country Music Awards, though the logo they’re using looks so much like a Star Trek logo that I keep joking that this is a 40th Anniversary of Star Trek special (alas, it’s not). But if you’re a fan of country music, you may want to check this out. Brooks & Dunn host; scheduled performers include Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson, George Strait, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts, and Carrie Underwood. If you’re really into this, you might want to check out the pre-show coverage (CMT, 6pm).

The Director’s Cut of 1776 (TCM, 7pm - 10pm).

Did you try to catch the reruns of Threshold on Sci-Fi on Fridays only to be disappointed when they stopped showing episodes on Fridays? Sci-Fi is airing both parts of the series premiere of Threshold again tonight (Sci-Fi, 7pm, 8pm) followed by the next episode (Sci-Fi, 9pm). Sci-Fi now plans to air three episodes each Monday (Mondays, 7pm - 10pm on Sci-Fi). Carla Gugino, Charles S. Dutton, Peter Dinklage, Brent Spiner, Robert Patrick Benedict, and Brian Van Holt star in this shortlived science fiction series from last season. William Mapother guest stars. Sci-Fi will be airing all thirteen episodes (including four episodes that were never broadcast on CBS). The series is available on DVD. I thought the show had potential and certainly had an interesting cast, but (like many it seems) I didn’t stick with it through all the episodes CBS aired (did you? what did you think?).

Cavennaugh: “Call me if you find anything weird.”
Molly: “That’ll be our motto.”
  from Threshold

Ethan and Kat hijack other peoples’ blind dates on The Class (CBS, 7:30pm). And someone asks someone else to go see his old band (from high school).

I can’t even begin to list the things that may happen on tonight’s new episode of Heroes (NBC, 8pm; also at 6pm on Friday on Sci-Fi) and I’m not sure I even should because surprise is part of the fun on this show too. Richard Roundtree and Rena Sofer guest star. This remains one of my favorite shows of the season. Fun stuff. Miss last week’s new episode? It airs again tonight (Sci-Fi, 6pm).

Sara Rue (who was “Claude” on Less Than Perfect) guest stars on Two and a Half Men (CBS, 8pm) as Berta’s daughter. Charlie helps Berta confront one of her daughter’s boyfriends and I’m happy about this storyline because I’m always happy when Conchata Ferrell gets more to do on this show. And “Alan satisfies a secret fetish” and I’m a little frightened by that storyline. DVR/VCR Alert: Show runs 31 minutes instead of the usual 30.

When a dot-com billionaire’s wife is found dead, the firm must prove that their client did not feed her to the sharks (literally, I assume) on Justice (FOX, 8pm). Mackenzie Astin guest stars.

Ritchie wins a “playdate” with his teacher (Blair Underwood) and Christine’s pretty happy about that on The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS, 8:31pm). Until complications ensue as they so often do on sitcoms. DVR/VCR Alert: Starts at 8:31pm.

Tom (Nathan Corddry) ends up in jail in Nevada and a group of folks from the show and/or network head down there to get him out of jail and back to L.A. in time for a taping of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, 9pm). John Goodman guest stars as a judge who really doesn’t care for the show (oh-oh). Part 1 of a 2-part episode and I sure hope it’s good (I’m thinking getting a group away from the set could be interesting).

A man is decapitated while performing a stunt on CSI: Miami (CBS, 9pm). Samaire Armstrong is among the guest stars (she was “Anna” on The OC).

Late Night

Some crazy good guest stars tonight on the late night talk shows, sure can tell it’s November sweeps. For full listings, check our the link to Sue’s Late Night page in the sidebar.

Rebroadcast of the latest new episode of Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 10pm) which debuted on Friday. In “Torn” the Cylons face a new threat . . . a disease.

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

Jerry Seinfeld on The Daily Show (Comedy, 10pm and midnight).

Will Ferrell, Jack Hanna on Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Hugh Laurie (of House), America Ferrara (of Ugly Betty), the Cheetah Girls on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Russell Crowe, Jorge Garcia (”Hurley” on Lost) on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Val Kilmer, Rebecca Gayheart, Paolo Nutini on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Lauren Graham (of Gilmore Girls), Ricardo Chavira, Anita Baker on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

James Stewart stars in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (TCM, midnight).