Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Everybody Hates Chris (CW, 7pm; also Sunday at 5:30pm)
New How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7pm; also on 12/20)
New Two and a Half Men (CBS, 8pm)
New Eleventh Hour (BBC America, 8pm – 9:30pm, midnight – 1:30am)
Part 2 (of 8) of Sleeper Cell: American Terror (Showtime, 8pm and 10pm).
Part 1 (of 3) of The Lost Room (Sci-Fi, 8pm, 10pm, midnight; also 6pm tomorrow)
Part 1 (of 5) of 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases (TV Land, 9pm)

Primetime Grid

News & Notes

Thanks to the reader Tom B. for sending me some cool TV on DVD. Very much appreciated. You rock!

The winners of the Scrubs and Homicide contests should all have been notified and received their prizes by now. If you won and haven’t received your prize yet– please let me know and I’ll look into it.

You’ve still got five days left to take advantage of “Super Saver Shipping” at Amazon.com so items arrive by Christmas (it’s free shipping if you spend more than $25). Thanks to everyone who is shopping at Amazon.com via my store as your purchases help support this site.

There’s still time to purchase holiday gifts from lots of other online retailers; I link to some of my favorite online stores and favorite deals via banners and buttons on this site. Thanks for shopping via these links too (and if you can’t find a particular link to a particular store or deal, drop me a line and I’ll help you out).

I’m still trying to stay off my computer as much as possible due to wrist and arm pain; I’m saving it all for you guys and these picks.

Primetime

Ted and Lily fight and it nearly ruins Christmas on How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7pm; will air again on Wednesday, December 20th). Michael Gross, Harry Groener, and Moon Zappa are among the guest stars.

Chris plays an elf to his Dad’s Santa in an effort to earn some extra money for the holidays on Everybody Hates Chris (CW, 7pm). Things go awry. And Richard Lewis guest stars.

The Wizard of Oz (TNT, 7pm, 9:15pm).

Rerun of the two-part “Euphoria” episode of House (FOX, 7pm – 9pm). FOX is actually airing both hours of the episode together as one big episode. This is the episode where Foreman falls ill and it’s up to the team to save him. Charles S. Dutton guest stars as Foreman’s father.

Dr. Cameron: I’m trying to be professional, here. There’s no need to be nasty.
Dr. Foreman: I’m in pain!
Dr. Cameron: So is House.
Dr. Foreman: And he’s a delight!
  from House

Behind-the-scenes of some of the most popular stores seasonal window displays on Holiday Windows 2006 (HGTV, 7:30pm and 11:30pm; also airs a couple more times this month).

When a worker is exposed to a lethal illness, Hood and his team are called to investigate the source of the disease on a new Eleventh Hour (BBC America, 8pm – 9:30pm, midnight – 1:30am). Patrick Stewart stars.

Peter Krause (of Six Feet Under and Sports Night), Julianna Margulies (of ER), Kevin Pollak, Margaret Cho, and Elle Fanning star in the new miniseries The Lost Room (Sci-Fi, 8pm, 10pm, midnight; also 6pm tomorrow). Krause plays a detective who, in the course of an investigation, discovers a strange room in a motel which is a portal to other dimensions. The room also contains objects with mysterious powers or something like that. I haven’t seen this (Sci-Fi Channel doesn’t send me stuff), but it looks interesting. I believe this is part 1 of 3.

Part 2 (of 8) of Sleeper Cell: American Terror (Showtime, 8pm and 10pm). Started last night and runs every night through the 17th. Powerfull stuff. If you’ve got Showtime, you’ll want to check it out (unless you’re waiting for DVD). The first episode of this run was directed by Clark Johnson and debuted last night.

Charlie finds himself throwing a holiday party (that he doesn’t want to throw) in the new episode of Two and a Half Men (CBS, 8pm) titled “Walnuts and Demerol”. Runs ’til 8:31pm.

NBC presents a new TV movie which is a live action version of A Year Without a Santa Claus (NBC, 8pm – 10pm). With John Goodman as Santa, Ethan Suplee (“Randy” from My Name Is Earl) as Jingle, Eddie Griffin as Jangle, Chris Kattan as the head elf, Harvey Fierstein as Heat Miser, Michael McKean as Snow Miser, and Carol Kane as Mother Nature. Yes, really.

In a non-shocking development, there’s a new holiday Lifetime movie just in time for Christmas. Sarah Paulson (of Studio 60) and Eric Mabius (of Ugly Betty) star as an engaged couple who have all sorts of difficulties leading up to A Christmas Wedding (Lifetime, 8pm; also on Saturday at 6pm and on Christmas Eve). Dean Cain (of Lois and Clark) plays an arrogant boss who is part of the cause of their wedding woes.

Holiday decorating taken to the next level on Crazy Christmas Lights (TLC, 8pm and 11pm).

TV Land presents a week-long celebration of the 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases (TV Land, 9pm). Hour-long episodes all week at 9pm. Tonight’s installment begins with #100 (if you want to see the list in advance, it’s available at the website for the show). As you might expect, it’s a show full of clips from TV shows and interviews with a strange array of people. Some TV stars, some TV producers and writers and directors, some folks who lend their voices to animated series, some folks from commercials, and some people which will make you wonder “um, why are they on this special?” or “who is that guy?” And yet it’s like TV popcorn, once you start watching it’s hard to stop. And if you’re a TV geek like me, it’s great fun. I like seeing the creator of The O.C. describe the plot of every episode of The A-Team.

William Devane and Amanda Foreman are on What About Brian (ABC, 9pm) but I’m afraid even that won’t make me watch this show.

The team goes after a suspected terrorist on CSI: Miami (CBS, 9pm).

Another airing of the episode of Dexter (Showtime, 9pm) that debuted last night. In case you missed it and are interested.

Late Night

Check out Sue Trowbridge’s Late Night TV page for a list of the guests on the various late night talk shows.