Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Friday Night Lights (NBC, 7pm)
Season premiere of Beauty and the Geek (CW, 7pm – 9pm; airs again on Sun)
Series premiere of Knights of Prosperity
Series premiere of In Case of Emergency (ABC, 8:30pm)
New Medium (NBC, 9pm)
New Top Chef (Bravo, 9pm, 10:15pm, 12:30am, 1:45am)

News & Notes:

ABC canceled Day Break and I’m pretty bummed out about it. The seven remaining episodes will probably be made available on ABC.com and/or on DVD at some point. I hope.

The Nine hasn’t been canceled (yet), just pulled from the schedule. Here’s an article about the show that mentions where things stand.

Thanks to longtime reader Kiyo for sending me a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate and to David B. for sending me something from my Amazon wishlist. Your gifts brightened my holiday.

Times listed in the feed are for the Central timezone, please adjust accordingly. If you view the picks on the website you can adjust the timezone (there’s a button in the sidebar).

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Matt’s father returns from Iraq, the team plays another “must win” game on Friday Night Lights (NBC, 7pm). So I fell way behind on this show and haven’t yet caught up. Any of you stick with it? How are you liking it? I sure liked the first few episodes.

Season premiere of Beauty and the Geek (CW, 7pm; airs again on Sunday at 7pm). Episodes of this series will air again on Sundays (the same way CW handled things with America’s Next Top Model). I’ve seen this two-hour premiere and I enjoyed it and like the looks of the competitors this time around. Geeks pair up with Beauties and learn from each other yet again. This social experiment is interesting and fun (though of course some of the competitions can be a bit painful to watch when people really don’t do well). In this episode, Geeks try their hand at stand-up comedy and they also have to hit the street and get phone numbers and other things from strangers. The Beauties have to find books in a library using the Dewey Decimal System and they also conduct an on-camera interview with a writer about his book.

Doug uses a child to try and convince his wife to have “some work done” on The King of Queens (CBS, 7pm). Classy!

Season premiere of According To Jim (ABC, 7pm) followed by a second new episode (ABC, 7:30pm).

Jon Lovitz guest stars on a rerun of Two and a Half Men (CBS, 7:30pm).

Series premiere of Knights of Prosperity (ABC, 8pm). It’s a new show from the folks behind Ed. Fun half-hour show about a group of working class guys (led by Donal Logue) who try to rob Mick Jagger (yes, really; and Mick does appear in the show). Definitely is worth a look (I’ve seen this episode and the next one). Has potential.

The guys investigate whether or not a farmer’s trousers can suddenly explode on Mythbusters (Discovery, 8pm and midnight).

The team suspects two people may be responsible for abductions and killings on a rerun of Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm). The killers send DVD recordings of their torture of the victims. Yuck.

Series premiere of In Case of Emergency (ABC, 8:30pm). This show is basically a better version of The Class but that isn’t really a high recommendation. There’s a wee bit of potential here, but the first two episodes didn’t really grab me. Jonathan Silverman, Greg German, Kelly Hu, and David Arquette star as a group of folks who went to high school together. Lori Laughlin also appears in the show as a doctor who treats some of them when they end up in a hospital. Decent cast, no laugh track, worth a look if you’re a fan of any of these folks I suppose.

When Allison and Ariel find bodies, they dream about the crime on Medium (NBC, 9pm). I still really like this show, it’s the rare show that has been steadily improving over the course of its run.

Shelley Long presents clips and reminiscences by Alan Alda, Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, McLean Stevenson, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, Larry Linville, William Christopher, David Ogden Stiers, Gene Reynolds, Larry Gelbart on Memories of M*A*S*H (TV Land, 9pm, 2am).

The remaining competitors are challenged to put together a three course meal using one of the seven colors of the rainbow as their inspiration on Top Chef (Bravo, 9pm, 10:15pm, 12:30am, 1:45am). DVR/VCR Alert: Episode runs 75 minutes. Ted Allen (of Queer Eye is one of the judges. Debi Mazar (of Entourage) makes an appearance (though she’s not a judge).

Researchers reconduct famous social-psychology experiments of the last 100 years to see whether people listen to those in authority even when what they are saying is wrong on Primetime (ABC, 9pm).

A serial killer uses codes found on T-shirts as inspiration for his murders on a rerun of CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm).

Late Night

Ben Stiller on a rerun of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Robert Schneider, Chris Funk on a rerun of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Matt Lauer, Artie Lange, Augustana on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Justin Timberlake, Masi Oka (“Hiro” on Heroes), Matisyahu on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Placido Domingo, other guests TBA on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Kate Walsh (of Grey’s Anatomy), Clark Gregg (of New Adventures of Old Christine), Skyler Stone on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Courteney Cox Arquette, Andy Dick, Twilight Singers on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Jason Segel (of How I Met Your Mother and Freaks and Geeks), Wolfmother on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Thursday Daytime

Meryl Streep, Marg Helgenberger, John Stamos, Vanessa Hudgens on a rerun of Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Lucy Liu, Michael Urie, guest co-host Sherri Shepherd (of Less Than Perfect) on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

“How Often Do You?” on a rerun (from 2004) of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). And six woman with really really long hair get makeovers.

Matthew Fox (of Lost), Martina Navratilova on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Amy Sedaris cooks and crafts with Martha on a rerun of The Martha Stewart Show (syndicated, check your local listings). And Vince Gill performs.

Harry Hamlin, Lisa Rinna, Molly Ringwald, OK Go on a rerun of The Megan Mullaly Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Healthy foods for 2007, tips on how to get the perfect haircut, Jenna Fischer (of The Office) makes a 15-minute chili meal on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Mary J. Blige and Jada Pinkett Smith on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“What I Want This Year” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).