Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Eureka (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 11pm)
Joined for Life: Abby and Brittany Turn 16 (Discovery Health Channel, 8pm and 11pm)
New Damages (FX, 9pm, 10pm, midnight; also on Wednesday at 10pm)
Jodie Foster on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight)
Garrison Keillor on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am)
Dr. Phil McGraw, Suzanne Vega on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Denis Leary, Robert Klein, Spoon on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm)
Richard Gere, Seann William Scott, the Chesterfield Kings on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)
Billy Bob Thornton, Gavin de Becker, Dwight Yoakam on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm)

News & Notes

Jason Snell (of TeeVee) and Aaron Barnhart (of TV Barn) collaborated on a guide to the new Fall season; you can check it out on TeeVee or at TV Barn (it’s the same content in both places). The rest of the Vidiots of TeeVee (including yours truly) will likely weigh in on the new shows later on at TeeVee (possibly even in another podcast).

TeeVee also has been redesigned and Nathan Alderman has posted an excellent review of Torchwood.

And yes, I’ll be telling you what I think of the new (and returning) shows right here in ye olde picks; that coverage starts in earnest next week.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Second new episode of Lincoln Heights for this season (ABC Family, 7pm and 11pm). Sounds like the season premiere got really good ratings, which may bode well for this series. In this episode, someone wants to take a relationship to “the next level” and the ‘rents are concerned that someone is spending too much time in internet chat rooms. Ah yes, I remember when my parents didn’t want me spending so much time on the computer on BBSes and the like; they tried to limit the time I spent, but that backfired ‘cuz I’d wait ’til they fell asleep and then sneak downstairs to use the computer. ‘Course years later my first real jobs were internet related so that all worked out.

Rerun of the series finale of Gilmore Girls (CW, 7pm). If you can make it through the episode without tears in your eyes, you’re made of sterner stuff than I. It may not be the episode that Amy Sherman-Palladino had in her head and we may never know her final lines for the show, but this was a pretty cool episode and a good way to end the show. I just, of course, wanted more of all the characters. While the show may have faltered from time to time, I still totally love Stars Hollow and the people who live(d) there. If you’re interested in purchasing all of the episodes, a big DVD set is now available for pre-order: Gilmore Girls - The Complete Series Collection

Lorelai: Hey you got to be careful when you drink coffee on the bus. It’s bumpy.
Rory: I can handle it.
Lorelai: I should have gotten you a sippy cup.
Rory: Maybe I should get a flask.
Lorelai: Do they make flasks for hot beverages?
Rory: Yeah, they’re called thermoses.
  from Gilmore Girls

Glowing bones are found in an old stone house in this rerun of Bones (FOX, 7pm). This episode was directed by series star Emily Deschanel’s father Caleb Deschanel.

Hodgins: “Unidentified particulates: the two sweetest words I know.”
Cam: “I don’t even want to think about your pillow talk.”
  from Bones

Season premiere of The Biggest Loser (NBC, 7pm - 9pm). Alison Sweeney is the new host of the show, there’ll also be a “new twist” this season. You know what? I still don’t care (and won’t be watching).

If you can’t manage to catch Martha in syndication during the daytime, rebroadcasts will now be airing on Fine Living (Fine Living, 7pm).

Some of the citizens of Eureka (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 11pm) believe that a plague of some sort may be upon them. Oh-oh. That can’t be good.

Derek Jacobi, Phyllida Law, and Peter Capaldi star in Pinochet’s Last Stand (HBO, 8pm). It’s a new made-for-HBO movie that covers the former Chilean dictator’s surprise arrest for crimes against humanity in 1998 while undergoing surgery during a London vacation.

Ground Zero Search and Recovery (History Channel, 8pm and midnight) takes a look at the work the NYPD Crime Scene Unit did post 9/11.

WNBA Finals, Game 3: Detroit Shock at Phoenix Mercury (ESPN2, 8pm).

Kottke (and other bloggers) recently mentioned the documentary Joined for Life: Abby and Brittany Turn 16 (Discovery Health Channel, 8pm and 11pm) and here it is on TV. It’s the most recent documentary about Abigail and Brittany Hensel. I want to see it because they are remarkable young women (who happen to be co-joined twins), but also because they attend the same high school I did.

House (FOX, 8pm) treats a very annoying 16-year-old chess prodigy in the second-to-last episode of last season. And Foreman thinks House sabotaged a job interview.

House: “Look, you got two choices. Engage me in a futile argument then do what I ask, or just do what I asked.”
  from House

New episode of The Contender (ESPN Classic, 8pm) followed by NASCAR In Primetime (ESPN Classic, 9pm).

Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11 (Sundance, 8:30pm).

New episode of Damages (FX, 9pm, 10pm, midnight; also on Wednesday at 10pm). What can I say about this show? You definitely should not jump into this one mid-stream as the drama unfolds in a unique way. This is a mystery and takes place in (at least) two timelines. Savage brutal stuff, but fascinating. I can’t think of any other show like it. Honestly, the Fall shows are gonna seem pretty darn lame compared to this summer’s offerings.

The Office reruns begin airing on TBS (TBS, 9pm, 9:30pm).

Miss the VMA’s this weekend? Fear not, they’ll be rerun (again and again and again) on MTV: 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (MTV, 9pm; with a rebroadcast of the pre-show at 8pm). And you can find out what Perez Hilton thought of the awards on What Perez Sez About the VMAs (VH1, 8pm, 9:30pm). If you care. This is the first of a half dozen or so Perez Hilton specials that will air on VH1 this year, to coincide with award shows and events of note to someone like Hilton.

Another “Crime” installmenet of Primetime (ABC, 9pm).

Rerun of the season finale of The Closer (TNT, 9pm). In case you missed it last night.

A dead man arrives in a cab at a naval base on a rerun of NCIS (CBS, 9pm).

One boy kills another in a “pretend” fight on a rerun of Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm). Second-to-last of last season. Michael Welch (of Joan of Arcadia) and Barry Bostwick guest star.

Landlord: Mr. Tolson is a model tenant.
John Munch: Yeah, he modeled for a mug shot.
Fin Tutuola: You should see his layout in the sex offender registry.
  from Law & Order: SVU

Late Night:

Jodie Foster on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Garrison Keillor on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Dr. Phil McGraw, Suzanne Vega on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Denis Leary, Robert Klein, Spoon on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Richard Gere, Seann William Scott, the Chesterfield Kings on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Billy Bob Thornton, Gavin de Becker, Dwight Yoakam on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

50 Cent, Al Michaels on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Mila Kunis, Kyle Kinane on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).