Thursday, October 11, 2007
Best Bets
New Ugly Betty (ABC, 7pm)
New My Name Is Earl (NBC, 7pm)
New 30 Rock (NBC, 7:30pm)
New CSI (CBS, 8pm)
New The Office (NBC, 8pm)
New Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm)
New Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, 9pm and midnight)
New Mad Men (AMC, 9pm, 10pm, 2am)
News & Notes
NBC has ordered three additional scripts (on top of the initial 13 episodes) for their new series Chuck, Bionic Woman, Life, and Journeyman. CBS has ordered four additional scripts for Cane. So far Gossip Girl is the only new fall show to be picked up for a full season (most new shows have 13 episode orders).
Thursday Daytime
Law & Order: Criminal Intent marathon on USA.
Dana Carvey, Miley Cyrus (of Hannah Montana), Billy Ray Cyrus on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
Sir Richard Branson, healthy food, antique French Halloween costumes for children, a collection of fire extinguishers, on Martha (syndicated, check your local listings).
Tina Fey (of 30 Rock), five easy makeup tricks that can take years off your face, recipe ideas for “one of fall’s greatest treats” on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
Salt-N-Pepa, a look at “frenemies” on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Divorce 911, Plus Babyface’s High Profile Split” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Munchausen Mom” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings). “Viewer discretion is advised” for this episode, I imagine because they’ll be showing footage of actual mothers making their children sick. Disturbing stuff.
Primetime Grid
| Day | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Ugly Betty | Grey’s Anatomy | Big Shots | |||
| CBS | Survivor: China | CSI | Without A Trace | |||
| NBC | My Name Is Earl | 30 Rock | The Office | ER | ||
| FOX | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? | Don’t Forget the Lyrics | Local Programming | |||
| CW | Smallville | Supernatural | Local Programming | |||
| USA | Law & Order: Criminal Intent Rerun | Law & Order: Criminal Intent Rerun | Law & Order: Criminal Intent also at midnight | |||
| AMC | Mad Men also at 10pm, 2am | |||||
| FX | Always Sunny | Always Sunny | ||||
Primetime
Betty clashes with the new sandwich guy (played by Freddy Rodriguez) on Ugly Betty (ABC, 7pm). And everyone prepares for the Black & White Ball. Lorraine Toussaint also guest stars and designer Kenneth Cole appears as himself.
Michael Rapaport guest stars on My Name Is Earl (NBC, 7pm) as an old friend of both Joy and Earl. In flashbacks we learn how he ended up in prison; those flashbacks take place right before Joy & Earl met, so fills in a bit of their backstory as well.
Clark tells cousin Kara to keep a low profile in Smallville (CW, 7pm), but she doesn’t listen to him very well and enters a beauty pageant. Eva Marcille (of America’s Next Top Model) guest stars.
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (BBC America, 7pm and 10pm, 8pm and 11pm).
Will Arnett (who was “Gob” on Arrested Development) returns as Jack’s nemesis on 30 Rock (NBC, 7:30pm). Other guest stars in this new episode: Sherri Shepherd (of The View, Less Than Perfect), Rip Torn (of The Larry Sanders Show), and Chris Parnell (of Saturday Night Live).
Baseball: Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks (TBS, 7:30pm; pre-game at 7pm). It’s Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
A family is murdered save for one daughter on CSI (CBS, 8pm). That daughter is supposedly possessed. Harold Perrineau guest stars (he’s “Michael” on Lost).
Meredith reluctantly helps her sister with a surgical procedure on Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8pm). Lexie also helps George keep a secret from their fellow interns (the fact that George was an intern before). Edward Herrmann begins a guest stint on the show (he was “Richard Gilmore” on Gilmore Girls and whenever he appeared it was special) (His credit on Gilmore Girls was always “special appearance by”). DVR/VCR Alert: Runs a minute long.
Special hour-long episode of The Office (NBC, 8pm) revolves around launch parties for theDunder Mifflin Infinity website. It’s actually a two-part episode, with both parts airing back to back tonight.
Dean pressures Sam into visiting an old girlfriend on Supernatural (CW, 8pm). Turns out she has a kid who is about the right age to be Sam’s son. The supernatural storyline in the episode involves kidnappings and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess which kid ends up snatched.
It’s already time for the election on Mad Men (AMC, 9pm, 10pm, 2am). Just one more episode to go for this season of the show.
Alicia Witt joins the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, 9pm and midnight) as Mike Logan’s new partner for at least a little while.
A grieving mother goes missing on Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm). She believes her son was tortured and killed while in Guatemala, I’m guessing her disappearance has something to do with that. Lindsay Frost and Tony Todd are among the guest stars. Remember when Lindsay Frost took over the role of “Betsy” from Meg Ryan on As The World Turns? They actually tried to explain the change in actress by having the character get in an accident and then receive reconstructive surgery– what I could never figure out is why Betsy ended up so much taller. I’m just saying, is all.
New episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX, 9pm and 11pm). Dee dates a retarded rapper.
Two cops have gunshot wounds, and a teen wrestler visits the ER (NBC, 9pm). There’s also a kid with a deadly disease (isn’t there always?).
Late Night
Howard Kurtz on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).
Chris Jordan on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).
Anne Heche (of Men in Trees), Sue Johanson, Mariza on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).
Joaquin Phoenix, Gordon Ramsay, Vanessa Carlton on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).
Jon Bon Jovi, Eva Mendes, Klaxons on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).
Tom Arnold, Tori Amos on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).
Jason Schwartzman, Jennifer Esposito, Jose Gonzalez on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).
David Duchovny, Tig Notaro on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).
Friday Daytime
Jeff Probst is guest host (along with Kelly); guests are Janet Jackson, and Eva Mendes on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).
Angie Harmon (of Women’s Murder Club, Law & Order), Doris “Granny D” Haddock, Sara Evans on The View (ABC, check your local listings).
Jerry O’Connell (of Carpoolers, Crossing Jordan), Malin Ackerman (of The Heartbreak Kid), Gretchen Wilson on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
One-of-a-kind ways to celebrate Halloween, the Happy Hearts Fund, a visit from the “glitter lady” on Martha (syndicated, check your local listings).
Nicollette Sheridan (of Desperate Housewives, Knots Landing), Lara Spender has the “celebrity dish” (gossip, that is), a classic German dish with a twist on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
Stylist Rachel Zoe on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Transgender Families” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). I’ve gotta say, I’ve been very impressed with Oprah’s shows this season about the transgendered as well as people who are intersexed. Also good stuff about bipolar disorder; the serious shows have been quite good. The fluffy shows are fun, but these shows do important work.
“Mild vs. Wild” (when it comes to clothing for teens and kids); also a look at Bratz dolls on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).
