Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New The Closer (TNT, 7pm - 9pm, 10pm - midnight)
New Chuck (NBC, 7pm)
New Good Eats (Food Network, 7pm and 2am).
New Heroes (NBC, 8pm; also on G4 this weekend)
New Samantha Who? (ABC, 8pm)
Part 2 (of 3) of Tin Man (Sci-Fi, 8pm, 10pm, midnight)
New Life (NBC, 9:01pm)
New Saving Grace (TNT, 9pm and midnight)

News & Notes

Enjoy this site? Want to show your appreciate in some way? And maybe even get some perks or stuff in return? Then check out the new Laptop for Laurel campaign as I guess I’m calling it. Fairly self-explanatory really, but I ramble on anyway. Thanks in advance to anyone who participates.

I’m still waiting on shipping supplies to show up so I can get prizes in the mail for recent contests; apologies to the winners, I haven’t forgotten you and hope to get those out in the mail this week.

The grid and the picks are down below, but first I want to share a gift idea with you guys; I plan to post a nifty gift idea for TV fans somehwere on the site each day during December.

One Clever Gift

As I write this, I’m sitting in a recliner in my living room on a chilly Minnesota morning. Even with the heat on in here, I tend to get chilled so I usually have a throw or blanket thrown across my lap. Sometimes, I’ll try to cover myself completely only to get my arms chilled because they’ve got to be out for typing on my laptop, holding a book, or using the remote control. Someone clever once had enough of “cold arm syndrome” and invented the Slanket. What’s a Slanket? It’s a big cozy fleece blanket . . . with sleeves. If you’re intrigued, you’re not alone, I wrote to the fine people who came up with this product and they sent me one so I could see one for myself and report on it to you fine folks.

The Slanket I have is baby blue in color and it truly is soft and nice, there are two large sleeves built right into the blanket. To put it on, it’s a bit like putting on a comfy sweater or coat backwards– you hold your arms forward and push them into the sleeves. There’s a cozy swath of blanket that can cover you all the way up to your chin (and beyond) if you’d like. Beneath the sleeves is the rest of the blanket. This is a full-sized blanket, not a throw, so there’s plenty of material to use to wrap up your feet if you’d like. You really can cocoon in this thing. At first I thought maybe there was a pocket at the bottom of the blanket for your feet as I’ve heard about that on other blankets, but there isn’t– this makes sense as this is a full sized blanket and people are different sizes. I love this thing and I’ll probably be writing my TV Picks while wearing it (or should I say under it?) all winter long.

If you’re looking for a gift for someone that is affordable (though not cheap), nice, and surely something they don’t already have– this may be just the thing. Especially if they live somewhere chilly or have a tendency to be cold. This is also one gift that will be talked about, that’s for sure, as most people haven’t yet heard of such a thing or seen one in the wild. Most TV fans don’t have a Slanket, but they probably should.

To see pictures and read more about the Slanket, visit TheSlanket.com; you can also order them there. You really have to see the pictures to fully appreciate and understand the concept.

Monday Daytime

Keira Knightley, Masi Oka (of Heroes), Nick Thompson on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Charles Gibson, Genie Francis on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

Vanessa Williams (of Ugly Betty), Dakota Blue Richards (of The Golden Compass), Onerepublic, crazy web videos on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Dishes prepared by some of the best Italian chefs in New York City on Martha (syndicated, check your local listings). Guests are chef Odette Fada (of San Domenico), chef Lidia Bastianich, and pastry chef Gina DePalma (of Babbo).

Kaley Cuoco (of The Big Ban Theory, 8 Simple Rules), Gretta puts makeup claims to the test on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Sex Advice from the Stars” on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings). Guests include Eve, Dita Von Teese, Bow Wow, and Omarion.

Rerun of an “Ask Dr. Oz” episode of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings) that originally aired back in February. Covers botox, Brazilian waxes, cellulite, acupuncture, and more.

“Shocking Teen Trends” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings). Teens involved with Illegal street racing and car surfing. Plus a Mom who worries her 13-year-old daughter spends more time in a virtual world than the real world (gee, that hardly seems as dangerous as street racing, I’m just saying is all).

Primetime Grid

Primetime

If you missed part one of the Sci-Fi Channel’s three-part miniseries Tin Man last night, part one does air again today (Sci-Fi, 6pm - 8pm). This “cyber-twisted” update of The Wizard of Oz stars Alan Cumming, Neal McDonough (of Medical Investigation, Boomtown), Richard Dreyfuss, and Zooey Deschanel. Part two premieres tonight (Sci-Fi, 8pm - 10pm, 10pm - midnight, midnight - 2am); part three debuts tomorrow. Sci-Fi Channel will also rebroadcast all three parts on Sunday (Sci-Fi, 4pm - 10pm).

Fall finale of Chuck (NBC, 7pm). This will be the eleventh episode; if the WGA strike is resolved any time soon, we should get eleven more episodes starting in the Spring. Things are a bit awkward when Chuck has to pose as Sarah’s husband on a mission. I suspect the Buy More holiday party will also be awkward. I’m still loving this show. If you haven’t been watching it, it looks like NBC is going to start airing the show again from the beginning on Saturday nights.

The Closer returns with a special two-part holiday episode of the show; fortunately the episodes are airing back to back (TNT, 7pm - 9pm, 10pm - midnight; also on Tuesday at 9pm). Brenda’s family wants to spend the holiday with her (oh boy) and there’s a big case that involves the an armored car heist. It sounds like we get to see Brenda pay a visit to Atlanta too. Hooray for a new episode of this fine show!

Alton Brown shows us how to make home made marshmallows on Good Eats (Food Network, 7pm and 2am).

Christmas classic: A Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC, 7pm).

John Cusack on a new Inside the Actors Studio (Bravo, 7pm).

Football: Patriots at Ravens (ESPN, 7:30pm; preceded by pre-game at 7pm).

Fall finale of Heroes (NBC, 8pm - 9:01pm; also on Sat on G4). DVR/VCR Alert: Runs 1 minute long. The plan is to have thirteen more episodes air starting in the spring, but all is uncertain right now because of the WGA strike. This wraps up the first big story arc of the season (titled “Generations”) and it sounds like it’s gonna be intense.

Samantha is consumed by guilt after she does damage to her Dad’s car and then tries to cover it up on Samantha Who? (ABC, 8pm). This show looks like fun fluff, but it’s actually got more depth than one would think. I like it a lot.

A body is recovered in what was a flooded part of New Orleans and the detectives think his cause of death may have been murder on K-Ville (FOX, 8pm).

There’s a power outage on Notes from the Underbelly (ABC, 8:30pm).

Journeyman is not on tonight, instead we get a new episode of Life (NBC, 9pm) on a special night. Charlie and Dani try to find out who killed a zen master. And, of course, Charlie continues to try to find out who framed him for murder. This is part one of a two-part episode, the conclusion airs on the show’s regular night and time this Wednesday. These are the last two episodes filmed for this show; the plans are for another 11 episodes to air starting in the Spring (once again, depending on what happens with the strike). The remaining episodes of Journeyman will air starting next week.

Holly Hunter returns as Grace on a new episode of Saving Grace (TNT, 9pm and midnight). Some children were killed in a bus accident and it looks like the bus company may have ignored a recall for one of the parts of the bus. Oh-oh. It’s an intense case for Grace, but things are made really insane when tornadoes hit Oklahoma City. Great episode, I just watched it. Four new episodes of this show will air during December to finish up the first season; the show has been picked up for another season.

Owen hires Nick to find out the details of his wife’s affair on October Road (ABC, 9pm). Wow, that really doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Lisa Scottoline on Murder By The Book (Court TV, 9pm and 1am).

Late Night

Check out the Late Night Lineups Page by Sue Trowbridge for talk show guest listings. The late night talk shows are all in reruns right now.

Tuesday Daytime

Mario Lopez, John Quain on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

Guest co-host Kate Walsh (of Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy), Abigail Breslin, Congressman Ron Paul on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

The couple who performed an amazing wedding dance to “Baby Got Back,” Bryan Datillo (from Days of Our Lives), Snoop Dogg, winner of “Best In Show” at the National Dog Show, plus four new breeds that will make their debut at Westminster on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Cookbook editor Judith Jones talks about her new book The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, butterscotch cookies, pop-up holiday cards, a pop-up book collection, handmade holiday projects on Martha (syndicated, check your local listings).

Their “biggest mystery taster ever” (I think they mean the biggest star they’ve had do this), plus the winners of the latest round of Dancing with the Stars on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Kim Kardashian, Good Charlotte on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

No, this isn’t a rerun, it’s a new episode with author Elizabeth Gilbert and more talk about her book Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Doomed from the Start?” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings). Marriages that are off to bad starts. With guest Bishop T.D. Jakes.