Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Season two premiere of Life on Mars (BBC America, 7pm and 10pm, 8pm and 11pm)
New Boston Legal (ABC, 9pm)
New Nip/Tuck (FX, 9pm, 10pm; also on Fri at 10pm and Sun at 9pm)

Recommended Reruns

Bones (FOX, 7pm)
House (FOX, 8pm)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm)

News & Notes

Thanks to Karen and George for making donations in support of this site, toward the laptop for Laurel fund. That’s twelve donations so far this month– surely there are a few more of you out there who think what I do is worth at least the price of a (fancy) cup of coffee.

I’ve added some new links and commentary to the “Recommended” sidebar at TVPicks.net. Some products/sites I like, the links are affiliate links (where I get some compensation if you shop via them) but I don’t recommend sites/products I don’t use and like.

Another excellent Gold Box deal at Amazon today, while supplies last. Not a TV related product, but still worth noting: you can get the James Bond Ultimate Collector’s Set for just $110. Great deal. Also: Big Love is going to be one of the lightning deals this afternoon.

Could the winner of the Dexter contest please drop me a note with your mailing address again? Thanks. I seem to be missing some emails.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

The first two episodes of season two of Life on Mars make their debut in the U.S. tonight (BBC America, 7pm and 10pm, 8pm and 11pm). 8pm Tuesdays is the show’s regular night and time. Oustanding BBC series about a police detective who is in a car accident and a coma, who then wakes up to find himself 33 years in the past. John Simm stars.

Sam: “I saw your hands shaking before.”
Woolf: “You have no idea.”
Sam: “I do. I’ve seen it a dozen times. Look, half of CID will be alcoholics by the time Maggie Thatcher becomes Prime Minister.”
Woolf: “If Margaret Thatcher ever becomes Prime Minister, I’ll have been doing something a lot stronger than whiskey.”
  from Life on Mars

Rerun of the Christmas episode from season one of Bones (FOX, 7pm). Booth and Brennan and the team are quarantined in the lab over Christmas. Good times. Written by series creator Hart Hanson, directed by Greg Yaitanes. Heavy D and Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) guest star. It’s really a classic and a whole lot of fun.

Hodgins: (to Zack) “Your robot reminds me of you: You tell it to turn, it stops. You tell it to stop, it turns. You ask it to take out the garbage, it watches reruns of Firefly.”
  from Bones

There’s an explosion at a mausoleum at a military cemetary in this rerun of NCIS (CBS, 7pm). Susanna Thompson continues her guest stint as Hollis Mann.

McGee: “She definitely seemed very un-Abby.”
Ziva: “Who?”
Tony: “Abby.”
Ziva: “Abby’s un-happy?”
McGee: “No, Abby’s un-Abby.”
  from NCIS

Rebroadcast of Shrek the Halls (ABC, 7pm) in case you missed this new Christmas special and are a Shrek fan.

I feel I should warn you that the Miracle on 34th Street (My Network TV, 7pm) that is airing on My Network TV tonight is the TV movie from 1973 with Roddy McDowell, Jane Alexander, and some awful ’70s clothes and hair. Sebastian Cabot plays Kris Kringle. Jim Backus and Tom Bosley are also in this made for TV version of the classic film.

Megan Hilty, who plays Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked on Broadway, makes a special appearance as a surprise to a competitor who is a fan of musicals on Deal or No Deal (NBC, 7pm).

Rerun of the Christmas episode of House (FOX, 8pm) from last season. Wilson arranges for House to make a deal with Tritter (David Morse). Cuddy cuts off the good doctor’s Vicodin supply. Ah, Christmas.

Dr. Cameron: “What are you going to do?”
House: “I thought I’d get your theories, mock them, and embrace my own. The usual.”
  from House

Back to back new episodes of Cane (CBS, 8pm, 9pm). A hurricane hits in the first episode, there’s a wedding in the second one (or at least that’s the plan). Is there anyone out there that is still watching this show?

Alan Shore and Denny Crane sue the National Guard for not coming to the aid of a business during a storm on Boston Legal (ABC, 9pm). Shirley’s granddaughter is expelled from school and wants her day in court. And Lorraine comes clean about her past. All part of the usual weird and wonderful world of this kooky (yet compelling) show. Written by by Lawrence Broch & Susan Dickes & David E. Kelley, directed by Stephen Cragg. Emmy winners James Spader, William Shatner, Candice Bergen, and John Larroquette star. With Christian Clemenson, Gary Anthony Williams, Tara Summers, Taraji P. Henson, and Saffron Burrows. Guest stars this week include Henry Gibson, Colby French, and Jennifer Lewis.

New Nip/Tuck (FX, 9pm, 10pm; also on Fri at 10pm and Sun at 9pm).

Series premiere of Twister Sisters (We, 9pm, 10pm, midnight). New show that follows two women named Peggy and Melanie who are “adrenaline-seeking, extreme-weather loving storm-chasers in the Twister Sisters Tornado Tour Company.” Yes, really. They’ve made six episodes.

Another airing of the new-ish special Dave Attell: Captain Miserable (HBO, 9pm).

Blair Underwood and Michael Michele (of ER, Homicide) guest star in a rerun of Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm) based on a horrific real-life crime. From last season. Eriq LaSalle, who co-starred with Michael Michele on ER, directed this episode which was written by Judith McCreary. A woman accuses her estranged husband of rape. Peter Gerety, who co-starred with Michele and Richard Belzer on Homicide, guest stars as a judge; Gerety, Belzer, and Michele never have any scenes together.

Elliot Stabler: “I’m the longest relationship you’ve ever had with a man. You’ve no idea how bad things can get when a couple goes south.”
Olivia Benson: “And eight years in this unit tells me that I don’t need to be married to know when an abusive man is escalating.”
  from Law & Order: SVU

Late Night:

Check out Sue Trowbridge’s late night lineups page for talk show guest listings. All are reruns except for Last Call.