Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Smallville (CW, 7pm)
New 30 Rock (NBC, 8pm)
New CSI (CBS, 8pm)
New Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm)
New Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, 9pm and midnight)

News & Notes

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Primetime Grid

Primetime

NBA hoops on TNT: Wizards at Heat, Spurs at Lakers.

Clark returns to Smallville (CW, 7pm) with plans to bring Lex down. And Chloe makes a confession when her life is in danger. Written by Caroline Dries, directed by Whitney Ransick.

Betty finds out a secret about Wilhelmina’s bodyguard on a rerun of Ugly Betty (ABC, 7pm). Henry returns to work. Alexis has amnesia, Amanda gets an inheritance. This was the second episode of this season. Written by Bill Wrubel, directed by Victor Nelli Jr.

Rerun of last year’s hour-long “Benihaha Christmas” episode of The Office (NBC, 7pm - 8pm). Written by Jennifer Celotta, directed by Harold Ramis.

Jim: “It’s a bold move to Photoshop yourself into a picture with your girlfriend and her kids on a ski trip with their real father, but then again Michael is a bold guy. Is bold the right word?”
  from The Office

NFL Football: Denver at Houston (NFL Network, 7:15pm).

Buck Henry and Anita Gillette guest star as Liz Lemon’s parents, Andy Richter guest stars as her “memory-challenged” brother on a new holiday 30 Rock (NBC, 8pm). Elaine Stritch also guest stars as Jack’s Mom; she tries to get the Lemon family to stop being so darn cheerful. This should be fun!

A socialite is found dead on C.S.I. (CBS, 8pm) and Warrick is a suspect in another murder. I thought last week’s episode was just awful, which was disappointing given I really like the character of Warrick and was looking forward to him getting a bit more to do than usual. Here’s hoping tonight’s episode is better. Rebecca Budig guest stars again as an exotic dancer, presumably in flashback. One thing sure to make this episode a little fun: we get to see Dr. Robbins (Robert David Hall) in a whole new light when his band performs (they’re a band in real life too called Dr. Robbins & the DeComps). Written by Christopher Barbour and Michael F.X. Daley, directed by Michael Slovis.

Rerun of the second episode of this season of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8pm). Burke’s Mom pays the hospital a visit, Callie is overwhelmed by her new job, and an explosion in an apartment building sends a lot of folks to the hospital. Diahann Carroll and Ben Vereen guest star. Written by Debora Cahn, directed by James Frawley.

Sam and Dean investigate a series of murders where victims were pulled up chimneys on Supernatural (CW, 8pm). Could this be the work of an “anti-Santa”? Guess so. Certainly sounds like a cheery holiday episode. Written by Jeremy Carver, directed by J. Miller Tobin.

Saturday Night Live Christmas (NBC, 8:30pm - 10pm) is a collection of holiday themed sketches from previous seasons of Saturday Night Live.

Fall finale of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, 9pm and midnight; also on Saturday at 10pm). I’ve seen this episode and it’s a good one, though at times it feels like they’re trying to hard to make this a “special episode” that tugs at one’s heartstrings. Detectives Logan and Falacci investigate the shooting of three college students.

A smart college kid disappears on Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm) while playing Santa at a mall. Written by David Amann and Alicia Kirk, directed by Bobby Roth.

Duff, Mary Alice, and Geof travel to New York to discuss the design of the cake being made for the 75th anniversary of the Rockettes’ Christmas spectacular on a new Ace of Cakes (Food Network, 9pm and midnight).

New episode of Run’s House (MTV, 9pm and 11:30pm).

If you watched last night’s rerun of the series premiere of Private Practice and liked what you saw, you might want to check out tonight’s rerun of Private Practice (ABC, 9pm) as it’s of the second episode of this season. The doctors discover that a child may have been switched at birth with another, a grandmother takes a unique approach to keep her son from drinking, and Sam received an unexpected visitor courtesy of the guys.

Naomi: “No Ginger. She can’t be her. Ginger can’t be her.”
Sam: “Okay, you’re gonna have to translate from freaked out language to normal people language.”
Naomi: “The first woman that you date after me– She has to be . . . Look, she cannot be some stripper with clear platform shoes and a suspicious skin condition.”
Sam: “Eventually, Naomi, I am going to start dating.”
Naomi: “I know that.”
Sam: “And when that happens you do not get a say in who I date.”
Naomi: “I. Know. That.”
Sam: “So . . . ”
Naomi: “So . . . fine. Date. But it can’t be Ginger.”
Sam: “And we’re back to crazy.”
  from Private Practice

Late Night

Check out Sue’s page for Late Night Lineups.