Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Pioneers of Television (PBS, check your local listings)
Season premiere of Law & Order (NBC, 8pm - 10pm)
New Gossip Girl (CW, 8pm; also on Sunday)
New Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
New Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm)

Recommended Reruns

First episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Sleuth, 1pm, 7pm, 4am)
Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm)
First episode of Magnum P.I. (Sleuth, 9pm - 11pm)

News & Notes:

Regular programming on FOX is pre-empted to make room for the Fiesta Bowl.

Most of the late night talk shows return with new episodes tonight, but only two return fully staffed with writers (and the blessing of the WGA). Worldwide Pants reached an agreement with the Writer’s Guild of America so both Letterman and Ferguson will return to the airwaves with the full support of their writing staff. Hooray for pants!

Sadly other networks have forced the return of the other late night talk shows without writers. Leno, Conan, and Kimmel have new episodes tonight; The Daily Show and Colbert Report are set to return next week.

Primetime Grid

Featured Pick

Season premiere of Law & Order (NBC, 8pm - 10pm).

I think everyone was a little surprised when Law & Order didn’t make NBC’s fall schedule as it really has seemed like nothing could stop this show from running forever. But Law & Order: SVU has surpassed it in popularity (and quality at times) and NBC had a bunch of other shows they wanted to air, so . . . we aren’t getting the season premiere ’til now. At least it’s back at midseason and with the WGA strike, we could use some new scripted drama.

There are cast changes for this season, as there so often are. Fred Thompson has left the show to focus on politics and Sam Waterston’s Jack McCoy has been promoted to District Attorney to fill his shoes. Milena Govich has left the show; she’s been playing a recurring character on K-Ville over on FOX.

Dick Wolf must’ve been a fan of Kidnapped as the two new actors on the show this year were both regulars on that series last year. Jeremy Sisto (who was “Knapp” on that show) joins the cast as a new partner for Jesse L. Martin’s Ed Green. Linus Roache (who was “Andy Archer” on Kidnapped) joins the cast as an A.D.A. newly partnered with Rubirosa after McCoy’s promotion.

I’ve had a chance to screen the two new episodes that air tonight; the TV listings may list this as a two-hour season premiere, but it’s actually back-to-back new episodes which could each stand alone.

I kinda loved Sisto on Kidnapped and in a guest spot on My Boys last season, so it’s great to see him here on Law & Order. Though there’s a kidnapping in the second episode and I kinda wanted him to go all “Knapp” on everyone (I also kept wondering when Delroy Lindo would show up). Have I mentioned my love for Kidnapped? If you missed it last season or only saw the episodes that aired on NBC, you should track down the DVD set and see all thirteen episodes (and yes, there is a satisfying conclusion to the case/series). Sisto and Roache starred in it along with Delroy Lindo, Timothy Hutton (of Nero Wolfe), Dana Delany (of Desperate Housewives, China Beach), Mykelti Williamson (of Boomtown), and Carmen Ejogo (of Boycott).

Ed Green actually gains a new partner in a new way for Law & Order; Sisto’s character is involved with a case Green works in the first episode that airs tonight.

Linus Roache’s A.D.A. Cutter is younger than McCoy and uses a PDA/cell phone a whole lot more than Jack did. He’s not shy about going out on a limb and this means he spends a fair bit of time in Jack McCoy’s office in these first episodes.

If you’re worried that Waterston won’t be in episodes as much as he was in previous seasons, I think you’ll be pleased to see that so far D.A. McCoy is more hands on with the cases. I definitely got the feeling from these episodes that we’ll be seeing more of the district attorney this season than in previous seasons, which I think will add something to the show.

I still like Waterston, Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Alana De La Garza and they’re all good in the episodes that air tonight.

What can I say? It’s still Law & Order, even if the eighteenth (!) season didn’t start ’til midseason this year. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad it worked out this way as it means we’ll have a bunch of new episodes of a solid show at midseason during the WGA strike; will give us all something decent to watch.

Primetime

Tonight most PBS stations will air the first part of a four-part miniseries called Pioneers of Television (PBS, check your local listings). The first installment focuses on sitcoms and is pretty darn good (I’ve had a chance to screen it). The shows featured are The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, The Danny Thomas Show, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. There are lots of clips, of course, as well interviews with Joyce Randolph, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Andy Griffith, Jim Nabors, Art Linkletter, Marlo Thomas, and others. Fun stuff if you’re a fan of classic TV or want to learn a bit more about TV history. Next week’s installment will focus on late night television.

The first episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Sleuth, 7pm, 4am) is one of my favorite hours of television of all-time. It wasn’t a pilot exactly, as NBC had ordered six episodes to start with, but it still had the tough job of introducing a bunch of characters as well as a new kind of cop show. Barry Levinson won an Emmy for his direction of this episode; Paul Attanasio wrote the script, which used story elements from David Simon’s outstanding book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (yes, the same David Simon who brings us The Wire). The episode features groundbreaking camera work, excellent performances, and some very funny stuff. Guest stars include Steve Harris (who went on to play “Eugene” on The Practice) and Alexander Chaplin (who went on to play “James” on Spin City). The cast for season one: Andre Braugher, Kyle Secor, Ned Beatty, Melissa Leo, Clark Johnson, Daniel Baldwin, Jon Polito, Richard Belzer, and Yaphet Kotto. Sleuth will air episodes 1-5 on Thursday from Noon ’til 5pm.

Suspect: “I’m telling the truth this time! You don’t believe me?”
Det. John Munch: “Frankly, I preferred your Jamaican story better. It had a kind of Elmore Leonard quality.”
  from Homicide: Life on the Street

ESPN & ESPN2 air college basketball.

Rerun of Good Eats: Down & Out in Paradise (Food Network, 7pm - 8pm, 2am - 3am). Hour-long special episode of Alton Brown’s Good Eats from a couple of years ago in which Alton is stranded on an island and prepares food from stuff he has there. Kinda. It’s goofy.

Drew Carey hosts the season premiere of Power of 10 (CBS, 7pm). I have a feeling we’re all gonna get sick of game shows, news shows, and reality shows before the WGA strike is over.

Howie Mandel hosts a new Deal or No Deal (NBC, 7pm) in a new timeslot. There’s a new “million dollar mission” and the first contestant this time around is a Port Authority police officer from New Jersey who is a survivor of the attack on the World Trade Center back in 2001.

The mother and daughter teams perform in a talent show for the judges on a new Crowned: the Mother of All Pageants (CW, 7pm; also on Sun at 8pm).

I recently had a marathon viewing of Gossip Girl (CW, 8pm; also on Sun at 5pm in most markets, check your local listings) to catch up as I’d fallen behind. I must say, I’m enjoying this show a lot. It’s no O.C. but it’s fun in its own way. In tonight’s new episode, most of the main characters are in trouble for using the school swimming pool after hours at a wild party. And there’s also some drama involving some of the parents as Rufus tries to woo his old girlfriend (who just happens to be his son’s girlfriend’s mother). It is nice that the adults are becoming interesting characters in their own right. I’ve seen this episode and I enjoyed it, I’ve also had a chance to screen next week’s episode where some secrets come out. It’s fun stuff if you’re already hooked on this show.

Special two-hour season premiere of Law & Order (NBC, 8pm - 10pm). It’s my featured pick for today, see above.

Shemar Moore is in the spotlight in a rerun of Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm) from last season. Morgan returns home for a visit and ends up a suspect in a crime. Eek! We learn a lot more about Morgan’s background in this episode and of course, since this is Criminal Minds, it’s not happy stuff. This one was written by showrunner Edward Allen Bernero and directed by Glenn Kershaw. Guest stars include Skipp Sudduth (who was “Sully” on Third Watch) and Erica Gimpel (who was Wallace’s Mom on Veronica Mars and was “Angel” on Profiler and has been in plenty of other things over the years). The quote that is used early in the episode is by Cory Doctorow, which made geeks and science fiction fans the world over exclaim aloud.

USA begins airing reruns of NCIS with the first two episodes (USA, 8pm, 9pm). Seems like a good place to start. The next two episodes air next Wednesday at 8pm and 9pm.

Kate: “Actually, I wanted to be a lawyer. I did a year in law school, felt like ten years in prison.”
Abby: “With really boring inmates? Admit it. You just like strappin’ on a gun.”
Kate: “More than one.”
Abby: “Really? You packin’ more heat than meets the eye?”
Kate: “Those your only tattoos?”
Abby: “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”
  from the 2nd episode of NCIS

First episode of Profiler (Sleuth, 8pm, 3am). Looks like after this episodes air daily at midnight and 3am.

Designer Zac Posen is a guest judge for a new episode of Project Runway (Bravo, 9pm, 11pm, midnight, 1am). The designers are sent into the Hershey’s store in Times Square to get materials for their next design. Wow, I bet those will be chocolate-y designs.

Debut of a new Inside the NFL (HBO, 9pm).

Two new episodes of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (TBS, 9pm, 9:30pm).

Another TV classic: the two-hour series premiere of Magnum, P.I. (Sleuth, 9pm - 11pm). Boy did I love this show. After this, episodes air daily at 10am and 9am. Episode two airs at 9am on Thursday; episode three will air at 10am on Thursday and 9am on Friday. Tom Selleck stars (of course) with John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley, and Larry Manetti. I may be responsible for this and this, I’m just saying is all.

CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm) is a rerun of one from last season that featured Suicide Girls.

Late Night

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are pre-empted and will not air. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are scheduled to return with new episodes on January 7th.

Robin Williams, Lupe Fiasco on a new episode ofThe Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Mike Huckabee on a new The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

New episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm). No word yet on guests; I’ll try to update if I hear anything. You might also want to check out Sue’s site for information.

New episode of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm). Guests still TBA, but I bet Ferguson will be able to get someone good.

New Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings). No word yet on guests.

Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings) is a rerun with guests Mike Cammalleri, Derek Armstrong, and OneRepublic.