Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Antiques Roadshow (PBS, check your local listings)
New Kyle XY (ABC Family; 7pm and 11pm)
New Good Eats (Food Network, 7pm and 2am)
New Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, 8pm)
New In Treatment (HBO, 8:30pm)
New Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Travel Channel, 9pm, 10pm, 1am)

News & Notes

The deadline for entries for the contest to win a LCD TV is tonight at 11pm. Last chance to enter! Thanks to everyone who has entered, I’ve really enjoyed reading your picks for favorite new show this season.

I’ve seen and heard of all sorts of irresponsible reports that the WGA strike is over. I say “irresponsible” because according to the WGA, the strike is not over. They’re out there picketing today. I’d like to believe the rumors that they’re close to a deal, but I won’t be reporting the end of the strike until I hear it from the WGA. Their official websites are WGA.org and WGAEast.org.

Primetime Grid

New Series

Series premiere of Welcome to the Captain (CBS, 7:30pm).

Fran Kranz (of The TV Set) stars as a struggling writer/director who is ready to pack up and leave L.A. when a friend (played by Chris Klein from the American Pie movies) encourages him to stay and move into an old apartment building where there’s an opening.

The apartment building is named “El Capitan” but everyone calls it “The Captain” and it’s a classic old L.A. apartment building filled with quirky characters; Josh does take an apartment there and then the fun (and weirdness) begins.

Jeffrey Tambor (of Arrested Development) plays a longtime tenant who’s in everybody’s business. Raquel Welch plays an actress who is something of a femme fatale, comedian Al Madrigal plays Jesus the doorman, Valerie Azlynn plays an aspiring actress, and Joanna Garcia (of Reba) plays an acupuncturist that Josh likes.

This show was created by John Hamburg, who wrote (or co-wrote) the movies Meet the Fockers, Along Came Polly, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, and other stuff.

I’ve seen the first two episodes, which show some potential. The cast is good in their roles and the setting and premise leaves room for all sorts of stories. There’s no laugh track, which is a blessing.

I thought the first episode fell a bit flat, but then that can happen with first episodes. The second episode was quirkier and also had a bit more heart too. Not yet a good show, but not a painfully bad one (like Tambor’s last series Twenty Good Years was).

If you’re desperate for new episodes of a half-hour comedy or are a fan of any of these actors, you might want to give this a shot. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it at this point, but I do think that this show has potential. Will it grow into a good show? It’s too soon to tell. It definitely should fit into the CBS Monday night block of comedies and it’s far better than Rules of Engagement.

The series premiere of Welcome to The Captain airs tonight at 7:30pm on CBS.

Primetime

College basketball: Louisville at Marquette (ESPN, 6pm), Missouri at Kansas (ESPN, 8pm).

Another new Antiques Roadshow (PBS, check your local listings) from Orlando, Florida.

Mos Def narrates the story of Abdul Rahman in the new documentary Prince Among Slaves (PBS, check your local listings). Rahman was a Muslim prince who was taken prisoner, sold into slavery, and ended up a slave in the U.S. before eventually gaining his freedom and returning to Africa.

A social worker pays a visit to the Tragers after receiving a complaint on a new Kyle XY (ABC Family; 7pm and 11pm). This should be interesting.

Heavy rains force Michael to move up the Prison Break (FOX, 7pm). I hate it when that happens.

A new Michael Palin’s New Europe (Travel Channel, 7pm and 11pm; also on Saturday at 11am) in which Palin travels “From the Rila Mountains to Cappodoccia.”

Alton Brown talks apple pie in a new episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 7pm and 2am).

A look at the Pacific Coast Highway on a new Modern Marvels (History, 7pm and 11pm).

Rerun of the second episode of Gossip Girl (CW, 7pm). It’s “The Wild Brunch” episode (yet again, seems like it’s aired a lot).

Series premiere of Welcome to the Captain (CBS, 7:30pm). I wrote more about it as a “featured pick” above.

Sarah, Cameron, and John track down stolen cargo on a new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, 8pm). John ends up separated from his Mom and special robotic friend. Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Richard T. Jones, and Summer Glau (of Firefly) star. Catherine Dent (of The Shield) and Brian Bloom (of Drive) guest star.

Kris contemplates whether or not she should stay in town to help care for Wildfire’s injury on a new Wildfire (ABC Family, 8pm and 11pm).

We see a second session with Laura (as played by Melissa George) on a new In Treatment (HBO, 8:30pm). If you missed the first session with her, HBO reruns that episode at 8pm. I’ve seen this episode and it’s very intense. We finally see more interaction between Paul (Gabriel Byrne) and his wife (played by Michelle Forbes) before his client shows up.

Christine is ready to spend the night with Mr. Harris (Blair Underwood) on the season premiere of The New Adventures of Old Christie (CBS, 8:31pm). Naturally, she freaks out.

20/20 (ABC, 8:31pm) has a look at the final hours of Natalee Holloway in this special 90-minute episode on a special night and time.

Anthony Bourdain visits New Orleans on a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Travel Channel, 9pm, 10pm, 1am).

Nicholas Santora on a new Murder By The Book (Tru TV which was formerly known as Court TV, 9pm and 1am).

Late Night

Sen. Hillary Clinton on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

“Craig Becomes A Citizen” on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).